Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government continues to provide financial support for bus services to keep services more extensive, and fares more affordable than would otherwise be the case. On 1 April 2022, the Network Support Grant was introduced, with up to £93.5 million allocated for 2022-23 and an additional £25.7 million is being provided to extend the Network Support Grant Plus until October of this year. The Scottish Government continues to engage with bus operators and local government to keep support under review.

The replacement (planned and unplanned) of train services with bus replacement services remains an operational matter for ScotRail.

ScotRail advises that the breakdown for each day during May and June 2022 for planned and unplanned bus replacement is as follows:-

The following table shows the number of valid card holders in the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme as of close of business 11 July 2022, analysed by local authority. This information is based on live data as of 11 July 2022 and will exclude those who have turned 22 since the launch of the scheme.

This information was supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). NECPO support the 32 local authorities by assisting with the integration of various national and local public services on the National Entitlement Card (NEC) and are the joint controller with local authorities of this data.

The replacement (planned and unplanned) of train services with bus replacement services remains an operational matter for ScotRail. Planned buses replace train services that have been impacted as a result of planned works on Scotland’s railway i.e. planned engineering works. ScotRail advise that 515 buses were booked during April 2022. This figure is particularly high with bus replacement services planned every day in April as a result of the Anderston works.

Unplanned buses replace train services that have been impacted as a result of driver shortages, trespassing onto the tracks, fleet issues, signalling issues, points failures and other track faults. ScotRail advise they were supplied with a total of 143 bus replacement services to cover unplanned train service disruption during April 2022.

The breakdown for each day during April 2022 for unplanned and planned bus replacement is as follows:-

The number of daily Ministerial journeys for the period of 23 May 2022 to 18 June 2022 are provided in the following table.

The number of daily Ministerial journeys for May and June 2021 are provided in the following table.

Roles and responsibilities of the ScotRail Board Members and its subsidiaries are set out in the Grant Agreement between Scottish Ministers, Scottish Rail Holdings Limited and ScotRail Trains Limited and the Framework Agreement between Scottish Ministers and Scottish Rail Holdings Limited. The intention is for both agreements to be published by end June 2022.

Information on salaries/fees of ScotRail Board members will be published by the end of June 2022.

As set out in the STAG Managers Guide , an appraisal using Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) is required whenever Scottish Government funding, support or approval is needed to change the transport system. It may also offer a suitable framework for other funders.

STAG is applicable to all transport interventions. Option generation as part of STAG should be unconstrained and should fully reflect the range of multi-modal options available. Typically, the STAG process is not used for developing and comparing alternative designs for the same mode-specific option, for example alternative corridors for a new road project, however the principles for appraisal and evaluation are similar and the basis of determining socio-economic impacts derive from HM Treasury Green Book.

A transport appraisal in accordance with STAG aligns with the Strategic Business Case (SBC) stage, the initial stage of business case development in line with Transport Scotland’s Guidance on the development of Business Cases , where a decision is taken to progress any option to the next stage.

Certain transport options which emerge from the STAG process may then require further consideration using mode-specific guidance at the next stages of business case development, for example:

• Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment (PACE) – for rail projects; and
• Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) – for roads schemes.

STAG is not usually adopted when considering maintenance issues of an existing asset which will not significantly change or affect the operation of the transport system.

The Scottish Government remains committed to an infrastructure solution to address the A83 Rest and Be Thankful landslip risks.

Work continues on the design of the long term options along with data gathering. The Government recently awarded a £1.8 million ground investigation works contract to best inform the design process and are working towards announcing a preferred route for a long term solution in 2023.

At the same time work is also progressing on the medium term resilient route and with formal proposals scheduled for late 2022.

In terms of short term measures since August 2020, Engineers have installed various landslide mitigation measures including drainage improvements, debris fences, a catch pit and material barriers. The mitigation has been augmented by the construction of a 175m long, 6m high debris bund, which further protects the Old Military Road. As a result of the major landslides in August and September 2020, and to mitigate a similar event from recurring, a further catch pit is being formed to be completed in summer 2022.

The catch pits and fences are designed to ‘capture’ debris material from a landslip and prevent it from reaching the road. To reduce disruption while keeping all road users and roadworkers safe, temporary traffic light system has replaced the convoy operations on the A83 and now remain in operation. A convoy system is only used, where ground readings or heavy rain forecasts would determine such requirement.

The protection afforded by these measures has meant that the A83 and the Old Military Road local diversion have been able to remain in operation for all but eight occasions during 2021 and 2022 to date, meaning traffic did not have to use the longer diversion via Inveraray and Crianlarich.