Britain’s next section of high speed train line to open may run from Glasgow to Edinburgh rather than between London and Birmingham. Scottish Government is pressing ahead with plans to build its own fast rail route linking the two principal cities north of the border by 2024 ­– two years before the first phase of HS2 in England is due to be ready.

“We will not wait for Westminster to bring high speed rail to us,” stressed Scotland’s Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. “Within just 12 years we could build a line which will see journey times between our two major cities be cut to less than half an hour.” She added that the Glasgow to Edinburgh line could at a later stage be connected to the high speed network arriving from England.

Opening a high speed rail route in Scotland by 2024 would be at least 10 years ahead of when Westminster arrangements might bring HS2 north of the border, Transport Scotland claimed. Ms Sturgeon’s call for action over high speed rail came as she prepared to head up a delegation of politicians and rail industry specialists which will call on the UK Government to involve the whole country in HS2 from the outset.

A recent study endorsed by the Scottish Government found that a high speed line from London to Scotland would represent a financial benefit of around £25Bn north of the border. And nearly three quarters of Scottish businesses was said to have thought high speed rail would attract new investment to the country.