Vast majority back improving rail speed as Holyrood prepares for infrastructure debate

ABOUT nine in ten Scots want inter-city rail services to be at least as fast as journeys by road, research has found.

Tr an s f or m Scotland released the findings as it launched a brochure for its Inter-City Express bid, which aims to improve rail travel north of the central belt.

The poll of more than 1,000 people asked the question: “To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: ‘Journeys by rail between Scotland’s cities should be at least as fast as those made by road?’”, with 91 per cent agreeing and three per cent disagreeing.

Transform Scotland, which describes itself as a national sustainable transport alliance, called on the Scottish Government to commit to speeding up rail journeys.

It published the opinion poll ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s parliamentary debate on Scotland’s infrastructure.

Transform Scotland rail campaigner Paul Tetlaw said: “This opinion poll result clearly demonstrates that the vast majority of the Scottish public wants faster trains between our cities.”

The Scottish Government said it is making rail travel more attractive and comforta- ble for those travelling between cities and at all other points on the rail network.

That includes reducing journey times between the biggest cities to 42 minutes with the Edinburgh-Glasgow improvement programme.

Meanwhile, Infrastructure Secretary Keith Brown said the upcoming general election gave Scots the chance to press the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats on the matter.

Mr Brown said the £50 billion HS2 high-speed rail project could be “transformative” for Scotland but added that the plans mean the new service would “hit the buffers” in the North of England.

The Infrastructure Secretary, who is to raise the issue in Holyrood this afternoon, said research had indicated a high-speed link between Scotland and Manchester could generate almost £25 billion for the UK economy.