Scots seek 150-minute rail link from London to Glasgow
The Guardian: December 6, 2006
Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent
A new high-speed railway which would cut the journey time between London and Glasgow to 150 minutes could be built within the next decade, Scottish ministers said yesterday.
The high speed line could see services similar to the French TGV and Japanese bullet trains hitting 186mph as a direct competitor to the short haul, environmentally damaging air routes now carrying more than 80% of travellers between London and Scotland.
The proposal by Scotland's transport minister, Tavish Scott, directly contradicts last week's report for the Treasury by Sir Rod Eddington, former British Airways chief executive, on modernising the UK's transport infrastructure.
Mr Scott, a Liberal Democrat member of the Scottish executive coalition with Labour, told the Guardian yesterday Sir Rod "was not ambitious enough" when he explicitly ruled out new high speed rail services.
Sources close to Douglas Alexander, the transport secretary, said Labour had already made a similar manifesto commitment.
The proposal was outlined in the executive's Scottish transport strategy, which unveiled plans to electrify a rail line between Edinburgh and Glasgow, improve rail and bus links across Scotland and with England, and cut emissions.
Opposition MSPs and green groups accused the executive of squandering its best chance of taking radical action. Mr Scott ruled out any Scottish city introducing congestion charging before a UK-wide road-pricing scheme comes into force in 10 years' time.
See also:
High-speed Edinburgh rail link set to be unveiled
Glasgow Evening Times: 04/12/06
A HIGH speed train link between Glasgow and Edinburgh is expected to be announced tomorrow.
The bullet train could cut travel time from Scotland's biggest city to the capital to just 30 minutes.
At present, most trains take nearly an hour.
The move would be welcomed by politicians and businesses in both cities, who have repeatedly said faster links between the cities would attract more companies to locate in both Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Glasgow City Council has previously expressed an interest in improving transport between Scotland's two most prosperous cities.
A spokesman said: "We will look at the report with keen interest."
The high-speed rail connection is believed to be one of the main plans in the Scottish Executive's long-awaited national transport strategy to be unveiled by transport minister Tavish Scott.
The report is also expected to support a new London-Scotland link that will cut travel time from Scotland to London to just two-and-a-half hours.
The link will be served by French-style TGV trains or the high-tech 300mph Maglev trains from Shanghai, which use a magnetic track.
The hope is the faster rail link would persuade the four million passengers who fly between Glasgow and London every year to travel by the more environmentally friendly train instead.
Only one million people made the journey by rail last year.
The new transport strategy is also believed to include plans for a national road pricing scheme, which could see Scots motorists charged up to around £1.30 a mile.
See also:
Transport: The Executive's Strategy
Rail
A high-speed rail link between Scotland and London has been backed by Tavish Scott, while Whitehall's expert adviser reckons it is too expensive.
The project, costed at around £15bn, is seen by Mr Scott as an opportunity to reduce the number of flights between Scotland and London each day. But Sir Rod Eddington, whose report on Britain's transport future was published last week, argued it should not be a priority.
"I don't think Eddington is being ambitious enough," said Mr Scott. "If we can produce with the UK government a transport link which cuts these journey times and is consistent with our environmental obligations, then it's win-win."
Mr Scott said he wants to "review the affordability" of rail fares, and to reduce the confusion of fare rises being announced at different times through the year.
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RMT welcomes positive aims of Scotland Transport Strategy
RMT: December 5 2006
THE POSITIVE aims in the Scottish National Transport Strategy published today have been welcomed by Scotland’s specialist transport union.
RMT welcomed the high-level aims of the strategy, but warned they could ultimately only be achieved by public investment in truly public transport.
"RMT members will always welcome commitment to investment in transport infratructure, and it is pleasing to see a high-speed north-south link as a strategic goal for Scotland's railway network," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.
"There is no doubt that public investment in truly public transport at all levels is the key to achieving the modal shift from cars to rail, tram and bus that we need to see if we are to meet the climate challenge facing us.
"It is essential that road-pricing revenue is ring-fenced for investment in the massive increase in public transport capacity we need.
"Private-sector involvement remains a barrier to achieving the integrated, high-quality and affordable transport that Scotland needs, and that is a problem that must be addressed if these aims are to be achieved.
"We need an end to the confusion over the future of Scotland's lifeline ferry services caused by the wholly unnecessary, destabilising and wasteful tendering of CalMac services.
"It is disappointing also that trade unions are not identified as one of the key partners, particularly on the eve of a parliamentary debate which will commend co-operation between the Scottish executive and the unions," Bob Crow said.