Building Scotland’s Infrastructure for the Future

As an amendment to motion S4M-12382 in the name of Keith Brown (Building Scotland’s Infrastructure for the Future), leave out from "welcomes" to end and insert "supports the long-term approach set out in the Infrastructure Investment Plan but notes that, as of 15 August 2014, under a third of the projects remaining are currently in construction; notes that more needs to be done to ensure that new infrastructure projects are developed in a more strategic way, including ensuring that transport links are an integral consideration in the planning process; acknowledges that a number of promised projects have encountered delays, including the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme and the Borders railway project, or have been cancelled, such as the Glasgow Airport Rail Link, at great cost to the taxpayer; further notes that there is still further investment required to support user-focused development of the Scottish transport system, including dualling of the A9, electrification and dualling of the rail network, especially on rail lines north of Perth, and ensuring that bus regulation is developed to ensure the bus network meets the needs of passengers not commercial operators; recognises the further benefit that projects such as high speed rail and Crossrail would bring in speeding up journey times in Scotland, and calls for cross-party commitment to long-term projects such as these."