Scottish Transport & Infrastructure
PART 7: TRANSPORT
Instead of excessive expenditure on windfarms and net zero we can divert funds into the nation's infrastructure with a great maintenence scheme.
The Scottish Parliament has responsibility for the following areas of policy and we are putting to the people that Holyrood has hopelessly failed with record number of deaths on the A9, disgraceful links to Northern Ireland and long queues on the A96 between inverness and Aberdeen.
Bus Policy, Concessionary fares, Cycling, Taxis & minicabs, Railway Services, franchising, New Railway Construction, Road Network, Trunk Road Management, Road signs & speed limits, Shipping, Ports, Inland waterways, harbours and ferries
The Scottish Heritage Party will prioritise re-building our transport infrastructure with the A9 completely duelled between Stirling and John O'Groats with improved road links East towards Aberdeen particularly the A96.
The important A75 trunk road between Gretna and Cairnryan needs to be fully duelled from the M6/M76 all the way to the ferry terminal at Cairnryan with good quality roads linking southern Scotland towns and villages to the road. Light industry estates can be set up alongside the road bringing employment and environmental improvements. From Cairnryan we need to extend the duel carriageway, the present day A77 onwards to Glasgow in effect producing a D road west of the M74.
We will also restore our railways with the completion of the Borders line to Carlisle and a return of what was affectionately known as the "Paddy Train" to the Northern Ireland Ferries with stations at both the P&O and Stena terminals with a link to Stranraer.
As regards the ferries a Scottish Heritage Party government would fully recognize their importance to island communities and to the economies of these communities very dependent on tourism and in the case of the Northern Isles, our rejection of net zero and support of fossil fuel will mean enormous gains to our islands.
Ports, harbours, inland waterways are extremely important to Scotland with the development of the cruise industry and it is our view that our canals can be further developed for tourism as well as looking to cable car and railway development to the top of our mountain peaks giving breathtaking views to all, not just to those who have the ability to walk our magnificent pathways.
Our support too will go to the development of further cycling tracks particularly in areas of tourist interest, and it is our intention to reduce the cost of living to enable expansion of tourism and in this we see great opportunity for the disabled and pensioner to make use of free bus services which we will look to expand to other forms of transport too.
With dramatic savings from the folly of net zero we will push for major infrastructure expansion for with improved transport links we can really develop Scotland economically and make our nation an even better place to live.
SCOTLAND – The Greatest Train, Ferry, Car, Bus and Plane Rides in the World - Yet an SNP-Green Government wants to put a stop to all of this in allegiance to THE GREEN RELIGION that unless stopped will ruin the economy of this great land.
FREEDOM – NATION – FAMILY
THE TRUE NATIONALIST VOTES SCOTTISH HERITAGE PARTY to keep our culture, identity, and heritage! We need to recognize what we have in Scotland, a world-renowned tourist destination, and just as London has invested in transport infrastructure so must we!
To summarise therefore, we will build the A75/A77 Gretna to Glasgow D ROAD dual carriageway linking up the M6/M74 with clear transport links to Northern Ireland marketing the road also as a tremendous tourist destination creating within this area a new national park of outstanding scenic beauty. This will bring also first-class transport links to our world class golf courses on the Ayrshire coast at Royal Troon and Turnberry.
As regards to the Turnberry Course we will ask questions as to why we are no longer witnessing THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP HERE, we trust the decision for this not being because of its well-known owner!
From Stirling to John O’Groats, we will upgrade the A9 taking account of the environment recognizing the great potential there is for visitor growth and other business development. Ours is to be a Scotland of the 21st century vibrant in growth, but to be so vibrant we need to successfully invest in our transport links. Road safety is a key factor here and it is understood that upgrading this road has been delayed or cancelled due to green ideology, this ideology costing so many lives both on the road and with the stress it brings to every sector of society. We will put a stop to it.
From Inverness to Aberdeen, we will witness the A96 dual carriageway bringing together our great Scottish cities of Inverness and Aberdeen.
We will improve our ferry services bringing CAL MAC again into private ownership, the SNP nationalised operations day by day becoming a joke in all our transport infrastructure, particularly in updating our ferries! The Audit Committee seemed to have had a hey day with Nicola Queen of Scots, our former Transport Chief. The story is in The Spectator, the incompetence in our view incredible!
