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Saturday, 21st November 2009 Change Date

Glasgow MSPs accused of sabotaging Borders link

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Published Date: 07 November 2009
GLASGOW-BASED Labour MSPs have been accused of conspiring to divert money away from an Edinburgh-Borders rail route to help resurrect their own city's axed airport link.
SNP MSP Christine Grahame said Labour politicians were attempting to switch money from the £300 million Edinburgh-Tweedbank route to help revive the scrapped Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL).

She said: "It is well known that many Labour MSPs and MPs from the west of Scotland are deeply opposed to the reinstatement of the Waverley Line, a railway they closed in 1969 under the notorious Beeching cuts. The reinstated line will improve commuter links, create jobs and bring new investment to Penicuik and the rest of Midlothian.

"Labour are looking both ways on this issue and it's about time they came clean and explain where in Labour's national rail priorities the Waverley project sits."

Earlier this week, it emerged the line has been delayed until 2014. It was originally due for completion by 2011.





Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 07 November 2009 11:18 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

AberdeenTom,

07/11/2009 12:13:14
Typical Glasgow Labour. If cash isn't being spent on vanity projects in their neck of the woods they'll argue there's no value for "Scotland". Their city gets more than its fair share of public spending. GARL was rightly cancelled as it would have cost a fortune and delivered no real benefits to the people of Scotland. It's time Glasgow Labour politicians realised that there is a wider Scotland out there.
2

alfonsa pedrosa,

embra 07/11/2009 12:22:54
Glasgow should grow up and not spit the dummy when they feel left out,money is spent on important projects,and not on lets keep Glasgow happy.
3

Hmm ...,

07/11/2009 12:26:22
... isn't it simply the case that, both nationally and locally, Labour during its "reign" sadly and negligently failed not only to develop Scotland's transport network but to maintain what was already there?

Now they are "out of power" (as they see it) they are good only for complaining about the sharing out of the reduced funding made available by Labour-controlled Westminster!

Talk about hypocrisy!
4

pongo2009,

07/11/2009 12:36:01
how about the "dream ticket" of GARL and Trams overspend (at the expense of the Borders Line beyond Gorebridge?

5

Chris,

Edinburgh 07/11/2009 12:37:29
When will fount-of-all-knowledge Foulkes give us the benefit of his opinion? Bit slow today isn't he? Usually when an SNP MSP criticises his beloved Labour he is immediately on television, news media etc. spouting forth his usual 'bouse de vache'.
6

embratom,

07/11/2009 13:04:34
"The reinstated line will improve commuter links, create jobs and bring new investment to Penicuik and the rest of Midlothian."
If Christine Grahame's quote is correct when did Penicuk move?
7

Front Street,

Grange Court 07/11/2009 13:42:24
Christine Graham didn't exactly cover herself in glory
when she consistently opposed the direct Edinburgh Airport rail link. In fact the entire SNP party must
stand accused of sabotaged the direct Edinburgh Airport rail link?
8

Alice Cooper,

07/11/2009 13:57:56
despite glasgow getting the lions share in everything,want to see what 75 years of labour control of glasgow has done?
they might be glaswegians and have many faults,but they are humans who should have been treated a lot better than their holy grail of labour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kls37DqxjG8&feature=fvw
9

pongo2009,

07/11/2009 14:00:12
Perhaps Christine Graham is enough to remember the Peebles branch.

Or perhaps not.
10

pongo2009,

07/11/2009 14:00:52
The missing word is "old"
11

steve 1511,

aberdeen 07/11/2009 14:08:40
this is the labour way bribe the voters in the areas you have msp,broon did it with n ireland
12

Goat Boy,

07/11/2009 14:49:46
"The reinstated line will improve commuter links, create jobs and bring new investment to Penicuik and the rest of Midlothian"

Christine, a word of advice: If you don't know what you're talking, just say that you haven't a clue. Don't launch into something that makes you look stupid.
13

