Engineering news
A high-speed railway line could connect Scotland's two largest cities as part of a plan to encourage construction of a UK-wide network.
The proposal, announced by deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon, would link Glasgow and Edinburgh by 2024, halving journey times between the two cities to less than 30 minutes.
The Scottish government is keen to push ahead with the link before the UK government officially commits to bringing High Speed 2 (HS2) north of the border.
Sturgeon said: “We now know that, within just 12 years, we could build a line which will see journey times between our two major cities cut to less than half an hour.
“That will benefit our businesses, our jobs market and also our tourism industry, and it will put us up there with the world's greatest transport networks.
“We will not wait for Westminster to bring high-speed rail to us. We have already made moves towards seeing a high-speed line in Scotland and the evidence is now in place that this is feasible long before the HS2 proposals.
“The Scottish government will now enter into talks with our partners in both cities and the rail industry to see how we can work together to see this vision realised: a Glasgow-Edinburgh high-speed line which can connect to the network from England.”
The plan is at its earliest stage, with no costs attached or route map drawn. It is also not known whether the link would be to existing or new stations, said a government spokeswoman.
Lesley Hinds, transport convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “There is a very compelling case for bringing high-speed rail to Scotland, and the City of Edinburgh Council and our partners are united in our ambition of making this a reality at the earliest opportunity.
“The announcement of the potential for Edinburgh to be linked with Glasgow by high-speed rail by 2024 is a very welcome development towards this goal.”
Network Rail boss David Simpson said: “I welcome the Scottish government's continued commitment to supporting the development of Scotland's railway.
“We continue to work as part of Fast Track Scotland in developing plans for high-speed rail and the exciting opportunities it would bring.”
The Scottish government says high-speed rail could shorten the journey time to London by two hours and would generate £24.8 billion in the economy.
The UK government is already committed to going ahead with the first phase of the high-speed project that will link London and Birmingham by 2026.
The second phase, as yet unconfirmed, would see a Y-shaped line continuing north of Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds, with connections into Scotland. It would be completed around 2033.