The Transport Minister Keith Brown announced today a new Scotland-wide partnership aimed at ensuring that a high speed rail link is brought to Scotland.
The partnership will make clear the undeniable business case for the extension of the link to Scotland and look at termini locations in both Edinburgh and Glasgow.
SNP MSP for Edinburgh Southern Jim Eadie said:-“I warmly welcome this announcement today by the Transport Secretary. The case for a high speed rail link between Scotland and London is undeniable with studies showing that the economic benefits could be worth £25 billion to the Scottish economy.
The current plans first set out by the Labour government and then picked up by the Tories to halt the line in the Midlands would leave Scotland with a second class service, attacking our economy and costing jobs. This new partnership will speak with one united voice to tell the UK government that they can no longer ignore Scotland, and that high speed rail is a must. I hope local authorities, both Edinburgh and Glasgow, all parties and business will give it their enthusiastic backing”
The announcement was made at an all-day Edinburgh summit, ‘Making the case for Scotland’, organised by MacKay Hannah Ltd and chaired by former Secretary of State for Transport, Lord Adonis.
Delegates will hear from a heavyweight line-up of pro-HSR campaigners and experts as well as from the Minister for Housing and Transport.
Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, Councillor Jenny Dawe, who made a welcome address at the event, said:-“Decisions regarding high speed rail will have serious long-term implications not just for the economies of Glasgow and Edinburgh but for Scotland as a whole.
“Failure to include Scotland in the network from the outset will damage not just our ability to compete internationally but also our ability to compete with those other regions of the UK that are.
“We, as a nation, must do everything that we possibly can to advance the compelling case for extending the network here.”
The two cities will also use the opportunity to call upon Mr Brown to demonstrate the Scottish Government’s willingness to be part of the network by committing to undertake the detailed route alignment work for the Scottish end of the route.
HS2 have already conducted the equivalent scoping work between London and Birmingham, estimating that doing the same work for the Scottish end of the route will cost between £7-8million.
Cllr Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “The economic case for bringing high speed rail to Scotland is clear and it’s essential that both of our cities are plugged into it.
“The only other major piece of work left is the route alignment study, which will significantly strengthen our case. We now need the Scottish Government to pay for that.
“This is the largest and most ambitious transport project in the UK and compared to the cost of providing high speed rail, the £7m needed for the route alignment study is a tiny figure.”
The UK Government’s public consultation on their plans for HSR ends on 31 July.
This is the consultation document here:-
