Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has been asked by the Scottish Government to help develop and support Scotland’s case for high speed rail.
A Scottish Partnership Group has been formed on the request of Transport Minister Keith Brown to lobby for Scotland’s inclusion in planned links across the UK.
Contributing to three working sub-groups, SPT will provide transport planning and technical expertise to the development and promotion of a high speed rail business case and will examine the options for possible routes and stations.
At a meeting on Friday 16 September of the SPT Strategy and Programmes Committee members noted the formation of these groups and SPT’s technical input.
SPT Chair Jonathan Findlay said: “SPT has long campaigned for high speed rail to Scotland and I’m delighted we’ve been asked by the Scottish Government to play a key role in promoting the need for a vital link north.
“SPT will bring both technical and transport planning expertise to this new Scottish Partnership Group and focus on how high speed rail can be integrated into the wider transport network.
“The UK is already well behind the rest of Europe in terms of high speed rail connections and we need to develop and promote proposals as a matter of urgency.
“Spain and France have 60 times more miles of high speed connections than the UK and Italy’s limited high speed rail network is still 16 times bigger than Britain’s.
“Securing a high speed connection between Glasgow, Edinburgh and the rest of the UK is an important part of our transport agenda and it is essential we make sure this is included in any plans going forward.”
High speed rail is a key project for both the UK and Scottish Governments and SPT has a major role to play in ensuring that high speed rail is fully integrated into the wider transport network and that the potential benefits of the scheme are realised.
