Transport in Scotland
The transport system in Scotland is well generally developed. The Scottish Parliament has control over most elements of transport policy within Scotland.
Railways
First ScotRail is the principal operator of passenger train services in Scotland, operating all the internal train services, as well as overnight sleeper trains to London. GNER and Virgin Trains provide cross border services to England.
Rail links with adjacent countries
The East Coast Main Line and the West Coast Main Line connect Scotland to England. There have been proposals for a connection to Northern Ireland by a tunnel under North Channel, but this is highly unlikely.
Rapid transit
The Glasgow Subway is the only underground system in Scotland.
Trams and Light Rail
There are no trams systems currently in operation in Scotland, although Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen formerly had extensive networks. A proposal for an Edinburgh Tram Network is as of November 2005 being debated in the Scottish Parliament.
Road
The motorway network is confined to the central belt. The M8 motorway is the main road link between Edinburgh and Glasgow. The M74 motorway connects Glasgow to Carlisle.
Outside of the central belt, the road network is less well developed. The A9 road is the main link between the Thurso, Inverness and central Scotland. It is a mixture of double track and dual carriageways. In rural areas, many smaller roads are still single track
Buses
Scottish Citylink and Megabus are the two principal long distance coach operators within Scotland. National Express provide coach links with cities in England.
First Group and Stagecoach Group are two large public transport companies which are based in Scotland, and operate a number of local and regional services.
Water
Caledonian MacBrayne links the mainland to all the major islands off of the West Coast. NorthLink serve the Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands, linking them with Aberdeen and Scrabster
Stena Line and P&O provide links to Northern Ireland.
Ports and harbours
Ports include Aberdeen, Glasgow, Grangemouth, Leith, Peterhead, Scapa Flow, Sullom Voe.
Inland waterways
Scotland never had an extensive canal network. The Forth and Clyde Canal, Union Canal and the Caledonian Canal were some of the most important, but went into decline after the growth of the railways. Like in the rest of the UK, they are now being reopened and restored, and their primary use is now leisure.
- See also: Canals in Scotland
Air transport
Glasgow International Airport and Edinburgh Airport are currently the country's two busiest airports. As of 2005 Glasgow has more passengers, although if current growth rates continue, Edinburgh is scheduled to overtake it. Both are operated by BAA plc, as is Aberdeen Airport, the country's fourth busiest. Glasgow Prestwick International Airport is Glasgow's second airport, but is located 29 miles from Glasgow. Today it is Scotland's third busiest airport, largely due Ryanair locating at the airport from 1994 onwards.
Highlands and Islands Airports Limited operate ten small airports across the Highlands, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles, which are primarily used for short distance, public service operations, although Inverness Airport has a number of scheduled flights to destinations across the UK, as well as chartered flights to Europe.
Scotland has no national airline. The former British Caledonian had its roots in Scotland, but was taken over by British Airways in the 1980s.
See also
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