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Update
February 2003
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The Station
Further
details of the proposed rail link were announced on 3 February 04.
The new low-level station is to be near the south-east corner of the
terminal building, with two 1,500 metre tunnels running under the runway
and the River Almond.
There are
to be ten trains per hour in each direction, 4 Glasgow, 4
Fife and 2 Stirling. These include through Edinburgh-Inverness and
Aberdeen-Newcastle services.
It is
planned to submit a Private Bill to the Scottish Parliament in 2005 and to
start the building work in 2006.
Edinburgh Evening News 3 February
2003, p.9. |
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Update
March 2003
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The Route
It is proposed
to divert the Edinburgh to Glasgow railway to pass through a new mile-long
tunnel under Edinburgh Airport, with a station at the airport. There
will also be direct trains from the station to Fife, Stirling, Aberdeen
and Newcastle.
Transport
Minister, Ian Gray, gave the go-ahead to this £505m project on 12 March
03. It was the more expensive of two alternatives under
consideration. This announcement was welcomed by the City of
Edinburgh Council, Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Edinburgh
Evening News.
It is hoped
that the station will open in 2010.
Edinburgh Evening News
12 March 2003, pp.9,10. |
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Update
November 2004
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Consultation
TIE (Transport
Initiative Edinburgh - a council owned company) is to distribute up to
250,000 leaflets around Scotland seeking views on their proposals for the
rail link to Edinburgh airport.
They propose diverting
the Edinburgh-Glasgow and Edinburgh-Fife lines through a new tunnel under
the airport.
TIE estimated that 1.85
million passengers a year would use the rail link when it opened in 2010,
the number increasing to 3.31 million in 2020.
A Public Meeting is to
be held in the Hilton Hotel at the Airport on 11 December. See the
Edinburgh Airport Rail Link web
site for further details.
Herald & Post - 11 November 2004
- page 9 |
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Update
November 2004
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Alternatives
TIE have
been looking at cheaper alternatives to building a tunnel and station
under the runways. They estimate that substantial savings could be
made by building the station on the existing Edinburgh-Fife railway line
at Turnhouse and providing a 3/4 mile underground between the station and
the airport terminal.
TIE
estimate that this option would cost £321m, rather than £500m for the
tunnels and station under the airport. There would be a further
saving of £100m because it would no longer be necessary to acquire new
rolling stock to meet the tunnel's health and safety standards and able to
cope with the steep gradients out of the tunnel.
However
siting the station at Turnhouse, rather than under the airport, would
increase the journey times between the city centre and the airport from 16
minutes to 36 minutes; and TIE estimate that for every 100 passengers who
would use the rail link to a station under the airport, only 42 would use
it if the station were at Turnhouse.
Other
alternatives mentioned in TIE's report are a bus service or a driverless
shuttle for the 3/4 mile journey between a station at Turnhouse and the
airport terminal.
Herald & Post - 11 November 2004
- page 9 |
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Update
November 2004
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Tram and Rail Links
The rail link would provide direct
access to the airport from throughout Scotland. It is also proposed
to provide a link to the airport by
tram, for more local
traffic, from 2010. |
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Update
March 2006
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Delay until 2011
After
studying a detailed audit of all the Scottish Executive's major transport
commitments, Tavish Scott, Transport Minister in the Scottish Parliament
announced, in March 2006 that the
Waverley link to the Scottish Borders is now expected to open again in
2011, three years later than planned.
Edinburgh Evening News
March 16, 2006, p.11
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Update
December 2006
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Objections Withdrawn
Evidence
to Parliament is now complete.
TIE have
announced that the number of objectors to the line has now fallen from 48
to 18.
Organisations including Scottish Power, O2, British Transport Police
Authority, Royal Mail, Edinburgh & Lothians Badger Group, and many
landowners have now withdrawn their objections after reaching agreement
with TIE.
Edinburgh Evening News
December 7, 2006, p.5
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Update
May 2007
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SNP would Cancel the Project
Alex
Salmond, leader of the SNP, the largest party in the Scottish Parliament
following the elections in May 2007, has been appointed First Minister.
He has
called for reviews of both the proposed Edinburgh Tram scheme and
the proposed Edinburgh Airport Rail Link. He has declared his
party's opposition to both projects, commenting that the cash could be
better spent elsewhere.
Most of
the press comment on Alex Salmond's views has centred around his
opposition to the trams. The tram proposals are more advanced than
the rail link proposals. Cash was allocated by the Scottish
Parliament in 2006 towards Edinburgh's trams, and £79m has already been
spent on the project.
Edinburgh Evening News and The Scotsman: several articles, May 2007 |
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Update:
June 2007 |
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Audit Report finds Problems
The
Edinburgh Evening News on June 20, 2007, announced that the report by
Audit Scotland to the Scottish Parliament, had been published today and
had concluded:
- Edinburgh's trams are likely to arrive on
time, early 2011, and on budget.
- Edinburgh Airport Rail Link is unlikely
to meet its target date of 2011.
The
report added that a number of key decisions still needed to be made
(relating to governance and procurement strategy) and that the Project
Board had not met between April 2006 and February 2007, had only met twice
since then and had set no date for their next meeting.
Edinburgh Evening News, June 20, 2007:
pp.1,5 |
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Update:
July 2007 |
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Rail Link Project likely to be Abandoned
Following criticism of the Edinburgh Air Rail Link (EARL) project by
the Scottish National Party, sources close to the project now say that
they do not expect it to go ahead in its present form.
They
expect that the 13 engineers and other specialists working on the scheme
to be 'allowed to leave the project' next week, so that TIE can devote
more attention to ensuring that Edinburgh's trams are delivered on time
and on budget.
then and
had set no date for their next meeting.
Edinburgh Evening News, July 7, 2007: p.7 |
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Update:
September 2007 |
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EARL Rejected - New Scheme Proposed
Transport Minister, Stewart Stevenson, announced on September 27 that the
£650m Edinburgh Airport Rail Link project, involving building a tunnel for
the railway line under the runway at Edinburgh Airport, is not to go
ahead, despite approx £30m having been spent on the project.
In its
place, he proposes the building of a new station on the Edinburgh-Fife
line, near the Gogar Roundabout, and diverting Edinburgh-Glasgow trains to
pass through this new station. It is estimated that the total cost
would be about £200m.
The
proposed trams for Edinburgh would provide the link between the station at
Gogar and Edinburgh Airport.
Edinburgh Evening News, September 25, 2007:
p.2
Edinburgh Evening News, September 27, 2007:
pp.1,5 and
Edinburgh Evening News, September 29, 2007:
p.2 |
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