Evaluation of rail projects
To help assess whether investments in rail projects in Scotland have been a good use of public money, and have met their transport planning objectives, we have our own Rail Evaluation Guidance. It also allows us to learn lessons for the planning and delivery of future rail projects.
We developed the guidance in consultation with practitioners and stakeholders to ensure consistency in approach, and it outlines the stages which should be followed when designing and conducting an evaluation:
Borders Railway evaluation
We’ve used the guidance to inform our on-going evaluation of the Borders Railway project:
Borders Railway baseline study
- Borders Railway baseline study final report
- Borders Railway secondary data baseline report
- Borders Railway process evaluation
Borders Railway year 1 study
Borders Railway year 2 study
Evaluation final reports
The draft guidance was applied to the evaluation of three rail projects in Scotland. The final reports for these three evaluations are available below:
- Larkhall – Milngavie Railway project evaluation report
- Reinstatement of Laurencekirk Railway Station evaluation report
- Airdrie - Bathgate Rail Link improvement evaluation report
Workshops
To assist with the drafting of the guidance two workshops were held with practitioners and stakeholders, and a note of both meetings is given below:
For further information on the rail evaluation work please email Transport Research mailbox.