Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to the Government's announcement of 17 July 2017, Huge economic boost for Scotland as Transport Secretary confirms new HS2 routes, what estimate the Government has made of the number of new seats that will be available on trains from London to (a) Glasgow and (b) Edinburgh.

HS2 benefits Scotland through faster journeys and more frequent services. The Economic Case for HS2 Phase Two, published in July 2017, provided the latest evidential basis and showed that the overall benefits of HS2 across the UK, including wider economic impacts, are estimated at around £92bn in net present value terms.

HS2’s business case assumes two 400m HS2 trains per hour between London and Scotland once HS2 is completed in 2033. Each train will split or join at Carstairs, with half serving Glasgow and half serving Edinburgh. Final decisions on the train service will be made closer to the opening of HS2.

Each 400m HS2 train is assumed to have 1,056 seats. Assuming 16 hours of departures per day, the services assumed in the business case would provide a total of 34,000 seats between London-Glasgow and London-Edinburgh on HS2 in both directions each day.