• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Transform Scotland

Transform Scotland

  • About Us
        • Our team
        • Our members
        • Contact us
        • About us

  • Our Work
        • Publications
        • Our projects
        • Consultancy
        • Cross Party Group
        • Our work

  • Latest
        • News
        • Alerts
        • Events
        • Latest

  • Join us
  • Donate

Twenty Years of Scotland’s Railway: Our briefing for MSPs

8 September 2025

FacebookTweetEmailLinkedIn

A welcome for Scottish Government motion on 20 years of Scotland’s devolved railway, but calls for serious challenges ahead to be tackled.

Ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s Holyrood debate on Scotland’s Railway, we’ve issued a detailed parliamentary briefing to all MSPs.

The Government’s notes the many achievements on Scotland’s railway over the past 20 years and calls for UK Government railway reforms to benefit, not hinder, the devolved nature of Scotland’s railway.

read the briefing

Key points:

  • Welcomes Scottish Government debate & agrees with the content of the motion, including with regards to devolution of rail powers.

  • Welcomes decisions to abolish peak hour fares & to commit to Fife/Borders rail electrification.

  • Notes large backlog of ageing infrastructure, in particular on inter-city and rural routes.

  • Notes poor alignment between broader transport policy and rail policy.

  • Proposes a new set of priorities for Scotland’s Railway, in order to put passengers first.

Read the briefing in full below.

‘Twenty Years of Scotland’s Railway’ debate — Transform Scotland briefing paper — 2025-09-09Download

NewsInvestment Policy Public transport

Share

FacebookTweetEmailLinkedIn
Back to Latest

Latest posts

Scotland’s next trains: New paper sets out case for national investment plan

28 May 2026

Our new discussion paper sets out the critical need for a clear, ambitious investment plan to renew Scotland’s ageing train fleets. With ScotRail now operating the second oldest fleet in…

Read more

NewsPolicy Public transport

What do the Holyrood election results mean for transport?

14 May 2026

Public affairs manager Laura Hyde-White comments on the outcome of the 7 May Holyrood elections and what the results could mean for transport in the next parliamentary session. What does…

Read more

NewsAviation Cars Freight Investment Policy Public transport Roads Traffic

Holyrood 2026: What do party manifestos say on transport?

1 May 2026

Ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections on 7 May, we’ve scrutinised the main party manifestos to assess what is promising, what is problematic, and what is missing from the debate….

Read more

NewsCars Equalities Policy

How to tackle the hidden costs of parking: A new report

21 April 2026

Our new report ‘Ahead of the Kerb’ examines the hidden costs of parking in Scotland – including the pressures created by SUVs – and sets out how to use parking…

Read more

NewsCars Equalities Policy

Sign up for email updates

We'll send you news on our work, plus other updates about how you can get involved in Scotland's campaign for sustainable transport.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Cookies policy
  • Credits
  • Accessibility
  • Work for us
  • Leave a legacy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

© 2026 Transform Scotland is a registered Scottish charity (SC041516)