HOPES that 250mph trains will link Liverpool to London received a big boost yesterday when the region was included in government plans for a “core network”.
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis sprung a surprise when his long-awaited high-speed rail proposals pledged a £30bn ‘Y-shape’, with twin routes north of Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds.
The plans had been expected to merely commit to a London-Birmingham route – with extensions north left to a second stage.
But Lord Adonis concluded the shorter line would not persuade enough air passengers to switch to high-speed, promising instead a single “hybrid Bill” by around 2030.
Although trains would slow to conventional speed after turning off the high-speed track just south of Manchester, they would still cut London-Liverpool journey times from 2hrs 10mins to 1hr 36mins.
The Government said companies would be able to “work across regions”, with the Liverpool-Birmingham journey time slashed from 1hr 34mins to just one hour.
