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Greens call to fund rail not road dualling to Inverness


By Scott Maclennan

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Patrick Harvie.
Patrick Harvie.

Greens co-convener MSP Patrick Harvie has called on the Scottish Government to “redirect” cash from dualling the A9 to make railway travel to the Highlands competitive with road travel.

Mr Harvie noted that the government recently declared a climate emergency and asked if it would “rethink” the A9 and A96 dualling projects and invest in rail instead.

He said: “More than 10 years ago an SNP First Minister made a promise to the people of the Highlands that rail travel would become competitive with road. In the meantime, little has happened on the rail front, while huge investment has been committed to the A9 and A96 dualling projects.

“If these projects continue as planned this would mean that there were effectively four lanes of road heading to and from the Highland capital, but only one lane of rail. If the Scottish Government’s climate commitments are to be taken seriously, it too must rethink its polluting road plans, and instead invest in reliable alternatives.

“Dualling and electrifying the Highland Mainline could be done at a fraction of the cost of the road projects, and would bring huge environmental and economic benefits to the region.”


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