John Barrett Welcomes Government Announcement of High Speed Rail Plans

11 March 2010

Edinburgh West MP John Barrett has today welcomed plans announced in parliament about the future of High Speed Rail in Britain.

The plans, announced by the Government this afternoon, lay out the exact route of the high speed line from London to Birmingham and establish a plan for further expansions to the North.

John has made bringing High Speed Rail to Edinburgh and Scotland one of his top priorities since becoming an MP in 2001.

However, any plans to build a High Speed Line within Scotland would have to be made by the Scottish Parliament as transport issues are devolved.

Speaking in the chamber, John said:

“I welcome the Government’s announcement of concrete proposals to deliver High Speed Rail to Birmingham. High Speed Rail will offer many economic benefits to the country. ”

“However, I hope the Government is committed to working to extend the network to all of United Kingdom, including Central Scotland via Edinburgh and Glasgow.”

After the debate, John added,

“While I am happy the Government has finally published concrete plans for implementing high speed rail I feel that they may come too little too late.”

“While we would have thought a plan to deliver High Speed Rail would be above party politics it now appears the Conservatives will no longer be supporting the plans for election purposes.”

“This will set the plan back years and cost the taxpayer millions of pounds as we wait for the Conservatives to have another consultation if they get in office”

“The Conservatives should stop going for short sighted election gains and start putting the best interest of all the United Kingdom at the top of their agenda"

ENDS

Notes to Editors:
The full report can be seen here http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/pi/highspeedrail/commandpaper/pdf/cmdpaper.pdf