"£500m less to spend" What future the Dalcross rail halt now?

And so it begins; the 'credit crunch' fallout?

Well, whatever you wish to call it the headlines on this morning's news and on the BBC news on line were not encouraging:

"Ministers scrap airport rail plan"

"The Scottish Government has scrapped the £120m Glasgow Airport Rail Link, amid public spending cut concerns."

"Mr Swinney told the Scottish Parliament the rail link had to go to cope with a £129m cut in the NHS budget, as a result of UK government reductions in heath department capital spending."

Well, as the news item says:

"The Glasgow Airport Rail Link, which was due to open in time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, was overwhelmingly backed by MSPs as a "nationally significant project"."

Now, some people believe that airports can take money out of economys, and passenger numbers at Glasgow were reported to have dropped earlier this year, but, in 2008, more than 8.1 million people travelled from Glasgow, making it the eighth busiest airport in the UK.

According to the Inverness Airport information site 558,000 passengers travel through the terminal each year. As APTSec has posted before:

PROJECT 19 – Rail Improvements Between Aberdeen and Inverness

Aim:

To reduce journey time and increase frequency of service on the train between Aberdeen
and Inverness.

Improvements to the rail line between Aberdeen and Inverness as part of this proposal
would include new loops and line speed improvements, dual track sections and a new station
at Dalcross with Park & Ride and an interchange to Inverness Airport. This would allow the
introduction of more trains per day between Inverness and Aberdeen (at least one per hour)
and additional rail services between Nairn and Inverness (two per hour).

Cost estimate: £250-£500 million*.

APTSec for one would like some clarity:

Do we think airports are a good thing or not in terms of benefits to the economy? (What of the environmental costs and peak oil?)

What are the realisitic chances of obtaining finances to support the building of a rail halt at Inverness Airport Dalcross? (Given that when 'tough choices' had to be made the Government chose not to build a rail link between a major Scottish City and its major airport.)