Sheila Gilmore
Main Page: Sheila Gilmore (Labour - Edinburgh East)Department Debates - View all Sheila Gilmore's debates with the Department for Transport
(12 years, 11 months ago)
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Justine Greening
We hope that it can. It will result, on average, in about 4.5 million short-haul flights a year and about 9 million road journeys a year transferring to high-speed rail. Both those things will be good for the environment.
Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)
Despite warm words from the Secretary of State about Scotland, I remain unclear about whether she is prepared to extend the remit of the HS2 company to include detailed route planning for Scotland. If she is, when will it happen?
Justine Greening
I ask the hon. Lady to give me a chance to get up to Scotland and meet the Scottish Government. I will be happy to meet her and other MPs representing Scottish constituencies to discuss the opportunities for the broader high-speed network. As she demonstrates so clearly, in countries that get on with high-speed rail, once one bit of the line is done there is pressure to do more of it. That is because it is incredibly successful and people can really see the benefits.