Jobs plan off track

Am I being naive, or can someone explain how building a high- speed rail link between London and Birmingham can support the creation of one million jobs (your report, 7 January).

Obviously, there will be some short-term jobs created during construction and a few on a longer term basis, but one million?

We hear the same every time a new business park is created or when a supermarket opens a new unwanted superstore.

If a business is looking to expand or an entrepreneur wishes to create a new business, then surely they will do so anyway once ready to do so and when they have all the constituent parts in place. If creating jobs is so easy, then why not build a high speed line between Ayr and Lochgelly and create a million jobs across the Central Belt? Look how well Edinburgh has done with creating jobs as a result of the tram line.

Ian Ross

Eden Lane

Edinburgh