High speed rail network plans unveiled

By David Millward, Transport Editor 151PM GMT eleven March 2010

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His minute blueprint, rupturing by the Chiltern Hills, will move the centre of Birmingham 49 mins from the heart of London, whilst Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester would usually be 75 mins afar from the capital.

In serve a new rotate in the West Midlands would meant that Birmingham Airport could be reached from London in usually 31 minutes, rounded off the same time as it takes to get to Gatwick currently.

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Lord Adonis hailed the plans as a "step change" for Britain which, he said, would supplement genius to the packed rail network and foster mercantile growth.

But Theresa Villiers, his Tory shadow, poured ridicule on the plans.

"Labour have tricked the prophesy we set out 3 years ago for high speed rail. In withdrawal out Heathrow and environment out plans that give no organisation guarantees north of the Midlands, Labours plans are injured both by miss of aspiration and undermined by their incapacity to learn the simple law that high speed rail should an pick to a third runway not an serve to it," she said.

The plans voiced by the Government enclosed a minute track as far as Birmingham and outline plans how the network could be lengthened serve north.

As reported by the Daily Telegraph, the proposals embody a new vital rotate at Old Oak Common in north west London, where passengers would be means to shift from high speed trains onto the programmed Crossrail line using from to Heathrow from Shenfield in Essex as well as the Heathrow Express.

The airfield will be eleven mins away.

The line will begin at a made up Euston, head towards Ruislip and afterwards come in a hovel at the M25 prior to surfacing at Amersham. It would afterwards head west of Wendover and Aylesbury, mostly following the track taken by the A413.

Much of the track will follow the existent Chiltern Line prior to reaching the Birmingham International rotate and afterwards relocating to a new city centre hire at Fazely Street, in the Eastside metamorphosis area.

The new Birmingham International rotate will emanate a ride heart for the West Midlands joining not usually the airfield but additionally motorways and behaving as the bottom of dual serve lines, one to Manchester and the North West and the alternative using to Sheffield, Leeds and the North East.

Ministers goal plans to make use of endless tunnelling and following existent rail corridors will lessen most of the antithesis they could face as a outcome of their preference to run the line by the Chiltern Hills, an area of superb healthy beauty.

Some homes will be theme to mandatory purchase, but the Department for Transport, has sought to keep this down to a minimum.

John Cridland, emissary executive ubiquitous of the Confederation of British Industry, welcomed what he described as "visionary thinking".

But he additionally sounded a note of caution.

"But high speed rail will come with a large cost tab and earlier or after the subject of who pays for it will have to be answered. Private zone await for the judgment of high speed rail should not be misread as a eagerness to write a vacant coupon at a time of exceedingly spread out open finance management a full and open conference on in isolation appropriation will be essential. Equally, high speed rail contingency not be authorised to empty investment from alternative ride priorities.