Scottish Cities Alliance

Across our cities, the direction of travel is a positive one with the opening of the new Inverness Airport railway station and exciting upgrades to Aberdeen and Stirling stations.

In Inverness, passenger services started at the beginning of February, and the new station is part of a wider £42 million investment programme in Scotland’s rail network.

As well as giving airport users more choice over how they get to their flights, the new rail line will help take freight off the road and on the railway, which is better for the environment.

The station will improve transport links to the new town of Tornagrain and to the growing Inverness Airport Business Park. which offers exciting business opportunities for investors in the Highlands.

The new station was opened by Jenny Gilruth, Scotland’s Transport Minister, explaining:

I am delighted that Inverness Airport station is now complete and that services will start calling at the station. The site was one of my earliest visits as Transport Minister and gives me a first-hand opportunity to see the significant progress that has been made in a short space of time.

The £42 million package provided by the Scottish Government, including the station and wider rail network infrastructure investment will build resilience and additional capacity. By making rail a more attractive option, we can encourage more people to choose this sustainable transport option as an alternative to the car.

By providing easy access for nearby communities to the key cities of Aberdeen and Inverness, we can encourage inward investment and housing growth, which will both support the local and wider economies.

And Alex Hynes, managing director of Scotland’s Railway, added:

It is part of our commitment, alongside the Scottish Government, to expand the rail network and open-up Scotland’s Railway to new communities.

The opening of the station at Inverness Airport is an exciting development that has the potential to transform the area by improving transport connectivity and triggering further investment and economic growth around the site.

We look forward to services calling at, and passengers using, Inverness Airport and to seeing the positive impact the station will have in the area in years to come.

Meanwhile, in Aberdeen passengers are enjoying the benefits of an £8 million revamp of the city’s railway station. New information screens have been added, the original station building has been given some badly needed TLC and the ticket office and first class lounge have both been refurbished and relocated.

The station also has new, lit-up signage to help connect it to the rest of the city centre, the taxi rank area has been improved and there’s now storage space for 88 bicycles.

Further testament to the work undertaken is ScotRail’s recent receipt of a top award at the National Railway Heritage Awards for the restoration of Aberdeen station. The project was recognised for its high-quality upkeep and enhancement of the environment for the busy city station and for maintaining its historic balance with the requirements of a modern-day station.

And in Stirling, the railway station is getting a £5 million makeover, which will include 150 extra parking spaces for bicycles, a pedestrianised plaza outside the station and better waiting rooms and new toilets. The reduction in traffic around the station is combined with new cycle routes which will provide improved active travel links to the city centre and wider Stirling area, such as the University campus, which ties in with Stirling Council’s ‘Walk, Cycle, Live Stirling’ scheme.

The new-look station is in line with the Scottish Government’s target of net zero emissions by 2045 – proof that the move towards better and greener public transport really is going places across Scotland.