Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate the Government has made of the number of new trains planned to operate on the East Coast mainline between Edinburgh and London as a result of High Speed 2.

The business case for High Speed 2 assumes two HS2 trains per hour between London and Scotland for 16 hours per day, providing a total of 34,000 seats between London-Glasgow and London-Edinburgh on HS2 (splitting or joining at Carstairs) in both directions each day.

These trains will use the West Coast Main Line and HS2 Western Leg, rather than the East Coast Main Line. There will, however, be a connection onto the East Coast Main Line at Church Fenton allowing HS2 trains to connect London and the West Midlands to York and the North East. Final decisions on the train service will be made closer to the opening of HS2.