 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 2-1-3-1, in the name of Miles Briggs, on Edinburgh waiver listation access arrangements. This debate will be concluded without any questions. Would those members who wish to speak in the debate please press their request-to-speak buttons now? I call on Miles Briggs to open the debate around seven minutes, please, Mr Briggs. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I thank you for the additional time that you have given to allow my constituents to join us in the public gallery. I thank colleagues from across the chamber who have supported my motion. I'd also like to thank the thousands of constituents across Edinburgh and Lothian and beyond who have signed my petition either off or online. Both have demonstrated the real public interest and anger surrounding this subject. I'd like to welcome to the public gallery a number of my constituents who have been campaigning on the issue, including Dennis and Pat Wilson, Ian McInnes and Moira Vaughan, of the Edinburgh access panel, which has done such a huge amount of work on the issue, as well as representatives of RNIB and the Scottish Accessible Transport Alliance. All of us can agree that blind, disabled, infirm and elderly residents should have the same access to transport services as anyone else in Scotland. Sadly, since the taxi ranks were removed from within Waverly Station in 2014, many of those people feel they have become second-class citizens when it comes to accessing the station. Blind and disabled people who are used to some of the best drop-off and pick-up arrangements in the country feel they have been badly let down and that their independence has been totally undermined. Disabled constituents tell me that navigating their way around Waverly Station and trying to find lifts in escalators can be extremely difficult and frustrating and, in some cases, dangerous, as escalators pose a particular challenge for guide dogs. I am sorry to say that some disabled constituents have told me that they have decided to avoid Waverly Station altogether as they do not want to have to rely on the assistance of others. In many cases, it has only been because of the kindness of fellow Edinburgh residents and the city's fantastic taxi drivers that they have been able to access the station and get on to train services at all. Andy Cabs can be used by disabled travellers and Edinburgh users have told me that the services that they currently provide are excellent, but they have also told me that they have to book two weeks in advance, removing the option of more spontaneous travel. Perhaps after a week that the transport ministers had, he would prefer to know the movements of everyone in Scotland two weeks in advance. However, the question that I put to the minister today is why should the blind, disabled and elderly residents that I represent across Lothian have to plan their travel arrangements two weeks in advance? The current Andy Cabs service for drop-offs is facing being made less accessible in the future if this is moved to Carlton Road when the south ramp space is utilised for platform extensions. Disabled visitors to the capital are, of course, usually unaware of the Andy Cabs service. Many tourists coming to Edinburgh for the very first time have faced standing outside in all weathers on neighbouring streets waiting for taxis, often having struggled outside to Market Street or Princess Street with heavy luggage. Some have had to queue for long periods, especially during the festival, hardly creating a good impression of our capital city. I remain very concerned that the decisions to remove the taxi ranks in 2014 was implemented before adequate alternative arrangements were put in place. This is deeply regrettable. A committee of this Parliament looked into this issue and called for action on better access provisions back in the summer of 2015, but we are still waiting for those to be delivered upon. I met with Network Rail representatives and Waverly station management at the station last week and they briefed me on their plans, which were confirmed in the press on Monday for a new taxi rank at New Street Car Park. This is welcome news in as far as it goes, but this will only offer a limited improvement for able-bodied travellers as it is just a taxi pickup rank and not one where passengers can be dropped off within the footprint of the station. This rank will also be considerably further away from the central parts of the station compared to previous ranks, so there will still be the real challenge for blind, disabled and informed travellers who will need to use a number of lifts and stairs to get to their platforms and into the central concourse of the station. Therefore, I will continue to press rail bosses to look at additional and improved drop-off and pickup arrangements, and to work with the Edinburgh access panel and other stakeholders to achieve this. Specifically, I hope that a north ramp option for taxis could be reconsidered in another way of getting deliveries into the station, can be found and thus freeing up this area, and I urge Network Rail to explore all possibilities around this. The responsibility for ensuring a quality of access to transport services ultimately lies with the Scottish Government and the Transport Minister. There are questions to be answered as to why it has taken more than two years since taxi ranks were removed to come up with the limited proposals for a pickup rank at New Street, which will not be in place towards the end of next year. The Scottish Government should have been doing far more to ensure that a Waverly station is made truly