Council Agrees to Funding for New Railway Station at Kintore

Aberdeenshire Council’s Policy & Resource Committee has agreed to commit funding towards a new railway station for Kintore.

Councillors considered a report on the latest funding allocations for the proposed new station this week.

The project, which is closely linked to the Scottish Government’s wider improvements of the Aberdeen to Inverness rail line, is estimated to cost around £12.2 million. Aberdeenshire Council and NESTRANS (the North-east Regional Transport Partnership) have submitted a combined contribution of £3.2 million to the project which will cover around 26% of the total cost.

The Scottish Stations Fund recently committed to providing a further 50% of the total cost. It was agreed that a contribution of 60% be sought and early indications are that the request will be looked at favourably by Scottish Government Ministers.

Vice-chair of Policy & Resources, Councillor Stephen Smith said:

“We had a fruitful debate surrounding the funding of the Kintore Station and we have decided to contribute £3.2million.

“This will ensure that the project moves forward as it will be of enormous economic benefit to Kintore and Aberdeenshire.

“This is just one part in the continuing success and expansion of rail services in the North-east thanks to support from the Scottish Government in recent years which has seen Laurencekirk Station re-open, which has been a huge success; an expansion of services to/from Inverurie from Glasgow and Edinburgh; and the commitment to upgrade the Aberdeen/Inverness line including dualling of the track from Aberdeen to Inverurie.

“The next major rail infrastructure project logically has to be expansion northwards from Dyce to Ellon and Peterhead, the biggest town in the country without a railway station.”