'Ambitious and exciting' project to cut Edinburgh-Glasgow train journey to 18 minutes was rejected in 2009, official papers show

The proposed "Maglev" link between the two cities - using "magnetc levitation", a system well established in China and Japan - would have marked a "step change in ground transport provision", according to a paper presented to ministers.

The proposal was for four Maglev journeys per hour in each direction. The paper estimated costs at between £2.4 and £2.7 billion, but said gross benefits of £4 billion could be generated and suggested the new link could be operational by 2018.

A maglev train in Japan | Carl Court/Getty Images

The project would have been financed by an annual "availability payment" over 30 years. The initial pitch was made by UK Ultraspeed, which hoped for a memorandum of understanding with the Scottish Government.

But minutes of a Cabinet meeting, chaired by the then First Minister Alex Salmond at Bute House on March 10, 2009, say: "The Cabinet agreed that there should be no public funding to develop the proposal further, but that other options for taking this forward could be explored."

The project was presented to the Cabinet by the then Finance Minister John Swinney. The minutes say: "Mr Swinney introduced the paper, which invited Cabinet to consider the findings of the initial feasibility study on the development of a Magnetic Levitation (Maglev) ground transport system between Edinburgh and Glasgow and to consider whether the project should be progressed.

"The project appeared to be feasible from a technological standpoint. There were no projected upfront capital costs for the Scottish Government. It was proposed that the project could be repaid through an annual availability payment over 30 years. There was currently no financial provision for these payments."

As well as the cost, the Cabinet appear to have been concerned that the project clashed with recently announced plans for upgrading the existing Edinburgh-Glasgow line.

The minutes say: "Although the innovative nature of the proposal had presentational attractions, it had not been considered as part of Transport Scotland's recent Strategic Transport Projects Review (published December 2008) which had set out the future investment programme for transport in Scotland for the next 20 years, and which had placed considerable emphasis on the improvement of rail services on the 4 existing and planned routes between Edinburgh and Glasgow.”

Laying out the pros and cons of the project, the paper presented to ministers said the proposals were "ambitious and exciting" and would "set Scotland on a world stage and show that we are a dynamic and progressive country planning transport provision fit for decades ahead".

But it noted it would result in an estimated loss of £40m a year in revenue for ScotRail and compete with the Edinburgh trams to provide a direct link to Edinburgh Airport.

And it said the use of Maglev technology for a high-speed Edinburgh-Glasgow link had previously been examined in a study by Sestrans and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, but it was not recommended "principally as it was thought that finding an alignment which could accommodate a terminus in both Glasgow and Edinburgh was not possible in the medium term".

Nevertheless, the paper said: "Maglev has the potential to be a significant driver in bringing the economies of Edinburgh and Glasgow closer together, thereby promoting sustainable economic growth. Scotland would be seen as a world leader in transport innovation if the Maglev were introduced.”

But it added that UK ministers had recently announced the HS2 high speed train project, which used conventional rail and was therefore not compatible with Maglev. "This could result in any Edinburgh-Glasgow Maglev being a standalone scheme rather than offering an integrated network with connections to the south and beyond."

The Maglev proposals were also handled with much secrecy by the government. "At this early stage, it was agreed with UK Ultraspeed that the details of the project would not be widely discussed.

"For this reason, Transport Scotland has progressed the project confidentially. Even across the Scottish Government, details of the project have been discussed only at the highest level."

But after the decision on March 10, the project does not appear to have come up again by Cabinet that year.