Transport and Logistics Network
By Krissy Storrar For The Scottish Daily Mail[1] Published: 22:22, 23 September 2024 | Updated: 22:34, 23 September 2024
A woman died in a horror crash after a group of escaped horses caused havoc on a busy A-road near G…
A MAN has died following a horror crash on a Scots road.
Mercy crews[1] raced to the A75 near Springholm, Castle Douglas, after the alarm was raised around 1:15am.
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Mercy crews raced to the A75 near Springholm after the alarm was raisedCredit: Google
The smash[2] involved a silver Ford Mondeo and white Scania HGV.
The driver of the Mondeo, a 32-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the Scania HGV, a 57-year-old man was taken to Galloway Royal Infirmary[3] as a precaution.
The road is currently closed to allow for an investigation to take place and is expected to remain shut until this evening.
Sergeant Chris McColm said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man who died at this very difficult time.
“We are appealing to anyone who may have seen what happened to get in touch.
“Likewise, if you have dash-cam footage that could assist with our investigation then make contact with officers.”
Anyone who can help is asked to call Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 0209 of 20 September.
Elsewhere, we told how a man died after being hit by a van[5] on the A78 at Irvine.
Man & teenage girl rushed to hospital after car crashes in Scots ‘police chase’
The 37-year-old was struck by a Peugeot Partner van near to Eglinton interchange.
A 32-year-old man has died after a crash involving an HGV on the A75 near Springholm in Dumfries and Galloway.Police were called to the scene at about 01:15 following reports of a collision involving a silver Ford Mondeo and a white Scania HGV.The driv…
ONE of Scotland’s most remote areas is in danger of becoming the country’s forgotten corner.
Wigtownshire in the southwest has become “deliberately ignored” and its fate has made locals fear that nothing will be done to improve the dismal situation.
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Stranraer hasn’t had a train line since September 2023
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MSP Finlay Carson has been championing for better roads in the areaCredit: Tom Farmer
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The A75 and the A77 are some of Scotland’s most busiest – but dangerous roadsCredit: John Kirkby
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The ScotRail trains left by road in February – leaving the area without a train service
Former First Minister Alex Salmond[1] once told the region it would receive investment in roads, rail and regeneration.
But by 2011, ferries to Ireland[2] no longer operated from Stranraer, the largest town in the region and had been moved eight miles up the coast[3] to Cairnryan.
The last train left Stranraer in September last year and carriages parked at the terminal were removed in February as the future of the rural route, which once had five direct services to Glasgow[4] a day, remains uncertain.
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A blaze was started at the derelict Station Hotel[5] in Ayr which would close the railway line to the town some 50 miles away.
Ideas to rejuvenate the town have ranged from plans for a super casino to converting an abandoned lorry park[8] into a waterfront heritage centre – neither of which have happened.
Locals warn nothing will improve until the creaking infrastructure is upgraded to deal with the freight traffic[9] from the port of Cairnryan.
Finlay Carson is MSP for Galloway and West Dumfriesshire and has campaigned for greater connectivity through his political career.But he argued issues for Wigtownshire are not only forgotten but deliberately ignored.
He told the Scottish Sun: “To say forgotten is to say we are an afterthought but successive governments – since devolution – have promised upgrades.
“You have to look back 25 years and look at the investment in the roads. There has been nothing significant since the Scottish Parliament[10] was formed.
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“It’s almost like a deliberate managed decline across the south of Scotland.”
In Stranraer’s high street, residents are reminded on a daily basis about how cut off they are.
Christine McNally and her sister Rita McKintyre, who were born in Stranraer, would usually travel[11] to Ayr and Glasgow on the train – but haven’t left the town since the service stopped running seven months ago.
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The train line has over grown in the time since it has been closed
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Locals like Christine McNally feel cut off from the rest of the countryCredit: Tom Farmer
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Sheila Adams said that roads being closed add hours onto the journeyCredit: Tom Farmer
Christine said: “This is a lot worse than it was before. There is no sense that there is a hurry to reinstate it. We’ve been cut off.”
