Fife MSPs Helen Eadie and Claire Baker will meet with the Transport Minister Keith Brown over Scotrail’s decision to scrap a key commuter route in Fife.
Both Mrs Eadie and Mrs Baker have questioned Mr Brown in Parliament over the withdrawal and the minister agreed to meet the Fife members.
The Transport Minister unfortunately tried to turn the blame for the service withdrawal on the decision to end the previous Arriva Cross Country Service from Dundee but failed to recognise that the decision to end the 07.54 service was a decision for Scotrail, approved by Transport Scotland the Scottish Government quango responsible for rail travel in Scotland.
Cowdenbeath MSP Helen Eadie said: “I am pleased that the Minister has agreed to meet myself and Claire Baker but was disappointed that Mr Brown simply was missing the point about this service withdrawal. The only people involved in the decision to scrap the 07.54 from Kirkcaldy was Scotrail and his quango, Transport Scotland.
“The Arriva service is a complete red-herring in this matter. The minister appears to be keener on trying to revisit other train services rather than concentrating on commuters in Kinghorn, Burntisland, Aberdour and Dalgety Bay.
“The minister needs to stop dwelling in the past and tell commuters how he’s going to get this fixed,” said Mrs Eadie.
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Claire Baker said: “As it stands the timetable that comes in on December 11 is due to be in place for 12 months. That simply is not good enough. The minister needs to get the 07.54 service back for commuters in Fife.
“There was no public consultation on this change and it was only mentioned in the penultimate paragraph of a Scotrail news release issued in October.”
Ms Baker addded: “When I meet the minister I will make it clear that continuing to do nothing is not an option.”
