INVESTMENT IN RAIL services through Moray will be pressed forward when the managing director of ScotRail arrives in Elgin today – weather permitting.
Complaints about missing or overcrowded trains, long delays and disparities in the new Club 50 membership offer will be high on the agenda at the Elgin Town Hall.
On the plus side Phil Verster will seek to impress the local audience at a meeting chaired by Moray’s MSP, Richard Lochhead, with recent multi-million pound improvements to the rail network in the pipeline – and one local improvement being promised before the summer.
That comes in the form of the new footbridge at Elgin Station, promised last year and finally set to become a reality with Network Rail and Transport Scotland teaming up to behind the first of a series of radical changes to the site over the next two years.
A Transport Scotland spokesman said that the new footbridge will enable access for wheelchair users for the first time, bringing step-free access to both platforms for the first time. He said: “The upgrade will improve access to services for disabled passengers using Elgin Station, and once the new footbridge and lifts are in operation the existing footbridge will be removed.”
The spokesman added that he expects the new bridge to be in place by the summer. If that will sufficiently appease disgruntled rail users in Moray remains to be seen, as Mr Verster can expect to find out this evening.
His appearance in Elgin Town Hall will be from 7pm for a meeting that is open to anyone wishing to attend.