Bus driver Claire Proudlock, 30, said frequent road closures added hours onto the journey.
She said: “There are always roadworks and it can add hours if you are diverted through B roads.”
Claire said that she and her friend were intending to take their youngsters to soft play in Ayr, but to travel by public transport[12] would mean the previous hour journey would now nearly be a three-hour trip each way.
Sheila Adams, 31, who went to college in Ayr, said that commute is not possible as there is no public transport[13] that would allow people from Stranraer to travel in time for class started.
A HOTELIER claims delays to reinstating train lines is keeping punters away as they fear they’ll end up stranded.
Iain Donnachie, 64, is the general manager of the North West Castle Hotel, one of the biggest hotels in Stranraer.
He said: “If you want to book a weekend away, you don’t want to get trapped by the roads.
“There is a rail replacement service but it dumps people at the train station at the end of the pier and they have to walk back to us often in the rain.
“We are just not seen as a destination anymore. It’s just as easy to be cut off by the roads than it is by failing ferries.”
The hotel often hosts competitors in curling competions and the town is often considered the birthplace of the sport.
But Gail Munro, 54, who manages the ice rink, said Stranraer been turned down for hosting national contests because they cannot guarantree reliable transport in and out of the region.
She said: “We’ve have hosted competitions with people travelling all over but we can’t ensure they can get back in time because of the unreliable nature of the roads.
“It puts us off putting ourselves forward for bigger events because the transport situation goes against us.”
She said: “We didn’t need to move away to go to college, but it is not possible now.”
The roads to Scotland’s biggest port handles 2.7 million tonnes of domestic cargo a year with the Cairnryan to Belfast[14] route the second busiest passenger ferry to Ireland.
The huge HGVs heading to and from the ports back up the roads in and out of Wigtownshire and are restricted to a 40mph speed limit leading to frustrated drivers[15] that cause accidents.
Transport Scotland revealed there have been 564 casualties on the A77 and A75 in the five years since 2016 — an average of ten a month.
Samantha-Jane Sheil, 20, lost her father Tony, 51, after the family[16] moved to nearby Newton Stewart two years ago.
Finding his “dream home” in southwest Scotland, the family were renovating the property[17] in Tony’s retirement until his life was tragically cut short.
LOCALS fear cuts to hospital services could leave the town without an accident and emergency department as NHS Dumfries and Galloway seek to find £29million savings in an attempt to balance their books.
Over 200 residents attended a public meeting to voice their concerns over a review of services at the Galloway Community Hospital which could see it being downgraded to a minor injuries unit.
Independent councillor Willie Scobie claimed the health board bosses snubbed the community by declining the request to attend, sparking fears the hospital would be axed.
He said: “It would leave people in the community vulnerable with only two ambulances to serve the area.
“There is a golden hour for strokes and heart attacks and they can’t be blue-lighted a long the dangerous roads.”
“We’ve even had people giving birth on the side of the road because there are no maternity services since 2018. It’s a common occurrence.”
Trevor Harrison, 67, from Stranraer said he would have died if he hadn’t been cared for at the rural A&E after he took ill at the wheel in September 2022.
He said: “I had pneumonia and was turning blue, I was raced for treatment by my colleague and they told me if I hadn’t been treated there and then I would have died if left any longer.”
John Wallace, 73, from the Isle of Whithorn, had a mini-stroke on Christmas Day.
He said he put his life in the hands of the staff at the Community Hospital.
He added: “People will die if there is no A&E in the area.”
NHS Dumfries and Galloway have been approached for comment.
Tony died just three minutes from their home[18] in Kirkcowan when his Ford[19] transit van collided with a Volvo[20] lorry on the unlit A75 last November.
