[2] The link was planned to open in 2011 and would have included an underground airport station located beneath the terminal building.

New rolling stock was to be ordered for the service to compensate for any extra journey time created by the additional stop.

[5] Though the exact timetable had not been finalised, the following service pattern was expected to have been implemented: Following the Scottish Parliament election, 2007, the newly elected SNP minority government announced their intention to cancel the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link project in September 2007 amid concerns over the need for public spending cuts.

Transport commentators criticised the cancellation of the EARL project, claiming that approximately £30 million had been spent on the scheme.

[7] John Swinney MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance in the Scottish Government, warned that the full underground EARL project would probably be scrapped in favour of the electrification of the Glasgow-Edinburgh Main Line.