HC Deb 04 December 1968 vol 774 cc1513-5
19. Mr. Clark Hutchison

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what study his Department made of improvements in communications in Fife and between Glenfarg and Perth.

Dr. Dickson Mabon

Communications in these areas are being examined in the Tayside Study and the East Central Scotland Land Use/Transportation Study. North-south communications will be greatly improved by the M90 motorway from Perth to the Forth Road Bridge, of which the Cowdenbeath bypass, now under construction, forms a part.

Mr. Clark Hutchison

The motorway is moving rather slowly. Has the Minis- ter noticed that this proposed closure of the railway, the direct link between Edinburgh and Perth, would harm communications, particularly to the north? Will he use his good offices to see that the railway is kept open?

Dr. Mahon

I know that British Rail intends to make formal publication of its proposal to close but the decision whether or not to close the line will be taken by the Minister subsequent to the hearing by the Scottish Transport Users Consultative Committee, and the views of the Tayside Study Group Committee and the Scottish Economic Planning Council will be taken into account.

Mr. Doig

Is the Minister aware that he has just authorised the expenditure of another large sum of money on the Dundee to Perth road; that the shortest route for all the traffic passing through, with the exception of purely local traffic, is not this road at all, and that he could save money by expenditure on the Fife road, which provides a much shorter route to Glasgow and Edinburgh?

Dr. Mahon

I am aware of the announcement about the £400,000 to be spent on the A85, since I made it myself on Friday on behalf of my right hon. Friend. I would not agree that development of the A85 should take second place to a Fife regional road. It is the policy of the Government that we shall develop the M90 and the A85. The route of the East Fife road and its potential traffic growth are being studied for possible development some time in the seventies.

Mr. MacArthur

Will the Minister agree that rapid links with the south are essential to the future economy of Perth? Will he recognise the very wide concern that has been expressed in Perth about the present proposal which would, in effect, put the city half an hour further away than at present? Further, can he say when the motorway is likely to be completed?

Dr. Mahon

I hope that we would have the motorway, including the southern part of the Perth bypass, completed by the early seventies, but I cannot be precise without due notice. I quite accept that we have to hear the case both for and against British Rail's proposal for closure, but a proposition that has been drawn to our attention, and rehearsed in this question, is that the line of the route might well use some of the railway track if permission for the closure is given, which I admit is an open question.