Business groups call for Glasgow Airport rail link to be reinstated
23.11.09
Six leading business groups have written to the Scottish government calling for it to reinstate the Glasgow Airport Rail Link. The groups, which include CBI Scotland, say axing the link will hit job creation, increase traffic congestion and damage ‘international connectivity’.
The £120m airport rail link was scrapped by the SNP in September, the highest profile casualty of public spending cuts. The SNP said the decision was prompted by ‘Westminster-imposed cuts’ to its budget, and concerns about escalating costs.
In a letter to Finance Secretary John Swinney, the heads of CBI Scotland, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Scotland, the Institute of Directors (IoD) Scotland, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) and Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE) expressed their ‘profound disagreement’ with the decision.
The letter states: ‘In our view, the Glasgow Airport Rail Link project is not only desirable but affordable. It has been cancelled only as a result of the Scottish Government's priorities lying elsewhere and ministers' decisions not to use the full range of funding options and revenue streams with regard to infrastructure development.'
‘In the spirit of partnership, we would be happy to sit down with the Scottish government and others to discuss possible ways forward.’ The letter ends by asking Mr Swinney to ‘take our concerns seriously and seek to reintroduce the airport link into the Government's spending plans’ for the next financial year.
Add to: del.icio.us | Digg it | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
To book a glasgow airport hotel or glasgow airport car park at the lowest price, click on these links to two great glasgow airport car parking and glasgow airport hotel price comparison pages.
