North-west in line for high-speed link

Wednesday, 26 August 2009 12:00 AM

By Alex Stevenson

Britain's second high-speed rail line will head up the north-west coast before forking to Edinburgh and Glasgow, Network Rail has announced.

The Scottish capital will be reached from London in just over two hours under the high-speed link, while the journey time from central London to central Manchester will be cut to just one hour six minutes.

Network Rail's announcement comes as it concludes which route should be the next to receive the upgrade to a high-speed line.

It follows Britain's first high-speed line linking London St Pancras with the continent on the Eurostar.

Network Rail's chief executive Iain Coucher said demand for trains from the north to London was "nearly full" and that by 2020, on present plans, Britain's trains would be turning away passengers.

"That's not what we want," he said.

"We need to start the planning now to meet future demand and the solution is a new high-speed railway to the Midlands, the north-west and Scotland. The line has a sound business case that will pay for itself."

The proposed project will cost £34 billion to build but is expected to generate revenue and benefits worth £55 billion, paying for itself 1.8 times over.

The route will diverge beyond Liverpool to travel north to Glasgow and Edinburgh. It had not been clear before today's announcement whether the Scottish capital would be included in the link.

Birmingham is also to be included in the link, with a line diverging to Britain's second city from the main north-west line.

Journey times for new high-speed rail link

Birmingham - 46mins
Manchester - 1hr 6mins
Warrington - 1hr 6mins
Preston - 1hr 13mins
Liverpool - 1hr 23mins
Glasgow - 2hrs 16mins
Edinburgh - 2hrs 9mins

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• public services
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• rail
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• transport