12 February 2009
Cautious welcome for 'Super Express' trains
Responding to the DfT's announcement of its decision to award the 'Intercity Express Programme' contracts to Hitachi, Paul Tetlaw, Chair of Transform Scotland, said:
"We welcome the announcement of new trains for the East Coast Main Line from 2013 but from a Scottish viewpoint much more information is required.
"Why are the new trains being built with a top speed of 125mph when the existing East Coast 225 trains were built to travel at 140mph?
"A typical Edinburgh - London journey time of 4 hrs 11mins is suggested, but this is only a marginal improvement on existing times and indeed slower than the 3 hrs 59 mins achieved by BR in the 1990s.
"We also need to know about journeys beyond Edinburgh to Inverness and Aberdeen. The Scottish Government is committed to electrification of these routes but the DfT only talks of the new trains running to Edinburgh.
"We believe it is essential that Scotland gains an equal benefit from these new trains but this announcement does not give us that comfort."