Around £50 million of Tay Cities Deal funding has been allocated to improve both Perth stations which sit close to one another on Leonard Street.

A report put before Perth and Kinross Council’s (PKC) Environmental, Infrastructure and Economic Development Committee on Wednesday, March 29 said: “It should be noted that Network Rail is planning to redevelop Perth Railway Station with an emerging station masterplan, potentially integrating the railway station with the neighbouring bus station.”

PKC’S head of Planning and Development David Littlejohn - who sits on the project board for Perth Station - revealed there had been “significant progress in the last couple of months”.

He explained: “A number of options have been considered by the project board and Network Rail, Transport Scotland, Scotrail, Historic Environment Scotland, and a range of other stakeholders.

“We’ve now reached a preferred option for the station. That preferred option will shortly be consulted on.

“It’s essentially a radical reconfiguration of the station - both to address the requirements of electrification and hybrid trains travelling north but also to reduce the footprint in the sense of reducing the amount of steps people have to take to access the various platforms.

“I think it’s positive news but I can’t say too much more until that public consultation is launched in the next few weeks by Network Rail and Transport Scotland.”

Plans for the combined ‘Perth Station’ will now be drawn up ahead of a public consultation.