TRANSPORT Minister Keith Brown has called on newly-elected council leaders in the north of England, and re-elected London Mayor Boris Johnson, to join the campaign to bring high-speed rail to Scotland.

Brown has invited the leaders to join him at a summit on the benefits of a UK-wide high-speed rail network, which could cut as much as two hours off journeys between Glasgow and London. Under current plans the high-speed service would initially only stretch as far as Birmingham, with subsequent extensions to Leeds and Manchester, but Brown hopes to persuade council chiefs to back the Scottish Government's calls to extend the route north of the Border.