The SNP Scottish government is short changing commuters north of the central belt after rejecting calls by transport campaigners to look again at reopening a direct rail link between Edinburgh and Perth.The SNP Scottish government has also failed to deliver on this promise to reduce the journey time on the Edinburgh – Inverness rail route by 35 minutes by 2012.In August 2008 the First Minister promised voters north of the central belt that the SNP Scottish Government was in negotiation with network rail to make improvements to the line between Inverness and Edinburgh and he made the specific commitment to reduce the train time by 35 minutes by 2012.Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland & Fife said: “I am disappointed that the SNP have rejected calls to look again at reopening a direct rail link between Edinburgh and Perth. I recently met with Transform Scotland and believe that their calls to reopening a direct rail link between Edinburgh and Perth is something which should be looked at again.“The reopening a direct rail link between Edinburgh and Perth could bring many benefits not only to the local economy in Perthshire and Fife but also in delivering an improved high speed rail network north of the central belt.“The SNP have made many pledges to improve the rail network for communities north of the central belt – most of which they have not delivered or scrapped.“Many people in Perthshire and Fife commute to work in Edinburgh and Inverness and increasingly residents north of the central belt are asking why the First Minister and the SNP Scottish Government has failed to keep the pledge they made in 2008 to reduce the train time by 35 minutes by 2012.“In the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, the UK Conservative Government provided SNP Ministers with £331m in extra capital funding to help deliver infrastructure projects.“The public increasingly feels that the SNP have developed a central belt bias which is holding back transport developments north of Perth. Scotland deserves a first class rail network - not the second class ticket Alex Salmond and the SNP Scottish Government offer.”