A Public Vision for Financing Scotland's Railways

That the Parliament welcomes the recent report, A Public Vision for Financing Scotland's Railways, commissioned by the train drivers' union, ASLEF, and written by the University of Glasgow academics, Professor Andrew Cumbers and Grace Brown, which outlines a new vision for the public financing of ScotRail's rolling stock; understands that the report rejects what it considers as the failed and flawed private financing model using either Rolling Stock Companies (ROSCOS) or Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to lease or purchase rail rolling stock; notes the view, according to the report, that as ScotRail looks to replace its ageing fleet it should do so by utilising the Scottish Government's borrowing powers to issue green bonds, which it believes would represent better value for the public purse, reducing costs that could be reinvested in Scotland's railway infrastructure and help to reduce fares, making rail travel more affordable; further notes the view, according to the report, that this is an option that must be considered as a replacement for the current private financing models that see money extracted from rail services and paid as shareholder dividends, much of which, it believes, ends up being siphoned off to offshore tax havens; considers the report to be a very important and helpful contribution to the debate over the financing of public goods and services, and thanks ASLEF, Andrew Cumbers and Grace Brown for their work in producing it.