Dear Alastair

Welcome to my last newsletter of the year, with a selection of The Scotsman's latest leading transport coverage and a recap of some of the stories and videos I've produced in 2024 with audio visual colleagues Lisa Ferguson and John Devlin in some spectacular locations across Scotland.

First, this week's news, which has been dominated yet again by ferries.

Public spending watchdogs raised new concerns about the troubled Scottish Government-owned shipyard Ferguson Marine, then competition authorities said ministers hadn't done enough to make the case for awarding a new contract to ferry operator CalMac - also state owned - without a competition.

There was then good and bad news about CalMac's badly-needed new ferries: I revealed when six-and-a-half years late Glen Sannox will finally start carrying passengers on its busiest route, but also that the first of four vessels being built in Turkey has suffered a further delay to its expected delivery date.

Elsewhere, there was also mixed news on the railways, with LNER confirming "transformational" journey time cuts for its Edinburgh-London services, but the Scottish Government finally admitted its ambitious deadline for scrapping ScotRail's remaining diesel trains such as these ageing Inter7City trains would be pushed back by a decade.

Now let's look back at some of the memorable places I visited this year, meeting some inspiring people and being given the privilege of going behind the scenes of some of Scotland's transport landmarks.

My favourite video was filmed aboard a vintage observation car on the Strathspey Railway in June - a lovely way of seeing the Highlands and I was blessed with good weather to capture the Cairngorms scenery.

Sitting in armchairs, drinking coffee as the landscape unfolded through the large windows was a memorable experience.

The most unexpected trip was being shown round the inside of the Tay Road Bridge in October with Lisa.

I couldn't work out how it could be accessed until we were taken via a mobile gantry and scissor lift to clamber through a tiny hatch, 100ft above the river.

I was also lucky enough to see the interior of another Scottish transport landmark in February with Lisa - the Falkirk Wheel boat lift.

We were there to view the biggest overhaul since it opened more than two decades ago, which Scottish Canals likened to replacing an old Nokia mobile with the latest iPhone.

In August, I had a cracking day out with John, travelling by bus, historic steam ship and electric bike around Loch Katrine in the Trossachs, the so-called birthplace of Scottish tourism.

It's a marvellous circular tour with the added bonus of being able to cycle on virtually traffic-free roads.

The variety of transport I covered was reflected by being spun round a former motor racing circuit at Ingliston in September by a Paralympian GB wheelchair basketball player in an adapted electric Ford Mustang.

Robyn Love was engagingly demonstrating one of the vehicles offered to people with disabilities by an organisation with the largest fleet of its type in Europe.

I had rather less success when joining a North Coast 500 endurance event in August with John to showcase the potential of electric vehicles for company fleets.

The mountain scenery may have looked amazing, but an unexpected glitch forced us to make an early exit - and have the heart-in-your-mouth experience of descending hairpin bends in the cab of a tow truck.

Finally, I managed another first by taking to the roads on an electric scooter in Portsmouth - an experience only legal south of the Border.

I roped in my brother Tony - visiting from France where e-scooters are commonplace - to record the experience.

I'm always keen to hear your thoughts about our transport coverage - along with tip-offs and suggestions for stories, which you can send in confidence if preferred.

Please email adalton@scotsman.com or message me on X/Twitter at @AlastairDalton or on Bluesky at @alastairdalton.bsky.social

Best wishes for the festive period. This newsletter will return on Friday 3 January.

Alastair

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