The SNP has sparked fears over the future of a £200 million project to speed up rail journey times between Aberdeen and the central belt by 2026.
The Scottish Government promised in 2016 to reduce journey times for north-east rail passengers heading towards Glasgow and Edinburgh by around 20 minutes by 2026.
But it has emerged the scheme has been rebranded the Aberdeen – Central Belt Service Improvement Project – dropping the 2026 date completely.
The P&J reported last year how the pledge to cut journey times had been placed “under review” in light of budget pressures and sparking fears of delays.
The latest development has spurred concerns the projects’ 10-year window will no longer be fulfilled alongside the Aberdeen City Region Deal.
Rail project rebranded
Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop revealed the rebranding of the project in a response to North East Tory MSP Liam Kerr this week.
It follows Finance Secretary Shona Robison’s failure to mention the scheme in the SNP’s 2025-26 Scottish budget.
The latest figures show just 8% of the promised £200m budget has been spent on the project since 2016.
At Holyrood on Thursday, Mr Kerr urged investment minister Tom Arthur to outline why the government “covertly dropped” the date from the scheme.
Mr Arthur said: “An outline business case for the wider Aberdeen route upgrade, including service improvements and route decarbonisation, was concluded, and this has been duly considered by Transport Scotland’s investment decision board.
“A decision was made to progress with the procurement of a replacement intercity train fleet as design works continue, the latter being fully funded this financial year.
“Options for progressing to the next stage of the Aberdeen central belt service improvements remain under consideration.”
Speaking to the P&J later, Mr Kerr said: “The Scottish Government will have to explain all this if the financing isn’t in place by the end of the city region deal.
“We are looking at the clock running down on this key 2021 election pledge.”
A Transport Scotland spokesman said the government has planned a package of improvements including signal enhancements, station alterations and changes to capacity to enable faster and slower trains to operate on the same route.
He added that as set out to parliament last year, the timeline for achieving these improvements “remains under review”.
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