accessible for all travellers. Waverly is, after all, a strategic national transport hub, a gateway to Scotland and one of the busiest stations in the whole country. The Transport Minister said fine words when he recently launched Scotland's first accessible travel framework, stating, it is important for us to confirm the commitment to making it easier for those with a disability to travel. I agree. I know from the meetings that I have had with the Transport Minister that he genuinely wants to see progress on those issues. I will close by calling on the minister to put those words into action on Waverly station and press Network Rail to make further improvements that will make the station's drop-off and pickup arrangements truly fit for purpose and, generally, accessible for all travellers, including blind, disabled and elderly residents. May we have open speeches of around four minutes, please? I call Neil Findlay to be followed by Gordon Lindhurst. Thanks very much, Presiding Officer. I thank Miles Briggs for bringing forward this debate and also I apologise to him and yourself because I have to leave for the convener's meeting after my contribution. I want to pay tribute to Ronnie Wilks and John Hutchison, who are two campaigners who work to improve the rights of passengers. John is a constituent of mine and a wheelchair user. Ronnie is blind, both are regular train users. He worked previously with my colleague Sarah Boyack during her time in this Parliament and I have been working with him over the last few months. In September, we met with senior officials of ScotRail at Waverly station to discuss a whole range of issues relating to disabled travel and access issues in and around Waverly station. Of course, we have to recognise that if we were going to plan and build the major railway station for the capital city, we would not build it where it is now at the bottom of a steep valley in between Princess Street and Market Street where access issues and layout restrictions hamper every move. Although, as the old gag goes, it was really considerate of them to build the castle next to the railway station. Any work at Waverly is challenged by its geography, but that should not prevent us from doing everything possible to improve access at the station for all passengers. Without doubt, there is a need for improved taxi services and access to allow passengers to transit through the station and beyond to their destination. As a daily commuter, I find getting to and from platforms and dealing with platform changes frustrating and often very unclear for passengers with mobility problems using wheelchairs or with a visual impairment. That frustration must be even greater. The taxi rank issue in the station is very important, but Ronnie and Joanne have raised with me a host of other issues. They have suggested a possible further drop-off point on Calton Road. They have suggested simple things like putting a seat and a rail panel at the help point in the station, changing the rail information desks to the rail information and access desks so that disabled travellers know exactly where to get help and advice. Developing a passenger body system with volunteers to assist passengers who need help to access services, transit through the station or get to a bus or taxi. They want to look at the use of new IT and phone apps to make the whole journey experience better, ensuring the passenger assist service in particular works as it should do. I know that new mobile phone apps are being trialled and look forward to their roll-out if successful. They also suggest having a scooter higher system at stations so that people with limited mobility can enjoy this great city just like everyone else. There are a whole host of other suggestions that I will not go into at the moment. If we think that the past few weeks have been bad for passengers, then think how bad that experience of late trains, cancelled services, overcrowded carriages is for our disabled friends and relatives. I hope that the rail authorities can advance the work of the group that has already set up and the suggestions that have come from my constituents. We all want to see a railway that is accessible for everyone in Scotland. Gordon Lindhurst, followed by Ash Denham. Let me thank my colleague Miles Briggs for bringing this debate to the Scottish Parliament and let me also pay tribute to his efforts to ensure that taxis can once again enter waverly station. He has eloquently set out the most important aspects of this issue. It is, of course, more than two years since public outcry when the taxis were stopped from entering the station. I welcome the announcement that taxis will be able to pick up passengers near the station again, but we are only halfway there. I am unclear as to why Network Rail did not go the full way towards providing a full service to passengers to allow them to be dropped off as well. It is also disappointing to note the distance of the rank from the previous ranks in more central parts of the station, as has already been mentioned. This is a vital service for many different people. As has been touched upon, taxi pickup and drop-off facilities are vitally important for disabled and elderly people. However, let us also think of the tourists—some 4 million of them—who visit Edinburgh every year, many of them using waverly station. I, as someone who has used rail services in many parts of Europe and other countries as well, understand the difficulty of someone arriving in a station and it can be quite confusing and unclear if things are not signposted. Some cities are better than others at providing. Edinburgh is a gateway to other