Annual Review 2014

Chief Executive Statement

I am delighted to present the Transport Scotland Annual Review for 2013/2014 reporting on some of our significant achievements over this period.

This promises to be a historic year as we see Scotland hosting global events such as the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup. Our preparations for these have been on-going over the past year, with Transport Scotland playing a vital role in ensuring the public can enjoy these unique occasions with minimal disruption to other network users.

We continue to support the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, and the Minister for Transport and Veterans, Keith Brown MSP, in achieving the Scottish Government’s Purpose, by investing over £1.9 billion in the past year to keep our businesses, communities and services connected.

We’ve witnessed significant progress on our roads with the Forth Replacement Crossing, or ‘Queensferry Crossing’ as named by the public, the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR), Balmedie to Tipperty and M8. In rail, progress has been made on the Borders Railway and Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP), Dalmarnock station has undergone substantial redevelopment in time for Glasgow 2014, while the new-look Haymarket station has opened to critical acclaim. Scottish Canals unveiled the Kelpies at Grangemouth, while Scottish Ferries launched the second of its hybrid ferries into service. Prestwick Airport was brought into public ownership, while we continued to extend our international air links served by Edinburgh and Glasgow airports.

Working with stakeholders, we developed the ‘Switched on Scotland: A Roadmap to Widespread Adoption of Plug-in Vehicles’ document to drive uptake in Scotland and hosted the first annual Cycling Summit to discuss the Cycling Action Plan for Scotland.

Policy issues we have progressed on include a further rolling out of the Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) fare, improving air quality and a review of the Scottish safety camera programme. Traffic Scotland continues to develop its information service across multiple desktop and mobile platforms to benefit users whilst on the move.

We remain committed to delivering these projects, services and policies, offering significant economic benefits to the people and businesses of Scotland and beyond.

Our Annual Report and Accounts will be published later in the year to include more detailed information of our 2013/2014 activities and achievements.

David Middleton
Chief Executive, Transport Scotland