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Samantha Sheil lost her dad Tony Sheil to an accident on the A75 outside Newton StewartCredit: John Kirkby
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Tony Sheil lost his live on the A75 just three miles from his homeCredit: Family Collect
But despite gaining hundreds of signatures for a “Changes to the A75” petition[21] last month, student Samantha feels like she has been met with a wall of silence from the Scottish Government.
She told the Scottish Sun: “It’s beyond ridiculous. If the roads had been upgraded and the work[22] was done when they said they would, my dad would still be alive.
“I hate driving[23] past where my dad died. It’s the worst part of the road, it is so dangerous[24].
“Moving here was his dream. If we leave, we leave him behind.”
Retired firefighter John Campbell, 79, of Maybole, said he was called to over 300 traffic accidents throughout his career with casualties ageing from three to 90.
He said: “When I travel all over Scotland you can see how left behind this part of the country is.
“There are always road works because the roads get so damaged by the lorries.
“When the road is closed due to an accident or planned works, HGVs are sent a near 100-mile detour along B-roads and single track paths.”
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Retired fireman John Campbell has spent three decades campaigning for safer roadsCredit: Tom Farmer
One section of the A77 – the Carlock Wall – was reduced to one lane of traffic for nearly three years as workers attempted to reinforce the cliff-edged carriageway from landslips.
John added: “If this was the Rest and Be Thankful, everyone would be talking about it but the Rest and Be Thankful doesn’t lead to one of the busiest ports in the UK.
Calls to improve the A75 and A77 have been previously debated in the Scottish Parliament[25] with the UK Government offering to step in to help fund the costs to upgrade the trunk roads.
The Union Connectivity Review[26] in 2021 recommended that Westminster[27] provided the Scottish Government funding to upgrade the A75 and encouraged Holyrood to make steps[28] to improve the A77.
But the Scottish Government continues to snub plans for any major works – such as duel carriageways along the entire stretches – as part of their 20-year plan for road building.
Stena Line has said it has also lobbied successive Scottish governments over many years in relation to improving the roads.
The firm said the current situation is “not fit for purpose” and the infrastructure is becoming a drawback to any future[29] potential investment in the region.
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Curling rink manager Gail Munro says the connectivity prevents them bidding for eventsCredit: Les Gallagher
A spokesperson added: “Stena Line calls on the Scottish Government to work with Westminster to address this devolved issue as a matter of priority for the many businesses and communities who frankly deserve better.”
“Road safety is of paramount importance. Our Operating Companies[31] undertake a review of collisions on the trunk road network to identify cluster sites.”
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George Hotel in StranraerCredit: Les Gallagher
A MEETING has been requested to try and get average speed cameras on the A75.
Galloway and West Dumfries MSP Finlay Carson has written to Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop asking to discuss the benefits of overhead average speed cameras.
He insists the …
Police have named a van driver who was killed in a crash with a road-laying vehicle in south-west Scotland.Kevin Bodle, 49, was driving on the A75 near Glenluce at about 06:45 on Tuesday.Mr Bodle was taken to the Galloway Community Hospital in Stranrae…
A MAN has died after the van he was driving smashed into a road-paving machine on a Scots road.
The man, 49, driving the Peugeot Partner van collided with the stationary Volvo road-paving vehicle on the A75 near Glenluce[1] shortly before 7am.
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A man has died after the crash on the A75Credit: SUPPLIED
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Police sealed off the sceneCredit: SUPPLIED
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A probe is underway into the fatal collisionCredit: SUPPLIED
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A police car blocks the road near the crash sceneCredit: SUPPLIED
Emergency crews raced to the scene in Dumfries and Galloway as the alarm was raised.
Cops[2] sealed off the road after the major crash, with police[3] vehicles blocking the route and officers standing guard.
Multiple ambulances, a trauma team and an air ambulance[4] were all scrambled to the scene.
The van driver was raced to Galloway Community Hospital[5].
“Enquiries to establish the full circumstances of the crash are ongoing and we’d like to thank the public for their understanding, as officers carry out their work in the area.