parts of Scotland, and 60 per cent of the visitors who come here travel on to other parts of the country. Taxis are key to making their journey easy and making the country accessible to them. Travellers often arrive, as I have myself in other cities, unsure about their whereabouts. That is why the position of the new rank is regrettable around 500 metres from the station platforms. I would encourage Network Rail to reconsider that and to ensure that effective signage is provided to guide travellers to where they need to go and signage that is easily understandable to those to whom English is not their native language. Finally, I would like to mention the timing of the new proposals. As far as we know, the new rank will open in autumn 2017, and I think that it would be good to have more specific information about this. As my understanding of that is that it will miss the Edinburgh festival season, running in the main as it does throughout August. If the rank is to open after August 2017, it will miss the 70th anniversary of the Edinburgh international festival. That would be a crying shame. On that point, I will close, and I would ask the transport minister to see what he can do to try and accelerate the provision of what services can be prior to that date next year. Ash Denham, followed by Alexander Stewart. I extend my thanks also to Miles Briggs for bringing this motion to the chamber and allowing us to explore the issue further. Edinburgh Waverly is an important transport hub for people all across Scotland and beyond. It has 18 platforms in use and sees about 30,000 passengers a day passing through. With so many passengers going through the station each day, it is essential that there is full and easy access to and from the station each day for every passenger. Unfortunately, passengers with disabilities find manoeuvring Waverly station facilities to be a severe challenge at the best of times. Currently, additional help can be requested by phoning for assistance before you arrive at the station, but despite current schemes such as those to accommodate those that require additional assistance, many of those passengers still feel overlooked and often forgotten. Just by way of contextualising that, I will share something about the Parry Olympian, Tanny Gray-Thompson. She highlighted her experience in 2012 of having to throw her wheelchair off a train because her booked assistance had not turned up and then having to crawl off the train just to get off her station. Obviously, that is not a good situation that anyone would want to be in. Recounting her experience to the telegraph, she said that, as a disabled person travelling, you always have that element of fear, feeling very uncomfortable, of panic, of just wondering whether or not you are going to get off. I think that it's fair that a lot of disabled people feel like second-class passengers because they don't have the same treatment as everyone else. She says, I don't expect to be swept up into first class and treated better than anyone else, I expect to have the same experience and that is often not the case. No one should feel the need to worry about accessibility. All passengers should have an easy and accessible experience at Waverley station and, indeed, elsewhere in Scotland. Previously, passengers could be picked up and dropped off at platform level, but the closure of the indoor taxi rank in 2014 has only led to increased worry and inaccessibility for those who struggle to travel. Passengers now face a time-consuming route in any direction through the station in and out of lifts in order to reach street level to get a taxi. As we all know, lifts are sometimes subject to breaking down and this can cause extra delays. With the decrease in accessibility due to the taxi rank closure, the unease of disabled passengers has only increased. Originally developed and built in 1854, the station is historically significant. It does obviously have its geographical challenges, but that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be room for improvements. This week, as we have heard, Network Rail have announced the intention for a new taxi rank to be situated in the New Street car park. The design of the taxi rank is scheduled to be completed in May, but the project completion date, we believe, will be somewhat after that. However, this taxi rank will still require passengers with disabilities to navigate across the station and take lifts to New Street, and, as has already been mentioned, will only be for pick-ups and not for drop-offs. Despite attempts to alleviate the stress of passengers, the new scheme, as far as I can see, does not do much to change the current status and levels of accessibility. Neil Finlay is not here, but he raised several really good suggestions for improvements that could be taken forward. I would be the first to admit, as an able-bodied person, that sometimes we struggle to understand the challenges that are faced by passengers with disabilities. I suggest that the executives at Network Rail might even spend a day on crutches with a couple of heavy suitcases or a day in a wheelchair navigating themselves around the station and getting on and off trains and going up to try and hail a taxi and wait outside in the cold to do so to get some perspective on the issue. I am convinced that a solution could be found to make the station fit for the 21st century, so I would like to call on Network Rail to be more creative to find that solution and make the investment so that all passengers can use the station with ease. The last of the open speeches is Alexander Stewart. