Transport policy - 'We have been crying out for investment'

Anyone who has braved M8 rush-hour traffic or relied on public transport to get to a midweek football match or concert in Glasgow will have no doubt about it.

Transport links between the Capital and Scotland's second city are poor, barely fit for a modern country in the 21st century.

We have been crying out for years for something like the 1 billion investment - roughly the cost of two Edinburgh tram schemes - promised by the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Plan(EGIP).

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Slashing rail journey times to around 35 minutes within five years and more than doubling the frequency of services will be manna from heaven for weary travellers.

And it is not just our convenience and comfort that it will service. Official estimates suggest that every minute shaved off the journey time will generate up to 60 million in benefits for the central Scotland economy.

Commuters will be delighted by long-overdue improvements to services linking Edinburgh with Fife and Stirlingshire. More electrified lines will make our railways greener. And Haymarket will get its long-awaited revamp, even if it is not as far-reaching as originally promised.

Perhaps the best thing about EGIP is that Network Rail's borrowing powers mean the work is not entirely reliant on continuing government largesse.

We can only hope the massive public consultation launched today will show the overwhelming support there undoubtedly is for these plans.

Then we can get on with the job quickly of dragging our transport network into something approaching 21st-century standard.

Beyond belief

is a five-minute "God slot" really too much for the Scottish Parliament to have once a week?

The National Secular Society wants a religion-free moment of reflection every third week at Holyrood - to reflect the fact one in three Scots has declared they have no faith.

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There is a certain logic to allocating time based on census results, even though it means even a Jedi day of worship would eventually get its turn at Holyrood.

In reality, there is no problem because the Scottish Parliament's Time for Reflection has always been inclusive, with Humanist Society celebrant Juliet Wilson among the previous speakers.

Besides, the idea of regularly setting aside five minutes for "quiet contemplation by MSPs" would be unworkable. Can you imagine some of them keeping their mouths shut for that long?

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