McLeod welcomes retention of Stranraer-Glasgow direct rail services
SNP MSP for the South of Scotland Aileen McLeod has today (Monday) welcomed the news that six direct rail services between Stranraer & Glasgow will now be retained. Two direct trains will run from Stranraer to Glasgow and four in the opposite direction. Aileen had previously raised the issue of direct services with the Transport Minister at the time, Keith Brown and subsequently with the current Transport Minister Derek Mackay.
Aileen said:
“This is very welcome news and I am delighted that six direct services between Stranraer and Glasgow will now be retained and indeed operate at more useful times of the day than the two direct services it was originally proposed to run, both of which would have been very late in the evening.
“I have always been clear that the new Scotrail franchise offered some distinct benefits to Stranraer but I also recognised that people were concerned about the loss of the majority of the direct services. I was keen therefore to see whether the direct services could be retained if at all possible.
“I had a number of meetings both with the previous Transport Minister, Keith Brown, and also with the new Transport Minister, Derek Mackay, both of whom were very sympathetic to local concerns. I am very pleased indeed that Transport Scotland and Abellio have been able to work up a revised timetable which keeps the direct services between Stranraer and the central belt.
“This is excellent news both for the Stranraer line and for the town itself.”
Notes to Editors:
Abellio now propose the following direct services between Stranraer and Glasgow via Kilmarnock;
· Stranraer to Glasgow departing 07:02 and 16:58
Glasgow to Stranraer departing 08:07, 14:12, 16:12 and 22:12 (the latter two services do not run on Saturdays)
