NEGOTIATIONS on the purchase of land for the proposed Helensburgh to Dumbarton cycle route have “largely been positive”, a transport official has claimed.

Allan Comrie, senior transport planner with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, also informed community chiefs that planned changes to Scotland’s railway will have minimal impact on the area.

An update on the two transport modes was given at a virtual meeting of Argyll and Bute Council’s Helensburgh and Lomond Community Planning Group on Thursday, August 19.

Mr Comrie spoke about the ongoing saga with the cycle path, which has been in the pipeline for decades. It has been earmarked for completion in the spring of 2027 - more than 25 years after the project first attracted government backing.

He also briefly referred to plans for a potential study for a railway station to be located adjacent to the Faslane naval base.

Mr Comrie said: “We continue to work with Argyll and Bute Council on the Dumbarton to Helensburgh and Helensburgh to Garelochhead routes.

“The progress of the Dumbarton to Helensburgh route has been fraught with issues, particularly on land ownership.

“It is a very difficult thing – landowners have every right to protect their interests. But negotiations have largely been positive and hopefully some more active travel routes will be made available as and when it becomes possible to construct the path.

“We are also working on progress for a potential study for a railway station at Faslane to enable better access to the military base.”

Improvements to the Helensburgh area's cycle network, and the possibility of a railway station at Faslane, are both included in Transport Scotland's second Strategic Transport Projects Revies (STPR2), setting out hundreds of projects across Scotland which are regarded as suitable for potential future investment.

Mr Comrie added: “We’ve had confirmation that under-22s will become eligible for free bus concession from January 31, so in that regard we will enable younger people to make trips by bus without any cost to themselves.

“Similarly, rail services are being looked at in detail, particularly regarding the proposals by the Scottish Government, which has announced the taking back of rail operations into the public sector.

“ScotRail are proposing certain changes to rail services past May 2022. I have seen very early progress they have made, particularly on the current situation with falling patronage.

“They are looking to rebuild it and restore people’s confidence. The implications for Helensburgh and Lomond are actually very minimal.

“There will be very few changes to the current rail network on Helensburgh Central services, or on the West Highland line.

“There is not a great deal of surprise in any of the proposals being put forward to Transport Scotland, but it will be up to Transport Scotland to accept any proposals.”

Since the meeting, ScotRail has unveiled its plans for its new timetables which will be subject of a public consultation.

Alex Hynes, ScotRail’s managing director, said: “Scotland’s railway is committed to delivering a service that is safe, reliable, green, and clean. Our job is to keep people moving and connected to business, leisure, and education while meeting the expectations of our customers.

“The pandemic has changed how people travel across all of Scotland so our services will reflect these varied travel patterns and deliver timetables that are reliable, have enough capacity to meet pre-Covid levels of demand, and are sustainable.

“We are consulting on the timetable changes being proposed and we would welcome the views of our customers.”

The proposed timetables for Helensburgh from next May continue to feature two trains per hour between Helensburgh Central and Edinburgh throughout the day and the evening, as at present.

The West Highland line linking Helensburgh Upper, Garelochhead, Arrochar & Tarbet and Ardlui with Glasgow, Oban, Fort William and Mallaig will also have the same level of service as it did in 2019 under the proposals.

A briefing document produced by ScotRail on the planned changes said: "North Electrics (Helensburgh to Edinburgh line) has largest cost base of all service groups and generates the largest loss. Average journey length is short compared to service length.

"Whilst seat utilisation per journey is reasonable, seat miles utilisation is very low, meaning there are large parts of each journey with few passengers.

"Core service level is two trains per hour (tph) all day on each leg of the network (4tph between Edinburgh – Bathgate and Airdrie) resulting in an 8tph frequency through the central Glasgow corridor.

"Most services operate six carriages all day due to lack of locations to efficiently split/combine units in the shoulder peaks.

"There is significant overprovision of capacity in the central Glasgow corridor and between Edinburgh and Airdrie in the off peak."

It added: "The West Highland Line has very seasonal demand but same service level operated all year round driving the low seat and seat miles metrics.

"The service is very efficiently resourced, which constrains the timetable. The market is well understood and focus should be on growing demand between September and March."