A SET of proposals from Transport Scotland which could see the end of through trains between England and Scotland north of the central belt as well as a ban on alcohol and a reduction in sleeper services has been branded as 'Alice in Wonderland' by furious critics. But the Scottish Government is pointing out that the proposals are only at the consultation stage.
Transport Scotland is starting to plan the shape of the country's rail services after the present ScotRail franchise ends in 2014. It is asking whether there should be more than one franchise, to operate different types of passenger services, and also asking for views on whether the Caledonian Sleeper services should be run separately.
Another suggestion is that services from England should not run north of the central belt, because Transport Scotland believes that through trains from the East Coast Main Line to Aberdeen and Inverness are abstracting revenue from ScotRail.
But a furious backlash emerged only hours after the consultation document appeared. The Scottish Government has been quick to point out that the ideas are only being published for the purposes of starting a debate on how the country's railways should be developed, although Transport Scotland says farepayers are only contributing 26 per cent of the cost of running ScotRail, and makes it clear that the government wants to reduce the amount of public expenditure on the system.
As criticism mounted, an official spokesman at Holyrood insisted that the plans were only part of an open consultation, and did not 'represent ministerial thinking'. Transport Scotland added: "The range of questions and options in the consultation does not reflect the position of ministers precisely because it is a consultation, and competing options are suggested on different points, such as sleeper services."
But the critics have not been reassured. Labour transport spokesman Lewis Macdonald said: "It’s absolute Alice in Wonderland stuff. They’ve put out a consultation full of crackpot ideas, everyone responding has said you must be off your trolley and now they’re trying to pretend it’s not them after all. It’s pure fantasy.”
There is some time yet for responses to be sent to Transport Scotland, which is keeping the consultation open until February.