Aberdeenshire finely balanced as new Council meets
Green candidate adds voice to Kintore rail campaign
The newly selected Green Westminster candidate for Gordon has added her voice to the campaign for a rail halt at Kintore.
Sue Edwards has written to Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson to make the case for a station at Kintore. In her letter, Mrs Edwards
says: "With the recent news that the number of people using trains in
the north-east of Scotland has soared by almost a third in just a few
years – significantly higher than the national average – it is
imperative that there is a firm commitment to build the station at
Kintore, together with some idea when this station is expected to open."
Mrs Edwards' letter comes after supportive
comments about the Kintore station proposal were made by the Transport
Minister in the Scottish Parliament in October last year. Since
then, new figures have emerged showing that other station re-openings
have been very successful.
Sue Edwards said: "An average of 1,257 passengers a week were using Laurencekirk Station six weeks after it reopened, and that is with a population of just over 2,000. Passenger numbers here exceeded estimates by 80%. With a population of over 3,500 in Kintore, and about the same in near-by Kemnay, it is not difficult to predict the dramatic effect a station in Kintore could have in reducing road traffic travelling into Aberdeen on one of its main arteries, the A96."
Sue Edwards said: "An average of 1,257 passengers a week were using Laurencekirk Station six weeks after it reopened, and that is with a population of just over 2,000. Passenger numbers here exceeded estimates by 80%. With a population of over 3,500 in Kintore, and about the same in near-by Kemnay, it is not difficult to predict the dramatic effect a station in Kintore could have in reducing road traffic travelling into Aberdeen on one of its main arteries, the A96."
One of Sue Edwards'
Green Party colleagues is East Garioch independent councillor Martin
Ford. Cllr Ford is a long-standing campaigner for a station in Kintore
and was one of the organisers of the 1000-signature petition in support
of a new station in 2008.
Said Cllr Ford: "A positive announcement from the Scottish Government in favour of a station at Kintore is long-overdue."
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