Tonto43,

Midlothian 07/11/2009 15:06:13
The fact is that the only thing to be sabotaged should be the Edinburgh trams, which nobody wants, cost far too much and won't be up to much in any case.
This money would have been better diverted to both Glasgow and Edinburgh airport links and yes the waverly line with extentions to cover Bonnyrigg, Rosewell, Loanhead, Penicuik Mayfield and Pathhead. Only then would Edinburgh Glasgow and Midlothian have a better transport infrastructure.
Trams do absolutely nothing except cause even more traffic chaos in Edinburgh. Trams are from a yester year. We should be looking forward not backward.
14

Toast,

borders 07/11/2009 15:08:09
Me thinks that the Glasgow airport link is a lot more inportant than a single line railway nobody wants.
15

JC1,

Glasgow 07/11/2009 17:17:36
"It is well known that many Labour MSPs and MPs from the west of Scotland are deeply opposed to the reinstatement of the Waverley Line, a railway they closed in 1969 under the notorious Beeching cuts"

I think she'll find that not only were there no MSPs in 1969, none of the labour MPs around now were in Parliament in 1969.

Every time she opens her mouth... really all she's saying is we shouldn't have a modern airport rail link in Scotland's largest city, so we can have a rail link in her back yard
16

pongo2009,

07/11/2009 17:37:18
Must be something really special about Penicuik. It's the only town with its own link on the Christine Graham MSP website
17

Simon,

Edinburgh 07/11/2009 19:10:40
A touch embarrasing for Christine Graham not knowing the Waverley line route.

On a more hopeful note, anything that puts a stop to the folly of the Borders rail link is to be applauded.
18

Kirsty Boyd-Williamson,

Salisbury 07/11/2009 19:34:11
In a previous career, the odious List Member for South of Scotland was a teacher. Clearly not a teacher of geography.
19

NorT,

Edinburgh 07/11/2009 22:21:56
Cancel the Borders rail link now and spend the money doing up the A7. Far more economical.
20

truthsleuth,

08/11/2009 00:23:11
#19 NorT,

Don't be a fool the A7, GARL and Earl and electrification to Aberdeen and Invernes could be had for half of the cost of the 'Bridge to Far'.
21

It's me!,

08/11/2009 12:31:20
#13. You lie. I want the trams back in Edinburgh. They should never have been removed in the first place. I'm sure the elderly in Glasgow would welcome them back too as they have experienced their value.
22

,

08/11/2009 15:55:43
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
23

Julian.,

edinburgh 08/11/2009 22:19:00
#1

"GARL was rightly cancelled as it would have cost a fortune and delivered no real benefits to the people of Scotland"

Ah, is that the new criteria for judging whether money should be spent on infratructure projects? Where exactly do the trams and the M74 extension fit into all that then?
24

Julian.,

edinburgh 08/11/2009 22:26:52
#13, Tonto,

Aren't trains from a yesteryear as well....about 200 years to be precise?

Aynway, the main fact is that, love them or hate them, the trams will be here in 2 years. Nothing you or any other anti-trammie says or does will change that.
25

Watcher58,

Edinburgh 09/11/2009 02:22:16
#24 2 years?? Neither Tonto nor the anti-trammies have to say anything. Just keep watching the signs in town and watch them change to 2012...2013...etc just as they changed from 2010 to 2011. The magic of TIE.
26

tommy M,

Scotland 09/11/2009 10:04:50
The party Keir Hardy would be ashamed of today axe the Scotland to London high speed rail link, push for the costly and unwanted trams in Edinburgh and whinge over one mile of track in Glasgow - i suspect most voters in GNE may have slightly different priorities and concerns anyway, like labour shutting schools, privatising post offices and wullie himself opposing worker's rights, that's if there's any jobs left by the time brown and darling finish their economic destruction of Scotland.

The "party" is over.

VOTE SNP. GET THE SNOUTS OUT.
27

eric,

lothian 09/11/2009 11:33:00
All they had to do was the central-wemyss bay route with spur at bishopton no fuel storage tanks in way,it was a no no from start.Glasgow will end up with trams on some of its existing lines and on road in places eventually.to link up with its Subway.
28

malcyh,

09/11/2009 12:00:30
The Glasgow mafia are alive and well.............

 

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