IPPR recommends maglev is considered for UK transport
 
UK Ultraspeed warmly welcomes the publication by the respected think-tank IPPR of their report into transport links to and between the cities of the English North, noting their explicit
“recommendation  […]  that  a  detailed  appraisal  is  undertaken  of  the  relative  costs and  benefits  of  the  case  for  the  three  options  for  upgrading  North-South  rail  links,  and  the  options  for links  within  the  North  –  conventional  upgrades  versus  high  speed  rail  versus  Maglev.  
The evaluation should  use  an  upgraded  NATA  framework  enhanced  to  take  account  of  environmental  and distributional  costs  and  benefits,  and  should  consider  costs  and  benefits  up  to  a  time  horizon  of  at least  60  years,  in  line  with  current appraisal guidance.
It is important that the same evaluation criteria are used across the three options to create a level playing field. A number of HSR/Maglev options could be considered within the basic framework to ‘fine-tune’ the evaluation.  
The Government should then invest as necessary in the option with the highest benefit-to-cost ratio. This may require additional government borrowing – which would, however, be justifiable under the Treasury’s ‘Golden Rule’ for public spending, which allows borrowing to invest (up to the 40 per cent debt-to-GDP ratio specified by the Sustainable Investment Rule). Alternatively, a private financing package along the lines of the Private Finance Initiative, which is used extensively for investment in hospitals and other public sector capital projects, could be considered.
 
UK Ultraspeed further welcome the coverage of this report by the Newcastle Journal under the headline: Ministers urged to look at maglev and quoted Ultraspeed CEO Alan James as saying “We warmly welcome IPPR’s conclusion that a radical upgrade of connectivity to and between the cities of the English North is an absolute requirement.”
Whilst there is much to commend in the IPPR paper, UK Ultraspeed wishes to correct two key errors it contains.  
  1. Firstly, the IPPR estimate of costs for a “UK Maglev network to be in the region of £100 billion” is simply wrong, and wrong by an order of magnitude.  Studies of the most difficult section of the 500 km/h Ultraspeed route (across the Pennines) have recently confirmed the capital cost, including land to average £35 million per km.  This compares exceptionally favourably with the £56.42m per km out-turn cost for Britain’s only TGV-style railway, the much slower 300 km/h link from London to the Channel Tunnel.  
  2. Secondly the IPPR report is also mistaken in its statement (p41) that maglev would have an “even longer” construction time than high speed rail.  This is not true.  The Transrapid maglev system used by Transrapid is capable of rapid, largely pre-fabricated construction.  The Chinese stage one maglev route was built in 22 months from signature of contract to VIP opening run – a record-breaking achievement for a major infrastructure project.
IPPR North Transport Report
Friday, 29 February 2008