This is disappointing but there have had to be cutbacks in most public sector budgets so it's not surprising that EGIP has had to be scaled back too given the economic problems the country is currently suffering from.
The original plans for EGIP were perhaps over-ambitious in some respects. Four trains an hour between Edinburgh and Glasgow should be more than enough. The six trains per hour became necessary because of the restricted platform length at Glasgow Queen Street. The redesign of Glasgow Queen Street will allow longer trains so the increase in passenger numbers can now be accommodated by longer trains rather than more frequent ones. This, together with a 10 minute reduction in journey time (instead of a 15 minute reduction) substantially reduces the need for many other infrastructure changes along the route.
Although the Dalmeny chord that would have allowed trains from the west to access Edinburgh Gateway station, a cheaper solution is to stop some Edinburgh - Glasgow trains at Edinburgh Park which also has a tram link to the airport.
The extra £300m would have;
- Saved 15 minutes off the journey time between the cities rather than 10 minutes.
- Provided a train every ten minutes instead of every 15.
- Dropped passengers from the west at Edinburgh Gateway instead of Edinburgh Park.
- Electrified the routes to Dunblane and Alloa.
Given the budget cutbacks that have been imposed across the UK, it's necessary to make difficult choices and I can see the logic behind scaling back EGIP to avoid deeper cuts elsewhere. There is still scope to add the other improvements at a future date.