SNP ministers considered superfast 300mph 'magnetic levitation' trains between Glasgow and Edinburgh

It was the ambitious plan for a superfast rail link between Glasgow and Edinburgh that would have slashed journey times to little over 15 minutes.

Newly released Cabinet papers from 2009 show SNP ministers discussed highly confidential proposals for a “maglev” - short for magnetic levitation - train service between Scotland's two largest cities.

The “innovative and exciting” project would have provided four services an hour in each direction, with a journey time of just 18 minutes, including a stop at Edinburgh Airport.

Commuters walking past a ScotRail train at Edinburgh's Waverley Station | PA

However, ministers decided there was “no financial provision” for it, and noted it had not been considered as part of a wider transport review. They said other options for taking the plan forward “could be explored”.

There are only six commercial maglev services in the world - one in Japan, two in South Korea and three in China. The longest is in Shanghai and covers about 18.6 miles. However, a long-distance line is under construction in Japan.

Documents show an initial feasibility study was considered by SNP ministers in March 2009, with a paper introduced to Cabinet by John Swinney, who was then finance secretary under Alex Salmond and is now First Minister.

The proposal by a company called UK Ultraspeed would have required no upfront capital costs from the Scottish Government. Instead, annual repayments of around £200 million were suggested over a period of 30 years, costing around £6 billion in total.

It was thought the service, based on technology in use in Shanghai, could be operational by 2018. It would have seen trains race between Edinburgh and Glasgow at speeds of more than 300mph, three times faster than ScotRail.

The Cabinet paper noted that “sensitive handling of any decision to progress the maglev proposal will be required”. The paper added: “To date, the development of the maglev project has been carried out with no publicity as was agreed with UK Ultraspeed. If we proceed to the next stage, we will no longer sustain that position, given the need to appoint a procurement advice team.”

A maglev train in Japan | Carl Court/Getty Images

It said Transport Scotland had “progressed the project confidentially”, adding: “Even across the Scottish Government, details of the project have been discussed only at the highest levels.”

The paper continued: “Finance directorate have been made aware of this proposition (on a very limited circulation). While they are not in a position to verify the exact level of cost that would fall on the Scottish Government’s revenue budget, they point out that a commitment of this magnitude could only be met through substantial cuts in established programmes.”

The study estimated gross benefits of £4 billion could be generated by the scheme, including £1bn for the wider economy. But on March 10, the Cabinet agreed “there should be no public funding to develop this proposal further”.

A UK Ultraspeed plan for a maglev service between London and Glasgow was rejected by the UK government in 2007 in favour of conventional high-speed rail.

The Scottish Cabinet paper noted this would mean “any Edinburgh to Glasgow maglev is likely to be a stand-alone scheme unable to connect with either the current conventional or planned conventional high-speed rail lines”.

It said the concept of maglev was not new. A previous study by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and the South East of Scotland Transport Partnership had examined the possibility of such a service between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Cabinet papers are published annually as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to proactively release records after 15 years.