Our highlights

Our highlights

• The Access Bikes project has created great opportunities for those experiencing financial hardship to access a bike, standard and adapted bikes were gifted, and an adapted e-bike library in partnership with Spinal Injury Scotland was opened.
• The Highland Spring's rail freight project will remove a minimum of ten million lorry miles from Scotland's roads in the first 10 years of operation.
• Reston station opened in May 2022.
• Preparation was undertaken for four Low Emission Zones in Glasgow (opened in June 2023), Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberdeen. £5.5m of Grant Funding provided to Energy Savings Trust and Local Authorities.
• The Young Persons' Free Bus Travel Scheme saw almost 5.7 million journeys from 609,000 cardholders and a 65% overall uptake at 31 March 2023.
• The Project CAVForth will provide a globally significant demonstration of UK autonomous bus capability along a 14-mile route across the Forth Road Bridge between Fife and Edinburgh.
• Phase 5 of the Bus Emissions Abatement Retrofit Programme (BEAR) supported licenced bus and coach operators (including community transport operators and local authorities) to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions of existing eligible fleet vehicles.
• We continued to maintain and enhance Scotland's railway, including on-going electrification and decarbonisation through our Rail Services Decarbonisation Plan, and subsidised the operation of ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper Services.
• We brought ScotRail into public control and ownership on 1 April 2022.

2,500 free bikes for kids

Removing 10 million lorry miles from our roads on to rail

Four Low Emission Zones

• In the last Transport Focus survey results published in October 2022, overall satisfaction with ScotRail was 90%. This is 4% higher than the previous year and 3% above the Great Britain average.
• In 2022-23 around thirteen thousand trains moved over four million tonnes of goods, saving millions of lorry miles in Scotland. 50% of these trains were electrically hauled.
• In the last year, ScotRail has successfully settled pay deals with the Rail Trade Unions which includes a revenue share scheme for staff.
• This year, our Operating Companies constructed five drainage improvement schemes and one watercourse realignment scheme in areas that are vulnerable to climate risks, such as flooding, slope failure and landslides. These schemes delivered engineering solutions that go beyond maintenance, which adapt the network to the current and future impacts of climate change.
• We implemented Perceptual Rider Information for Maximising Expertise and Enjoyment (PRIME) markings. These help riders make better decisions to adapt their riding when approaching bends. This project is considered the most in-depth investigation of motorcycle rider behaviour in the world. Since the start of the trials, there has been a significant reduction in speed, improvements in breaking and road position behaviours and no motorcycle injury collisions where PRIME markings have been deployed.
• The shift to zero emission transport was supported through the continued funding of ScotZEB (Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund) Phase 1 and Low Carbon Transport Programmes, such as Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund and Switched on Fleets.
• Work was undertaken to progress the design and supervision of construction for Rest and Be Thankful through to completion.
• Our investment in Active Travel supported over 235 Places for Everyone Projects, over 40 km of new and improved routes on the National Cycle Network and the delivery of Cycling Walking Safer Routes projects across thirty-two local authorities.

£30 million to support the shift to zero emission transport

£25 million for Rest and Be Thankful

£109 million in bus operator reimbursement

Case studies

Case study 1: nationalisation of ScotRail

In a statement to Parliament on 17 March 2021, the then Transport Secretary, Michael Matheson, announced that due to on-going economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the delayed UK Government rail review, ScotRail services would be provided within the public sector after the expiry of the Abellio franchise contract. This was to be delivered through the mechanism known as the Operator of Last Resort.

A highly experienced and committed project team in Transport Scotland worked with colleagues in ScotRail to deliver the mobilisation of services. The volume of work and effort that was required to manage and deliver this outcome was considerable and it was testament to the dedication and skills of the project team supported by colleagues in Transport Scotland's Rail Directorate that the mobilisation was delivered on time.

The project team managed the mobilisation while also mobilising the holding company, Scottish Rail Holdings Ltd, as well as providing a high level of assurance to Ministers and senior officials.

On 1 April 2022, ScotRail was successfully brought into public ownership. Services are being provided by ScotRail Trains Ltd, which is overseen by the Scottish Government's wholly owned and controlled arm's-length company, Scottish Rail Holdings Ltd.