“We would appeal to anyone with information on the crash, any witnesses, or motorists who may have been in the area and have dashcam[6] footage, to please come forward.
“You can call police on 101, quoting incident 0538 of 21 May, 2024.”
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A Police Scotland[7] spokesperson added: “Road Policing officers in Dumfries and Galloway are appealing for information following a fatal crash on the A75 near Glenluce.
“The incident took place around 6.45am on Tuesday, 21 May, 2024. It involved a white Peugeot Partner van and a stationary Volvo paver machine.
“The driver of the Peugeot, a 49-year-old man, was taken to Galloway Community Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service[8] spokesperson said: “We received a call at 0642 hours today to attend an incident on the A75.
“We dispatched two ambulances, our trauma tram and an air ambulance to the scene.”
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The driver was raced to Galloway Community HospitalCredit: SUPPLIED
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An air ambulance was also called to the sceneCredit: SUPPLIED
COMMUTERS are facing rush hour chaos after a crash on a busy Scots road sparked huge delays this morning.
Emergency crews[1] raced to the scene on the A75 near Glenluce at around 6.45am today.
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The smash happened shortly before 7am this morningCredit: SUPPLIED
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Police have locked down the road in both directionsCredit: SUPPLIED
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A van and a tar-laying machine were involved in the crashCredit: SUPPLIED
The road has been locked down by cops in both directions after the serious collision.
The smash happened at the Glenluce bypass near the A747 junction in the village between Newton Stewart and Stranraer in Dumfries[2] and Galloway.
A Peugeot[3] van and a tar-laying machine were involved in the collision.
The driver of the van was injured and rushed to Galloway Community Hospital in an ambulance[4].
An eyewitness told the Scottish Sun that they spotted three ambulances, fire engines and an air ambulance heading to the scene this morning.
It happened while Amey crews were carrying out overnight resurfacing works at Glenluce.
The essential repair works on the A75 have been underway overnight since Monday, May 6, and are crews expected to finish on Sunday, June 2.
They said: “The van crashed into the tar machine in the coned-off area on the eastbound carriageway.
Police rush to Scots town centre and seal off busy street amid ongoing incident
“It’s a three-lane road and two lanes heading eastbound were closed off for roadworks and resurfacing when it happened.
“An air ambulance was on its way, but they managed to make the ten-mile trip to the hospital on the road in an ambulance”.
Traffic[6] Scotland has warned that traffic is really heavy in the area, creating huge delays.
Commuters have been urged to avoid the area.
Police[7] are currently at the scene of the crash and are conducting enquiries.
Drivers are being diverted along an alternative route.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 6.45am on Tuesday, 21 May, 2024, police received a report of a two-vehicle crash on the A75 near Glenluce, involving a Peugeot van and a tar-laying machine.
“The driver of the Peugeot was taken to Galloway Community Hospital for treatment.
“The road remains closed as enquiries are carried out at the scene. Diversions are in place.”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 6.51am on Tuesday, 21 May, to reports of a road traffic collision on the A75 near Glenluce, Dumfries and Galloway.
“Operations Control mobilised two appliances to the scene.
“One casualty was rescued prior to our arrival and was in the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We received a call at 0642 hours today to attend an incident on the A75.
“We dispatched two ambulances, our trauma tram and an air ambulance to the scene.”
Posting X, formerly known as Twitter[8] this morning, Traffic Scotland wrote: “NEW 08:11 #A75 Glenluce
“Please #UseAltRoute at this time.”
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Police have set up a diversion routeCredit: SUPPLIED
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The driver of the van was rushed to hospitalCredit: SUPPLIED
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An air ambulance was deployed to the scene but then circled back to the hospitalCredit: SUPPLIED
One person has been taken to hospital after a crash involving a van and a tar-laying machine in southern Scotland.The accident happened on the A75 near Glenluce in Dumfries and Galloway at about 06:45.Police said the driver of the Peugeot van had been …
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