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. May I start by congratulating my colleague Miles Briggs on securing this debate and commend him for the work of raising the profile of the issue surrounding access to Waverly station here in Edinburgh? Waverly is Scotland's largest mainline station and is second only to London Waterloo in the United Kingdom. The annual passenger usage for 2014-15 was over £21 million. It is the very definition of a rail hub, connecting passengers from across Scotland and the United Kingdom. Such a station, which is of so much importance to us here in Edinburgh, should have and must have an opportunity to ensure that commuters and visitors alike have an easy and accessible access to the venue. Accessibility is the essential part of the process. A short-time decision and the ban that was taken back in 2014, I do believe, was the wrong decision to make at that stage. It was really short-sighted and banning taxis from picking up and dropping off passengers within the station. That has caused huge reactions for individuals who have to use it. As I said, it was a knee-jerk reaction and has had huge implications as we move forward. As has been pointed out already in the debate, the withdrawal of the option has affected many elderly, disabled and infirm, but has also had massive consequences for mothers with prams and buggies, and individuals and groups that arrive at the station find it very difficult to access. If you are unfortunate enough to be visually impaired or blind and require the support of a guide dog, that could make a very simple arrival at a station turn into what could currently be a nightmare for the individual. I am not surprised that many people have said that they will not use the facility because they are fearful and anxious about getting to that situation. That is something that we should be tackling for those individuals. It is extremely disappointing that there is now no access for taxi ranks on the same level as the platforms and that passengers now have to make their way up staircases and inaccessible drop-off points to get a taxi. The current arrangements whereby passengers must locate lifts and escalators, and, as we have heard, some of those do not always work from time to time, and that is just not good enough. While I welcome the announcement by Annette Watt-Rail that the new taxi rank in New Street is going to take place, it has taken far too long for us to get to that point. Almost a year and a half ago, the Scottish Parliament Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee indicated that there should be a suitable located access taxi facility at Waverley station. Even if we know the two-year delay, the rank at New Street will only partially support the situation and the problems that have arisen. It is proposed that the new tax rank will only be for the taxis that are picking up passengers, which means that, for the problems that are highlighted, it remains and is solved for the passengers who are returning to Edinburgh. I should therefore like to echo the calls made by others in the debate that the Scottish Government to fulfil its obligation to ensure equal access for transport services in the station. To conclude, the Scottish Government network rail must urgently work together to improve the access for Edinburgh railway station, for passengers, but essentially for those who require extra assistance to ensure that it remains a real rail hub and works for everybody in the community. I call Humza Yousaf to close this debate around seven minutes, please minister. I thank Miles Briggs for bringing this debate to the Scottish Parliament in a very important matter. I want to welcome his constituents and campaigners who are in the public gallery and any other member's constituents who are in the public gallery for what is an absolutely important debate for us to have. I understand from what Miles Briggs was saying that he had recently met the Wavelay station manager, had a walk around the station, a tour and given detailed information on the range of improvements that have been delivered by the ScotRail alliance in partnership with the Edinburgh access panel over the last couple of years. Let me just echo what I think almost every member has said. The situation that we currently have is suboptimal, but it is not appropriate for those with accessibility issues. Miles Briggs was kind enough to quote from our accessibility travel framework, which I was delighted to launch a couple of months ago, which confirmed our commitment to addressing accessibility issues across the different modes of transport. That is an issue that is of paramount importance to the Government, and I believe, from speaking to Network Rail, it is important to them as well. I will try to address, if I may, some of the issues that have been raised, common themes that have come through a number of discussions and contributions that have been made. Ash Denham was absolutely correct that, for those of us who are able-bodied, navigating through Wavelay station, particularly at peak times from one end of the station to the other, even that can be an uncomfortable experience. Ash Denham is right to imagine that, if you are not able-bodied, if you have a number of suitcases, luggage, children or whatever else that you are having to contend with, there is some important context for all of us to understand. There had been some major access improvements since 2012. We know that it has installed escalator lift access to Princess Street and Market Street as part of the £130 million investment upgrade, but I recognise what Alexander Stewart was saying. We know that lifts can break, so that is not a solution in itself, but