HS2 concerns
Real benefits will be achieved for Scotland if this ambition can be realised. Not only will it make train journeys quicker, but it will also deliver a modal shift – making the train a proper alternative to domestic flights, taking passengers from city centre to city centre without all the discomfort factors of air travel, let alone the emissions issue.
My key concern is the potential impact on extending HS2 to Scotland of independence: would a future Westminster government really be interested in promoting this venture north of Manchester and Leeds? I suspect there will be no appetite, let alone funding, for such an extension.
PHIL WHEELER (Transport convener, City of Edinburgh Council, 2007-9)
Templeland Road Edinburgh