Cities back high-speed rail network

Cities around Britain are to join forces in calling for a high-speed rail network.

Authorities in Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol, Cardiff, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds are outline their vision at a conference in London today (September 9th).

Lord Adonis, the transport secretary, and Conservative shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers will be among those in attendance at the conference.

High-speed rail proposals

In a report called ‘The Case for New Lines’, Network Rail proposes a 200mph north-south service between London and Glasgow that would take two hours 16 minutes, against the four hours 10 minutes it now takes. The journey time between London and central Manchester would be just over an hour. Edinburgh, Birmingham, Liverpool and Heathrow Airport could also be served by the line.

Network Rail estimates that rail travel could double from 1.3bn passengers per year to 2.6bn over the next thirty years.

A private organisation, High Speed Two, will report in December on the most practical route for the line and an estimated cost.