HIGH Speed rail between Glasgow and Edinburgh has not been “shelved” according to the Transport Minister.

Derek Mackay said the aspiration of a link between Scotland’s two largest cities remains but is dependent on the identification of a cross border route from England.

He was asked by LibDem leader Willie Rennie, if there would be a 30 minute journey time Mr Rennie said: “The Scottish Government grandly told us that the high-speed rail link between Glasgow and Edinburgh was not dependent on the United Kingdom scheme. It said that the link, with journey times of just 30 minutes between Glasgow and Edinburgh, could be built independently by 2024, 10 years ahead of any UK plans. Nicola Sturgeon said that Scotland would “fire ahead” and would “not wait” for Westminster.”

Mr Mackay said: “It is not possible to progress planning for a high-speed rail link between Edinburgh and Glasgow further until a cross-border high-speed route is identified. Once that happens, we can consider the integration of plans.”

He said joint work has been carried out with the UK Department for Transport to identify route options for extending High Speed Rail to Scotland.

He said the results should be due from the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure Keith Brown in the coming months.

Mr Mackay added: “The infrastructure investment plan says in a number of sections that we still have the ambition for high-speed rail, but I have said that it makes sense to see what is proposed on high-speed rail coming from the south