Only 8% of funding has been delivered on a promised £200 million rail project to speed up journeys between Aberdeen and the Central Belt by 2026, new figures have revealed.
The latest statistics, obtained by North East MSP Douglas Lumsden, show just £16.3 million has been spent by the SNP government on the Aberdeen to Central Belt Journey Time Improvement Project, which was launched in 2016.
The Scottish Government committed to reducing journey times between Aberdeen and the Central Belt by 20 minutes, as part of a £200 million addition to the City Region Deal.
But eight years down the line, it has emerged a staggering £184 million has still to be delivered, just days after finance secretary Shona Robison failed to mention the scheme in the SNP’s 2025-26 Scottish Budget.
It comes as implementation work for the project had been paused in the 2024-25 budget, though business case preparation works, and design work were said to have continued.
Scottish Conservative North East MSP Douglas Lumsden, who previously sat on the city region deal panel as Aberdeen City Council co-leader, said: “The SNP government are taking the public for a ride with repeated false promises on this vital rail project, which has hit the buffers.
“North East passengers are having to put up with a second class rail service and will rightly be furious that eight years on from when this was first announced, only 8% of funding has been given for a project that is supposed to be delivered by 2026.
“Not only that, but going by the current rate of spending, it would take almost 100 years for the Scottish Government to have fully cracked their wallet.
“If the SNP was serious about enhancing the North East’s rail infrastructure, it wouldn’t still be at the drawing board stage of this failed pledge, which has been shambolically handled by numerous ministers.
“It’s time for the SNP government to stop prioritising the likes of Glasgow and Edinburgh and finally give North East commuters the long overdue improvements they deserve, such as reducing journey times by 20 minutes.”
