A fresh row between Scotland and England could be brewing over plans to wake up businessmen and women travelling overnight from Scotland to London an hour early.
Opponents of plans for high-speed rail claimed last night that passengers on Scottish sleeper rail services into London Euston will be kicked off the train as soon as it arrives at 6:48am instead of being allowed to stay on board until 8:00am – once construction on phase one of HS2 starts.
Work to accommodate the high-speed rail line at London Euston will mean the sleeper will not be allowed to stand at the platform, with passengers arriving from Edinburgh and Glasgow facing being rushed off on arrival, the campaigners warned.
“HS2 construction work will be very disruptive at London Euston with reduced platform availability.
“This will impact on the Scottish sleeper services, which will no longer be able to stand at Euston after arrival in the morning,” said Richard Houghton of HS2 Action Alliance.
“Many passengers will no doubt agree that there’s a huge difference between waking up when the train comes to a halt and easing out into London at 8am – and being woken at 6am and told to get packed and ready to get off immediately on arrival.
“HS2 is potentially proving to be a nightmare – even affecting people in their sleep.”
A Transport Scotland spokesman said plans for the construction programme at Euston have not been confirmed so the effect on the sleeper service is still up in the air.
But he insisted that the quango has demanded a platform for the sleeper until at least 8:15am.
“We are aware that there will be pressure on platform use during the reconstruction of Euston station in order to make it a modern railway hub as well as the London terminus for High Speed Rail services,” he said.
“However, Transport Scotland, through its engagement with the working group involved in the planning of the redevelopment, has made clear to DfT , Network Rail and HS2 that a platform must be available for sleeper services until at least 08:15hrs.”
Meanwhile, the north-east regional transport partnership Nestrans has called on Westminster to guarantee landing slots at Heathrow after a report predicted HS2 would cost the north-east economy £225million.
A report by KPMG in November found the south of England would reap the benefits of being connected – but other places would suffer financially.