New figures confirm case for Kintore Station

A report to Aberdeenshire Council's Infrastructure Services Committee this Thursday (19 August) points out that there has been an increase of over 42 per cent in the number of passengers at Inverurie station following the improved train service introduced in December 2008. The same report says 64,000 passengers used Laurencekirk station in its first year after re-opening, 80 per cent more than expected. (Note 1).

East Garioch councillor Martin Ford said: "The success of these rail service improvements is very much to be welcomed. As has been found elsewhere, if rail services are improved, people will switch from other forms of transport and use the train instead.

"The figures for Inverurie and Laurencekirk suggest that a new station at Kintore is likely to attract more passengers than previously forecast.

"Increasing the proportion of journeys made by public transport is an essential step to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in line with climate change targets.

"The frustrating thing is that it remains absurdly difficult to get support for new rail initiatives - despite the track-record of success for those projects that have gone ahead.

"The proposal for a dedicated service of local trains between Stonehaven and Inverurie with additional stations was first put forward by Grampian Regional Council about twenty years ago. Since then we have had countless technical studies and revisions to the scheme. The improved service between Aberdeen and Inverurie introduced in December 2008 was, effectively, a first step towards a better and more frequent local service. The service improvement introduced in 2008 has been a success - which must strengthen the case for further service enhancements.

"A new station at Kintore is the logical next step. It has been shown to be feasible. The evidence is that it would be well used. All we need, and all we have needed for some time, is a firm commitment from the Scottish Government to get a station built."

In 2008, over a thousand residents signed a petition calling for a station to be put in place in Kintore as soon as possible. Further improvements to the train service between Aberdeen and Inverurie will require the provision of new track and signalling.

ENDS

Notes

1. Item 15 on the agenda for this week's Infrastructure Services Committee meeting is the Nestrans progress report. Paragraphs 2.3.7 to 2.3.10 of this report state:

2.3.7 In the period between April 2007 and December 2008, the average monthly usage at Inverurie Station was 15,569 passengers. After the timetable change, the average monthly usage, between January 2009 and March 2010 is 22,141, an increase of 42.2%. The highest usage recorded in this time was 26,736 in the pre-Christmas 2009 period, compared to 17,322 in the pre-Christmas 2008 period.

2.3.8 Transport Scotland have also confirmed that Laurencekirk Station saw some 64,000 passengers in its first year of operation. This is compared to the predicted 36,000 passengers per year predicted prior to opening, an increase of near 80% over the prediction.

2.3.9 These figures for both Inverurie and Laurencekirk, along with the continued significant growth at Dyce, provide evidence that the current rules for predicting passenger numbers are significantly underestimating actual passenger increases in the North East of Scotland and that there is a latent demand for rail services in this area.