ScotRail is focused on delivering high performing services for passengers, communities, and businesses across Scotland, including work to support the Scottish Government's ambitious Net Zero targets.

The most recent data from the Office or Rail and Road (ORR) shows that ScotRail is improving against the public performance measure (PPM) and is 2.8% higher than across Great Britain. Plans are in place to make this even better.

In the last Transport Focus survey results published in October 2022, overall satisfaction with ScotRail was 90%. This is 4% higher than the previous year and 3% above the Great Britain average.

ScotRail is working to attract more women, members of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community, and disabled people into its flagship Modern Apprenticeship Programme.

• 90% overall satisfaction with ScotRail
• 4% higher than the previous year
• 3% above the Great Britain average

Case study 2: young persons' free bus travel scheme

On 31 January 2022, Transport Scotland launched the Young Persons' Free Bus Travel Scheme which provides national free bus travel to those aged under twenty-two. This delivered on commitments made by the Scottish Government in the annual budget and Programme for Government in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

The scheme aims to make it easier and more attractive for younger generations to use low-emission and lower carbon public transport and embed sustainable travel habits from an early age. This is integral to realising the National Transport Strategy vision and aligns with the Climate Change Plan Update published in December 2020, which identified the need to reduce car kilometres by 20 percent by 2030.

Transport Scotland worked with a range of delivery partners to launch the scheme including, the Improvement Service, National Entitlement Card Programme Office, bus operators, local authorities, Young Scot, and a range of others. This enabled the use of existing processes and systems as used in Older & Disabled Persons Free Bus Travel Schemes.

In Autumn 2022, the national marketing campaign was delivered, which increased awareness and understanding of the scheme. It was successful in reaching over 97% of Scotland's adult population, encouraging 79% of campaign recognisers to take action and improving overall opinions of bus.

In the scheme's first year, incredibly, almost fifty million journeys made were free at the point of access. By May 2023, two-thirds of young people have joined the scheme, rising to over 78% for those aged 16-21, with over sixty-two million journeys made.

A significant number of Transport Scotland staff were involved in delivering the Programme, often under challenging circumstances to achieve constructive outcomes. Collectively, this has made an incredible and lasting contribution to young peoples' lives.

• 97% of Scotland's adult population reached by marketing campaign
• 79% of campaign recognisers encouraged to take action as a result
• 62M+ journeys made were free at the point of access

Case study 3: Her Majesty the Queen's funeral cortège from Balmoral to Edinburgh

Transport Scotland co-ordinated the planning for the movement of the funeral cortège for Her Majesty the Queen from Balmoral Castle to The Palace of Holyrood house in Edinburgh, following her death at Balmoral Castle on 8 September 2022.

The operation was delivered in partnership with Police Scotland, BEAR Scotland, Amey, Balfour Beatty, Traffic Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council, Aberdeen City Council, Angus Council, Perth & Kinross Council, Dundee City Council, Fife Council, and the City of Edinburgh Council.

Partners had put in place plans relating to the movement of the Queen's coffin from Balmoral to Edinburgh should she pass at Balmoral Castle. The common theme for all the plans was to ensure that the Queen's coffin travelled from Balmoral to Edinburgh in a safe, secure, and respectful manner, whilst at the same time providing maximum viewing opportunities for mourners.

Transport Scotland established a Cortège Working Group which brought together representatives from partner agencies to ensure there was a consistent look and feel to the cortège movement, whilst ensuring the safety and security of all of those involved in the movement. The group also paid attention to the wider impacts of the cortège movement to keep Scotland moving throughout the cortège's journey, and the ceremonial events.

Partners came together at various locations including the Multi-Agency Coordination Centre and the Transport Scotland Resilience Room, to ensure there was a collaborative approach to delivery and to monitoring the transport networks and co-ordinate the response to any disruption and incidents.

In excess of 280,000 people lined the route of the funeral cortège to pay their respects to the late Monarch.

Working collaboratively with partners, Transport Scotland demonstrated our ability to stage and deliver against a unique set of challenges, particularly around timescales. The funeral cortège was broadcast live throughout the world, with the eyes of the world on Scotland during the movement and the associated ceremonial events.

• 280,000+ people lined the route of the funeral cortège to pay their respects to the late Monarch.