Christmas Newsletter 2008

22/12/2008

Christmas message from the Chair

Introduction from the Chair

The closing weeks of 2008 have been of some significance for anyone with the interests of our transport network at heart.

The Government's Strategic Transport Projects Review announcement carried positive signals for Aberdeen City and Shire and we will now be pushing for commitment on the projects it outlined.

Many of those allude to our rail network, and the new timetable arrangements introduced in December will provide the impetus to take us forward in our aim to achieve a Crossrail service.

At the same time, we worked with partners Aberdeen City Council and the First Group to set up a trial Dyce shuttle bus service linking the railway station, airport and industrial estate - a very welcome step forward in addressing local transport issues in the area.

It has all added up to a sense of real progress being made, and we can expect to see further developments across many transport modes over the coming year. More details on these - and other features mentioned in this newsletter - can be found elsewhere on this website or on those of our partners.

I believe we are on the threshold of an exciting period of progress and we will continue to work closely with our partners, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils and Transport Scotland, to turn our ambitions for the region into reality.

May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

Councillor Kevin Stewart
Chair

Shuttle Bus to the Airport

The new bus service linking Dyce railway station, Aberdeen airport and industrial areas of Dyce is already proving its worth.

It was introduced on a trial basis in mid-December in a joint project with the city council and First Group.

The initiative sees the provision of an average of three services per hour, Monday to Friday, linking to most trains stopping at Dyce Station and taking into account the improved new rail timetable between Aberdeen, Dyce and Inverurie.

The key objectives of the project are to:

improve road surface connections for the airport
help address congestion issues in the Dyce area
promote where practicable a shift away from car use to improve access in and around the area.

Nestrans is supporting the project via funding support for an initial period to March 2009. This will allow for the service to become established, its success to be gauged and future funding options secured.

A number of minor infrastructure improvements have been made to support the service and ensure it runs efficiently.

Strategic Projects Review 2008

The mid-December announcement following the Government's Scottish Transport Projects Review was in principle one to be welcomed in Aberdeen City and Shire.

Its key features included enhancements to the rail line to Inverness, plans for significantly faster rail services from the north-east to both Inverness and the Central Belt, and a possible new station at Kintore.

These serve to help meet our ambitions for both a Crossrail service and better rail connections beyond the region.

The road-related improvements included a new Inveramsay Bridge on the A96 and new park and ride projects at Dyce and Charleston to tie in with the planned development of the AWPR. Commitments are already in place in terms of other key developments, including dualling of the A90 between Balmedie and Tipperty, and improving the Haudagain roundabout in Aberdeen.

Further information can be found at www.transportscotland.gov.uk/stpr

Nestrans' role now in relation to the STPR is to continue to promote individual schemes as they relate to the region and push for financial commitment and implementation at the earliest opportunity.

New Crossrail Timetable

The new rail timetables that went 'live' on December 15 represent the biggest changes for north-east rail services in nearly 20 years.

It specifically features major improvements to links between Aberdeen, Dyce and Inverurie during key commuter periods, and reduces journey times between Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

The key elements include:

a rise in peak morning services between Inverurie and Aberdeen from two to five.
two extra departures from the city to Inverurie during the evening peak period.
an additional morning service in both directions between Aberdeen and Inverness.

A new Fife schedule serving local stations will also result in less overcrowding on the service to Edinburgh as well as faster journey times - the shortest journey between the two cities will now be two hours 20 minutes.

More information can be found on our website news pages or at www.scotrail.co.uk/content/winter-timetables.html

Travel Planning

Work is under way to consolidate the links between Nestrans and travel plan co-ordinators at organisations across the region and develop a co-ordinated approach to highlighting the key messages associated with this important area of work.

The basis for this will be a common 10-year travel plan strategy that is now being finalised, supported by a communications plan.

The Year Ahead

The re-opening of Laurencekirk Station in Spring 2009 will be among the pivotal developments of the year ahead.

The coming months are also set to feature:

Progress on exploratory work towards a new rail station at Kintore.
Improved public transport priority access to the airport
Improved Dyce Drive access to the A96 for all traffic.
Improvements at Peterhead Harbour.
Progress on core paths and cycle routes.
Delivery of the AWPR public inquiry report to Ministers.

Action Plans

The most recent Nestrans Board meeting, on 10 December, detailed progress on our suite of Action Plans.

The plans, covering health & transport, bus, rail and freight, are being developed to articulate the details behind our Regional Transport Strategy and take our work to the next stage of delivery.

You can read about progress across all plans on the website at www.nestrans.org.uk/about/meetings.asp

New Staff

Nestrans has been delighted to welcome two new members of staff in recent weeks to take us up to our full complement of personnel.

Donald Kent has joined the partnership from East Dunbartonshire Council to take up the role of transport executive (travel planning and delivery) while Kirsty Morrison has moved from Edinburgh to become our transport executive (strategy and delivery).

It means we enter 2009 at full strength - and well positioned to progress our work across all our main areas of focus.

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