Row erupts over Crossrail link

SNP councillor reminds Lib Dem of ‘lack of progress’ during her leadership of Nestrans

By Gillian Bell

Published:

An MSP has been criticised for comments she made regarding the proposed Crossrail link in the north-east.

Aberdeenshire SNP councillor Fergus Hood said Alison McInnes was wrong to question Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson’s commitment to the rail link between Stonehaven and Inverurie, via Aberdeen.

Liberal Democrat MSP Mrs McInnes demanded to know why some of the £70million saved by the Scottish Government in re-awarding the rail franchise to First ScotRail has not been earmarked for projects in the north-east.

She said it was “appalling” that the transport minister said he had not been asked to support the project, as he claimed during a recent transport committee meeting.

“Does he not remember the petition I handed to him personally, with 1,000 signatures, calling for a new station as part of the Crossrail project?”

But Mr Hood, councillor for East Garioch, said Mrs McInnes headed Nestrans, a regional transport partnership, during a time when a “spectacular lack of progress” was made on the project.

He said: “Rather than criticising the SNP government and the transport minister for saving the taxpayer £70million by re-awarding the rail franchise to ScotRail, Alison McInnes would do well to remember that it was she who was chairwoman of Nestrans until last year and also presided over the spectacular lack of progress on moving the Crossrail project forward and failed to deliver a new railway station at Kintore.

“This sudden flurry of activity on the part of the local Liberals in organising petitions calling for a station at Kintore, and these outbreaks of mock outrage in parliament are simply designed to hide the fact that little progress was made during their eight years in power on a whole range of projects.”

Mrs McInnes said she worked hard to develop the project during her time at Nestrans.

“Now all it needs is the political will to make it happen. Yet, despite the project being in his backyard, the SNP transport minister is clearly unwilling to back it.”