High-Speed Rail Goes Through Another Hurdle
Robert JonesTransport Secretary Lord Adonis said a proposal for a new London to Scotland high-speed rail network could be worked out and given a green light as soon as the month of March.
A recent government-backed research concluded that a 200mph route would reduce travel times to the north of Britain by as much as 50percent to about two hours.
But this new high-speed network would be built through phases spanning several years and is estimated today at costing £34bn.
Plans are scheduled to be developed once Lord Adonis gets hold of a High Speed 2 (HS2) report later today. HS2 is British Government body set up earlier this year to into the details of a rapid north-south train service.
According to Adonis, the HS2 report is the most extensive of its kind ever undertaken in the UK.
He said that the current British high-speed rail system pales in comparison to the ones of other top European countries and doesn’t connect major cities in the UK, although the suggestions set forth by the HS2 report would correct these short comings.
The study recommends to have a first phase of a north-south high-speed line constructed which would become the London to West Midlands route.
The HS2 report includes options for spreading the system further to the north, to the northwest of England, Yorkshire, the east Midlands, to the northeast of England and to Scotland.
The Government has planned to carry out a public consultation regarding the route later in the year, once the full plans have been elaborated, although the results of the upcoming election could spell the end to this project, especially if a radical reduction in expanses is seen as necessary to get the finances of the country up to general satisfaction.
But the Tories have expressed positive reaction of a high-speed rail system based on environmental grounds.
At the present moment, there are only 68 miles of high-speed rail tracks in the country, all dedicated to connecting the British capital to France through the Channel Tunnel.
Adonis commented that noted that there are 3,600 miles of high speed rail in full operation through out the rest of Europe, plus a further 2,000 miles currently under construction. Meanwhile, China will have a staggering total of 6,000 miles in operation by 2012.
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Filed under Europe News, Travel News, UK News