it is certainly fair to say that there have been improvements that have been made to access. What was missing from the contributions—I do not think that there was any malice in this at all—but what was missing from some of the contributions that were made, which I think is important to highlight, is the reason why the taxi rank was removed. Mr Stewart called it short-sighted or a knee-jerk reaction. I should say that, having spoken to Network Rail, that was because of a directive that came from the UK Government in relation to counter-terror measures. I think that most people would see that that is a fairly reasonable directive to think about what happened at Glasgow airport in terms of vehicles. We know that we travel at Glasgow Queen Street, Glasgow Central station, but there are not many stations that are as busy as Waverley, as they allow taxis to come into the concourse of that station. The reasons why that decision was taken are not because of cosmetic or aesthetic reasons at all, but because of a directive from the UK Government, which literally highlighted Waverley station as one of the stations in the UK that had to make this improvement. Government directives are best not ignored, particularly when they are to do with counter-terrorism. I think that context is important. All that being said, all the members are entirely correct to say that, knowing that directive was coming, what suitable alternatives could have been put in place. I want to congratulate the work that the Edinburgh access panel has done. I know that it has been working closely with the ScotRail Alliance to put their case forward on what better can be done. There have been some improvements that I have spoken about and that members have mentioned in their contributions. I do not know when they had to go, but I would be interested in receiving a copy of the suggestions that his constituents have made if they have not been fed into the ScotRail Alliance. They should be, because I thought that some of them were eminently sensible. However, the close collaboration between the ScotRail Alliance and the Edinburgh access panel has led to the announcement that was made earlier this week, which is creating a taxi rank in the New Street car park. Gordon Lindhurst asked the question about being picked up only and why I was at the case because of insufficient space at the moment. What is the next stage moving forward is that there will be detailed design work, which will look at timescales, which I know that members have mentioned, but will also look at what more can be done to improve accessibility. Once that detailed design work is done, that will be fed back to the Edinburgh access panel for their thoughts, but I will happily give way to Mr Briggs. I have listened to what he has said, and I am grateful. However, one of the key issues that I have been trying to press on is that all the options that have come forward are not really taken into account disabled and blind people going through that station. They are being kept out of the station now. I obviously spoke about handicaps and the role that they have to play. They are soon going to be also excluded from the station. Really, what I want to see is how we do a bespoke opportunity for people who are disabled and blind accessing these train services. I would like to potentially invite the minister to do a visit with me and all the representatives who have an interest in this. We are able to say to Network Rail and to the station management that that is not good enough. We have to go further and the plans that have already been put in place and which we are now having to wait another year for, they look at that again. I think that there is an opportunity to really allow disabled and vulnerable people the opportunity to get into the station far better than they are. I would have no hesitation in meeting with Miles Briggs, his constituents, the access panel or anybody else to discuss the matter. I would stress again that getting direct access right into the station might be difficult because of that director from the UK Government. If there can be a conversation around that, if there can be a way that that can be worked around, considering the space constraints, Neil Findlay said that he would not choose to build that train station again if he had the chance where it is. There are space constraints and restrictions, but I would be more than happy to meet with him. I know that the detail design work that has been taken forward by Network Rail will be in conjunction with the access panel. It will be able to feed in on a regular basis and that goes to the point that Gordon Lindhurst made. I thought very well that can this timescale be expedited in terms of the festivals such an important occasion and event? I will certainly ask Network Rail if that is possible. I think that the design phase will set out the timescales, but he makes a very valid point about that work taking place at a time that is so important to this city. In conclusion, I want to thank Miles Briggs for bringing this debate to Parliament. I thank the Edinburgh access panel, RNIB and the many other stakeholders who have been involved. There is a route forward that will go some way to addressing some of the issues. Clearly, there are more issues that need to be addressed. I will meet with Miles Briggs and anybody else who is interested. As I say, I will ensure that Network Rail continues to be engaged and that we can hopefully find a solution that is optimal for everybody who is able to body and those with disabilities, too. That concludes members' business for today, and I suspend this meeting until 2.30 pm.