New high-speed train due to cut travel times from London to Edinburgh makes first trip to Scotland

A new high-speed train aimed at slashing journey time between London and Edinburgh to four hours has travelled to Scotland for the first time.

The Azuma train uses technology similar to that in Japanese bullet trains and can accelerate faster than existing services on the UK network.

The trains debut run north of the border was made as part of a testing programme by manufacturer Hitachi in preparation for roll-out of the 65-strong fleet on Virgin's east coast route next year.

Virgin plans to cut journey times between the Scottish and UK capitals by 22 minutes and the new fleet will boost capacity from King's Cross by 28 per cent at peak times.

The train travelled over the Scottish border at 12.45pm on Wednesday and was piped into Dunbar Station around 15 minutes later, before returning south.

Azuma has taken its name from the Japanese word for East, in tribute to the technology used and the route it will operate on.

Scotland's Transport Minister Humza Yousaf welcomed the test run.

He said: "Making rail an attractive alternative is an ideal way to encourage more people out of their cars and on to greener transport. That is why it's great to see Virgin's first cross-border Azuma fleet in Scotland as part of their testing programme, which is building towards service introduction next year."

David Horne, Virgin Trains' managing director on the east coast route, said: "The Virgin Azuma will deliver a step-change in services between Scotland and England, taking regular journeys down to just four hours."