A HIGH-speed rail link from Glasgow to Ireland could transform the city’s economy, according to a report on Scotland’s cities.

The vision is for a fast rail link from Edinburgh to Dublin, via Glasgow and Belfast, across a “Celtic bridge” over the North Channel.

Better and faster transport links between cities and city regions has been proposed as a must-have for economic growth and for Scotland’s cities to compete internationally.

The report, “Scotland’s Urban AGE on the future of Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh” proposed several recommendations for future success.

It says that fast-track rail links, both within Scotland and linking to other countries, and an updated road system, are priorities.

The report by the Glasgow Urban Laboratory based at the School of Art, stated: “Other countries, notably France, have done a great deal to shrink distance and time by investing in advanced infrastructures to speed up communications and enhance mobility in their urban systems.

“For example, a fast rail link from Edinburgh, via Glasgow and Belfast, to Dublin, built in partnership with the Irish Government and Northern Irish administration with a Celtic version of the Oresund Bridge in the North Channel, with fast links to Aberdeen via Dundee and to Inverness, would be ambitious, visionary and transformative for all concerned.”

Asked if this was more advantageous than high-speed links to London, Brian Evans, one of the report authors, said: “These things are not either or. Cities need to be inter-connected.

“There are missing links in the rail map, like from Scotland to the north of England.

“It is not entirely pie in the sky. There are bridges like this all over the place.  

“This is another missing link. It is about high-speed inter-connectivity.”

The bridge idea is based on the eight-mile Oresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden linking Copenhagen and Malmo which lie 25 miles apart, and which also has a 2.5-mile tunnel.

The Celtic link would need to be almost 300 miles long with a bridge of around 20 miles from Galloway to County Antrim, north of Belfast.

While a road bridge from coast to coast has been mooted before, either from Galloway or Campbeltown, this idea would be a direct rail link between the biggest cities in both countries.

It would still encounter maritime and geographical challenges – such as Beaufort’s Dyke, a 200m deep, 30-mile sea trench that runs along the North Channel seabed.

The idea comes at a time when the plan for a rail link of under 10 miles from Glasgow city centre to Glasgow Airport is on hold.

Mr Evans said: “ It is a corresponding lunacy: it is not possible to get on a fast train straight from the airport to Glasgow or Falkirk or Edinburgh.

Stuart Patrick, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce chief, said: “I’m keen we have the airport connected to the rail system and not just from the airport to the City Centre.

“We would also like to solve the fact that you can’t get a direct train link to Manchester. Let’s get that.”

The report was commissioned by Burness Paull.