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-snps-ferry-fiasco-is-a-very-scottish-sham/
Lockdowns of the Scottish Government brought massive losses to Scotrail, £26 MILLION because of the enforced lockdowns so why should we put our trust in a government to get things right? A Scottish government obsessed with "net zero"! “To meet our climate change targets, and our aim of reducing car kilometres by 20% by 2030 – we need Scotland's railways. An efficient, effective, productive and profitable railway is critical to our Mission Zero ambition for transport; declares the Government but what about tourist potential with the possible expansion of steam services, of which the Fort William to Mallaig line is highly successful. So, what does the Scottish Government do to this world-famous heritage line? Close it down because old carriages do not have central locking!
The Scottish Heritage Party will develop our transport infrastructure in an environmentally friendly way with the use of fossil fuel and electric where appropriate and bring the potential for visitors all over the world to come and see our great land with a new railway line from Carlisle to Cairnryan and the Northern Ireland ferries, with the extension of the Borders line to Carlisle. The potential is massive, and we can make Scotland a worldwide destination again but not with one hand tied behind our backs, as the global elite demands, but then we are to be an independent Scotland, part of an independent UK!
The following UK policy of the Heritage Party will have major benefits in Scotland particularly in the restoration of branch lines cut by Beeching, many of which can now be profitable with the increase in tourism we will encourage in Scotland. We will work with the highly experienced Heritage line charities who have done so much good opening and maintaining lines to high standards attracting tourists to many towns, thus boosting rural economies. Let’s have more of it, more steam, and more success!
Writes David Kurten:
Road
There should be open free-market competition between petrol, diesel and electric vehicles, The Heritage Party will overturn bans on petrol and diesel cars and end subsidies and vehicle tax exemptions for electric vehicles. Taxation of petrol and diesel should be simplified to comprise only fuel duty and not VAT or other ‘climate’ surpluses.
Our existing roads should be maintained adequately, with pothole repairs a priority for local councils. ‘Smart motorways’ that remove hard shoulders are dangerous and impose intrusive surveillance on road users. Hard shoulders should be re-opened as a matter of urgency, and they should not be used for continuous surveillance of vehicles akin to a police state. We oppose the introduction of pay-as-you-go road pricing nationally and locally.
The Heritage Party fully opposes Agenda 2030 and the war on cars. We will scrap ‘15-minute neighbourhoods’ as proposed in Oxford, Canterbury and other cities, ‘Low Traffic Neighbourhoods’, and any other type of road blockage whose purpose is to coerce citizens to give up their cars and slow down vehicles unnecessarily. Cycle lanes which cause traffic jams and congestion by narrowing road space for other vehicles should not be installed on trunk routes or any other roads, and those that currently cause congestion should be removed and returned to mixed usage.
We will also scrap charging schemes which impose exorbitant charges on vehicles for travelling in arbitrary zones set up by local councils and metro Mayors. These go under various names such as ‘Low Emission Zones’ (LEZ), ‘Ultra Low Emission Zones’ (ULEZ) and ‘Clean Air Zones’ (CAZ) but their effect is to coerce citizens to give up their cars and bankrupt small businesses who have no option but to drive in these zones but do not have the cashflow to upgrade their vehicles.
New technology allows vehicles to be remotely controlled and disabled. To ensure freedom, this must never be compulsory by law, and government should never have the power to remotely disable vehicles with ‘kill switches’.
The normal speed limit in urban areas should remain at 30 mph, and we will remove 20 mph speed limits where they have been implemented.
Rail
Rail franchises that need cash injections from government subsidies should be brought back into the public sector when they finish. It is not right that corporations that run rail franchises have guaranteed profits underwritten by British taxpayers. This is especially egregious when rail franchises are given to foreign state-owned corporations that use British taxpayers’ money to cross-subsidise rail fares abroad.
HS2 should be scrapped and the money saved put into improving the metro systems of our conurbations and the re-opening of old branch lines closed in the Beeching cuts where economically feasible.
Air
There should be no third runway at Heathrow. Regional airports should be allowed to expand and take more flights where appropriate.
