Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland & Fife has written to SNP Transport Minister, Keith Brown inviting him to visit Kinross to meet with campaigners hoping to attract support to reopen a direct rail link between Edinburgh and Perth. Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland & Fife who has been leading the campaign said: “I was disappointed that the SNP Scottish Government have not engaged with the growing support for the campaign to reopen a direct rail link between Edinburgh and Perth.“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.“As the Minister will know from his time as an MSP representing Kinross-shire and when he was the SNP candidate and was very keen to support the re-opening of a Station at Kinross, much of the proposed route alignment is still in existence. Some development has inevitably taken place at a number of locations, and a four-mile tunnelled section would be required to avoid the M90 and Glenfarg village.“Perthshire Chamber of Commerce has given the proposal their support and has consistently argued that ‘good connectivity is a key factor in helping to grow the economy in Perthshire’. “The areas of Scotland which have the fastest growing populations over the next 3 decades include Perthshire, Kinross-shire, and Fife with a high commuter influence on Edinburgh. We have already seen the pressures on roads for increasing car and HGV traffic. “I have written to SNP Transport Minister, Keith Brown inviting him to visit Kinross to meet with local residents and campaigners the I hope that this might help convince the Minister to consider a new feasibility study which is undoubtedly the best way to assess the full cost – benefit analysis of the proposal.”