Railfuture AGM - 2024/Edinburgh

In his role as Transport and Environment Convener at City of Edinburgh Council, Councillor Scott Arthur was leading the plans to open a second tram line in Edinburgh. This was due to go out to public consultation later in 2024 and could potentially be open in 2032. There is some controversy about the new route as it proposes to use a former railway line that is now used by cyclists — see article.

He talked about how Edinburgh Trams has become a success, after a very troublesome birth (in which it was nearly killed off by the Scottish Government before work started on constructing it, and then went disastrously over budget) and a late opening in 2014. Thankfully a much better delivered extension to Newhaven opened in June 2023, close to its budget and on time.

Scott Arthur describes his background as follows: "I grew up in one of the most deprived areas of the UK — a council estate in Kirkcaldy during the 1980s miner's strike. My route out of that was to work hard at school and go on to complete a degree and eventually a PhD. This solid educational base has led me to a career which has taken me right around the world — from Australia to Brazil and Dubai. My experience tells me that education is fundamental to reducing inequality in Scotland and elsewhere in the world. As a academic who manages one of the UK's leading engineering programmes at a Scottish university, I continually come across students with backgrounds like mine who must leave university because they simply cannot afford to support themselves."

He was elected as MP for Edinburgh South West on 4 July 2024, a week before the AGM. Fortunately he was still able to attend.

Railfuture invited Cllr Arthur to speak at the AGM to explain the exciting proposals for the tram extension.

George Hazel is a director of E-Rail, which pioneers an innovative infrastructure financing model 'Land Value Capture' which Railfuture has supported through its Fighting Fund match-funding studies in West Oxfordshire for Witney Oxford Transport Group and Oxfordshire County Council and most recently StARLink and Fife Council.

E-Rail describes its vision as wishing to see its "methodology effectively utilised on all new or existing line reopening rail projects in the UK.

On his CV, Mr Hazel says that he "has published a book on Making Cities Work and has presented at a large number of conferences around the world. He was appointed Smart Mobility Network Integrator for Scottish Enterprise on the development of a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) from 2013 to 2016 and established the Scottish MaaS Alliance. He was then appointed as the Programme Manager for MaaS Scotland, a network of over 70 companies and public agencies hosted by Technology Scotland with ScotlandIS. He is currently a Board Member and Advisor to MaaS Scotland. He is a Non-Exec Board Member for Transport for Edinburgh and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport."

Railfuture invited George Hazel to speak at Railfuture's AGM to learn more about funding for rail schemes can be obtained. The subject links nicely with the Edinburgh Trams second line proposal, which will need a substantial amount of money if it is to become a reality.