Date: 11th February 2011

The following is the full text of an open letter sent to Secretary of State for Transport, Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, from SEStran Chair, Cllr Russell Imrie.  

Dear Secretary of State 

High Speed Rail 

I am writing this open letter as the Chair of SEStran to express concern over your recent announcement to the House on High Speed Rail but also to give strong support in your efforts to enable the construction of a High Speed Rail line between London and Birmingham as the first leg of a national High Speed Rail Network. 

SEStran (South East Scotland Transport Partnership) is the statutory transport partnership covering the eight local authorities in and around Edinburgh and we will therefore have a very strong interest in the development of High Speed Rail in the UK.  At the SEStran Board meeting on 14 January I was asked to express concern that the High Speed Rail network was not likely to extend to Scotland for a very long time and in your statement to the House on 20 December 2010 you only mentioned the planning of the network as far as Manchester and Leeds.

Your statement that “In the longer term, we will also explore with the Scottish Government the options for further reducing journey times to Scotland” could indeed be seen as a proposal to only consider upgrading elements of the existing network and services and is far from a commitment to incorporate Scotland as part of a national High Speed Network. I would therefore ask that you put forward a much clearer message to the extent that there is a commitment by the Government to plan for a High Speed Network that will extend to Scotland (at least as far as Edinburgh and Glasgow).

There are indeed strong arguments that the construction of the network should not just be a progression of phases heading slowly northwards but that construction should take place simultaneously in several places, including Scotland. Indeed, the High Speed Line in Scotland would have the greatest potential to reduce journey times, which has shown to be the most important element for a strong business case.Notwithstanding the above, I would also like to express my full support in your endeavours to steer the Bill for HS2 between London and Birmingham through Parliament.

This line is of utmost importance in the creation of a truly High Speed National Rail Network and should it fail, it is probable that no further High Speed Lines will be developed in the UK and the country will be left behind most other European countries. 

The case for the London – Birmingham line is very strong in terms of the added capacity it creates but it is nevertheless the case that the business case only becomes impressively strong when the network extends further north to include Scotland. I would therefore argue that your arguments to get the Bill through the House (and indeed through the consultation exercise) will be much enhanced if you make a stronger commitment to create a national network that extends beyond Manchester and Leeds and into Scotland. I would be delighted to be of any assistance in the High Speed debate and look forward to receiving your response. 

Yours Faithfully,   

Russell Imrie

Chair of SEStran  

ENDS

SEStran - South East of Scotland Transport Partnership - is one of seven new Statutory Regional Transport Partnerships (RTP) created by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005 and is a partnership of eight local councils covering the Borders, the Lothians, Edinburgh, Fife, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire.

For further information, please contact:

Andrew Dougal, SEStran Communications Officer

T: 0131-524-5161

M: 07889-010-291

E: Andrew.dougal@sestran.gov.uk

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