North East Liberal Democrat MSP Alison McInnes has welcomed the announcement that ScotRail will shortly roll-out free wi-fi on its trains between Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
 
ScotRail managing director Steve Montgomery confirmed today that wi-fi will be live on 59 of its trains, including those travelling from Edinburgh to Dundee and Aberdeen, by the end of the year.
 
Mrs McInnes said: “Last year I called on the Scottish Government to meet the demands of passengers and recognise the need for free reliable wi-fi on our trains. I am pleased that ScotRail is now pressing ahead with this.
 
“It is important that ScotRail and the Scottish Government now go one step further and work towards introducing free wi-fi across the entire rail network.”

North Kincardine councillor Ian Mollison commented: “This is good news for the ever increasing numbers of passengers who use Portlethen and Stonehaven stations. The latest figures show that there has been a 77% increase in passenger numbers at Portlethen between 2004/05 and 2011/12 to 19,078. Meanwhile Stonehaven has seen a 38% rise to 502,816 in that period.

“More and more people are being attracted to using the train, and this latest initiative will help. However the rail corridor around Aberdeen could carry many, many more people if the Scottish Government were willing to revive the Crossrail project with our own commuter trains and more local stations, such as Newtonhill.”