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The City of Edinburgh Council, Glasgow City Council and Scottish Enterprise have all welcomed the public launch of Greengauge 21's Fast Forward studies, which sets out a strategy for developing a high speed rail network across the UK.
The strategy recommends a network of mainly new railways operating at up to 200mph, including two north-south lines from Glasgow and Edinburgh to London and other cities in England; plus east-west links across the Pennines, from London to Wales and between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
It includes connections to the Channel Tunnel and Heathrow airport. Greenguage 21 state that, if the economic, environmental and social challenges of the 21st century are to be met, work on such a network must begin within the next decade.
The entire high speed network would be around 1,500km long with capacity for 178million passengers each year – that's 590,000 a day.
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It would also attract around 30m passengers a year from domestic air travel and 13 million from the car onto the rails.
Beyond that, a High Speed Rail network would also bring with it a package of benefits worth around £125bn.
For Edinburgh and Glasgow, this is estimated to be in the region of £20bn - by far the greatest regional benefit outside of London and the South-East.
The studies are the result of over a year's work by leading transport, financial and public affairs experts.
Cllr Gordon Mackenzie, Convener of Transport at the City of Edinburgh Council, said: "For us, the priority must be a London HSR link to Scotland - and one that assists sustainable economic growth through competitive ticket pricing.
"The proposal by Greengauge 21 reflects this by detailing the benefits of a high speed network for Scotland and why including Scotland is essential for the network as a whole.
"The many millions of trips to and from Scotland that would switch to high speed rail could generate the revenue and other benefits that make the business case for the whole network so powerful.
"It also indicates that a network can reach beyond the Central Belt to offer new travel opportunities for areas further north as well."
Cllr Steven Purcell, Leader of Glasgow City Council, commented: "Last week we were pleased to support the launch of HSR\\UK, a joint campaign of the UK's major cities calling for a network of new high speed rail lines across the UK.
"Today, Greengauge 21 have established a detailed proposal for just such a network, and outlined why it is so important.
"It is vital that the governments at both Westminster and Holyrood take up the challenge to deliver a transport system that will ensure the UK is on par with other countries across Europe and the rest of the world," he said.
(GK/BMcC)
