This information is not held by the Scottish Government.

As I announced at the Dumfries Transport Summit on the 22 August, we will further assess recommendations for strategic transport infrastructure priorities in Dumfries and Galloway and the rest of Scotland as part of an update to the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR). Any assessment of these recommendations, including the estimated costs will be considered at that stage.

Transport Scotland staff do not routinely record the time spent on individual projects, hence we do not hold that information.

Rail fares are set by franchisees on a commercial basis. For the majority of rail services between Dumfries and Galloway and the Central Belt, fares are set by ScotRail.

In the current franchise period, the Scottish Government has taken action to help keep ScotRail fares down: annual regulated ScotRail peak fares increases are capped at the level of the Retail Price Index (RPI) and off-peak regulated fares increases are capped at one per cent below RPI.

The regulation of fares on rail services from Glasgow to Lockerbie, operated by the InterCity West Coast franchise, is a matter for the UK Government.

The forthcoming review of the Strategic Transport Projects Review will assess recommendations for strategic transport infrastructure priorities in Dumfries and Galloway and the rest of Scotland. Within the review options for the A75 corridor between Gretna and Stranraer will be considered. As this work is at an early scoping stage it is not currently possible to estimate the cost.

The information requested is a matter for the Scottish Police Authority. I have alerted the Chief Executive to your question and I have asked him to write to you.

There have been no direct discussions between the Scottish Government and the UK Government. However there have been on-going discussions over a number of years between Highways England (formerly Highways Agency), Transport Scotland, Local Authorities and Community Councils. An initial meeting took place 13 April 2011 and subsequent meetings were held on 13 December 2013, 15 August 2014, 19 March 2015, 15 April 2016 with the latest held on 15 September 16. As the motorway junction is in England, this is essentially a matter for Highways England.

The Scottish Government is committed to rail electrification recognising the key benefits it brings in terms of improved journey times and connectivity, environmental benefits and reduced industry costs. As part of this commitment we will include all remaining non-electrified routes, including the Dumfries - Kilmarnock line, in future electrification strategies, however delivery will be subject to consideration against other rail priorities and sufficient resources being available.

Transport Scotland maintain a range of traffic forecasts on all trunk roads in Scotland using the national transport model, The Transport Model for Scotland. It has a base year of 2014 and produces forecasts for a number of future years. Future forecasts of demand are based upon a range of assumptions including population growth, fuel prices, economic activity, land-use changes. There is uncertainty associated with these assumptions which increases over time.

Details of current and forecast traffic flows on the selected trunk roads in Dumfries and Galloway are shown in the table below The current traffic flows are taken from Automatic Traffic Counters at the locations described in 2014.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

WRITTEN ANSWER

21 September 2016

Index Heading: Transport Scotland

Oliver Mundell (Dumfriesshire) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how many accidents on the (a) A76, (b) A75, (c) A7, (d) A701 between Dumfries and Moffat and (e) whole road network have been recorded by Transport Scotland in each of the last five years.

S5W-02451

Humza Yousaf: A76

A75

A7

A701

These figures relate to the trunk section of the A701 between Dumfries and the M74. The remainder of the A701 is a local road for which we do not hold data.

Trunk Road Network