Plans for a high-speed rail link that would have cut journey times to just 18 minutes between the two cities were put before Scottish ministers in 2009, according to newly released papers.
However, following a confidential study led by Transport Scotland for a 500 kilometre-per-hour monorail was summarily rejected. The train would have been powered by so-called MagLev technology, which would suspend the carriages in the air using electromagnetics.
The Record reports that the paper was presented to former First Minister Alex Salmond’s cabinet by John Swinney, who was serving as finance secretary. After initially being delayed by a week, the cabinet – which was still coming to terms with the effects of the 2008 financial crash – did not progress the plans.
The report said: “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.
“They confirm the view… that there is no prospect of absorbing the costs of this project within the transport budget.”
National Records of Scotland have released the papers 15 years on. Initially the pitch seems to have been made by a company named UK Ultraspeed.
The company urged secrecy from the Government, with the report saying: “At this early stage, it was agreed with UK Ultraspeed that the details of the project would not be widely discussed.”
When the plans were eventually put before cabinet in the spring of 2009, ministers agreed it was technologically feasible but voiced concerns about cost. “The cabinet agreed that there should be no public funding to develop this proposal further but that other options for taking this forward could be explored,” the report said.
No further mention of MagLev technology was made in the documents for 2009.
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