Ministers have cut funding for the flagship Glasgow airport rail link, the Evening Times can reveal.

Ministers have cut funding for the flagship Glasgow airport rail link, the Evening Times can reveal.

It is the first casualty of the spending squeeze in the draft Scottish Budget currently being announced by Finance Secretary John Swinney.

There have been questions for months over the cost of moving fuel dumps at the airport and, though further details have yet to emerge, it is believed it is key factor in Mr Swinney's decision to kill the project - at least for now.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council leader Steven Purcell said: "This is another knife in the back for Glasgow."

There had been fears the work would be too expensive and the potential sale of Glasgow Airport would threaten the link, planned to open before 2014.

The shock budget announcement comes just days after new assurances were made that the rail link was still on track, following fresh talks about the costly engineering works near the terminal.

Airport owner BAA and Transport Scotland had been in talks over the relocation of the fuel depot to allow the line to be brought into the site.

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson then moved to consider a report detailing the options.

The £400m line was due to run from Paisley Gilmour Street to the airport, with the hope that it would be up and running in time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Capacity improvements to the track between Glasgow Central and Paisley had already been carried out as part of the airport link vision.

Shadow Finance Secretary Andy Kerr said: "I called on ministers to respond to the recession by bringing forward a budget to get Scotland working. Instead, they have cancelled the Glasgow Airport Rail Link, which will result in the loss of 1,350 jobs.

"He is not standing up for Scotland, he is letting Scotland down. The SNP was also responsible for cancelling the rail link to Edinburgh Airport. This sends a terrible message to business and will leave our transport network stuck in the last century."

Mr Swinney said that to achieve the £500m in cuts he had been forced to make because his budget is down by just under 1% in real terms.

Mr Swinney said: "At a time when many businesses and families are facing the challenges brought by the recession, it is imperative for government to respond effectively and decisively to support them.

"We have had to face difficult choices about where to reduce planned spending next year. We will meet this challenge while continuing to work with our partners to achieve our priorities and protect programmes that matter most to the people of Scotland.

"Crucially that will mean protecting spending on frontline public services, such as schools and hospitals. It will mean ongoing investment in our economic recovery plan, including support for skills development and for hard pressed businesses; and on programmes that help protect households at a time of economic hardship."