The Scottish Government, it has transpired, will have to co-operate with Westminster Conservatives if the proposed high-speed rail link between Scotland, London and mainland Europe is ever to become a reality.

THE SCOTTISH Government, it has transpired, will have to co-operate with Westminster Conservatives if the proposed high-speed rail link between Scotland, London and mainland Europe is ever to become a reality.

The Conservatives first unveiled the plans as part of an initiative to streamline public transport by using the train service to replace unnecessary domestic flights, which are harmful to the environment.

Initial proposals for a new line, starting in London and extending no further than Manchester and Leeds, attracted sweeping criticism from politicians in Scotland and North East England, with many fearing that these areas would face exclusion and isolation.

The SNP’s MSP for Lothians, Shirley-Anne Somerville, issued a statement in which she commented that, “Without extending a high speed line from London up to Edinburgh the Conservatives will fail to cut out the short haul flights they claim this is aimed at… it seems the Conservatives have forgotten Scotland altogether”.

However, Conservative leader David Cameron has now promised that, should his party win the next general election, extension of the railway will happen – providing the Scottish Government agrees to fund tracks north of the border. The project is expected to cost around £20 billion in total.

It has been estimated that the link would enable passengers to travel from Edinburgh to London in around three hours or, potentially, from Glasgow to Paris in just over five. With the routes currently provided by National Express, train journeys from Edinburgh to London take around four hours and 50 minutes, meaning that a high-speed service would cut travel times dramatically.