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Full speed ahead?

80 minutes to London?

The Tories have pledged to cut rail journey times between Manchester and London to 80 minutes by building a high speed rail link. Are you in favour? Or have your heard it all before? Have Your Say

Speaking at the Conservative Party conference (29 Sept 2008), shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers announced that, if the Tories win the next General Election, they would scrap plans for a third runway at Heathrow and invest in a high-speed rail link instead.

Proposed route

Expected to cost £1.3bn a year for 12 years, the proposed link would be an entirely new railway with a new track freeing up the West Coast Mainline for more commuter journeys.

And the Tories say the 180 mph rail link would cut journey times from 125 mins to 80 mins between London and Manchester, and from 55 mins to 17 mins between Manchester and Leeds.

Ms Villiers said high speed rail was a 'viable and attractive' alternative to short haul flights and would reduce road congestion and improve transport links without the 'considerable' environmental penalties of a third runway.

However, Labour’s Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said the plans were "politically opportunistic" and would be "hugely damaging" to the national interest.

"Even if every flight from Manchester and Leeds/Bradford to Heathrow were replaced by a new high speed line then Heathrow would still be operating at 97% capacity," she said.

last updated: 29/09/2008 at 18:15
created: 29/09/2008

Have Your Say

80 minutes to London: what do you think?

John A
Travelling by train from Manchester to London (travelling weekdays arriving before noon) costs £230 return: the similar air journey costs over £100 less.Unless the Tories are proposing also to reduce these extortionate fares, I cannot see how this measure will persuade business passengers to move from air to rail travel.

Rob Wedekind
Good idea, but they'll never do it. They'll turn round and blame Labour when the project is cancelled.

Martin
I'm not to fussed about the London link but the Manchester to Leeds link sounds great but by the time the link is up and running i doubt i'll be traveling to Leeds everyday.Shame they can't speed up the construction.

JB
If they can guarantee that the service would run on a Sunday, instead of the torturous four hours it took for me the other weekend, go for it.

Mat Nichol
It just sounds like another false promise from a desperate politician. It'll either never happen or get scrapped part-way through when the costs treble the original estimate.

Tony M
We need both.

Andy Winder
If it is to believed and let's face it, it is pretty hard to believe these people these days! I think it is a great idea in principal and perhaps long overdue; after all it is our capital.

Pete Newton
Good idea. This may even displace the power from London over time. Which is why it won't ever happen.

Steve C
Great idea - bring it on

stefano
wonderful idea! im going to london every two weeks and sometimes it is a pain.. 4hr for.. who knows!! just dedays!!

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