Stage One business case confirmed: sample media coverage
On 27 February 2008, UK Ultraspeed issued a formal announcement that public sector support has been secured, in partnership with private sector resources, to support the development of the business case for Liverpool – Manchester as a potential Stage One of the Ultraspeed network.
UK Ultraspeed warmly welcomes the positive coverage the announcement has received. Selected articles are presented below, with links to their original sites of publication.
Feb 27 2008
Manchester to Liverpool - in just 10 minutes
by Neil Hodgson
by Neil Hodgson
A REVOLUTIONARY transport system that would connect Liverpool and Manchester in less than 10 minutes has moved a step closer.
Backers of the 311mph maglev are setting up a £220,000 feasibility study, which could be completed by early May.
UK Ultraspeed is proposing the route and is working with The Mersey Partnership to find public and private backers to help foot the bill.
The announcement was being made today at the EuroRail 2008 conference in Milan by UK Ultraspeed chief executive Dr Alan James.
It is based on the transrapid magnetic levitation (maglev) system which floats carriages carrying more than 1,000 passengers over a single path, propelled by electro- magnets.
Dr James described the high-speed technology as “the inter city travel system of the future.”
And he said the Liverpool- Manchester link could prove the case for a £16bn line connecting London with major British cities, including Liverpool.
Dr James told his international audience of senior railway executives about the study into stage one of the network.
He said: “I am delighted we have made this breakthrough on the route section linking Liverpool and Manchester.
“In 1830, George Stephenson built the world’s first inter-city transport link between these two great cities.
“His 30mph Liverpool and Manchester railway took journeys that could take a day and turned them into a matter of hours.
“Our 300mph maglev takes those hours and turns them into minutes.”
Liverpool Chamber of Commerce chief executive Jack Stopforth is a keen maglev supporter after riding a test system in Germany.
Dr James said: “I salute the vision of The Mersey Partnership. I also applaud the drive of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce in putting maglev so forcefully on the north west agenda and their tenacity in keeping it there.”
Mr Stopforth, a non-executive member of The Mersey Partnership board, said: “We are delighted that the north west is leading the UK.
“It is so important because it is not just a transport system, but could be the catalyst in producing a change in the economic development of the whole of the north of Britain.”
A Mersey Partnership spokesman said: “The Partnership is working with public and private sector partners to source funding for the feasibility study examining the proposed Transrapid maglev route linking Liverpool and Manchester.”
Maglev would connect London- Birmingham-Manchester in 50 minutes and Glasgow to Edinburgh in under 15 minutes. A Transrapid system already runs between Liverpool’s twin city of Shanghai and its remote airport, taking seven minutes 23 seconds for a journey that can take an hour by road.
UK Ultraspeed has so far invested more than £2m in developing the case for a UK maglev network.
The next step is a more detailed study of stage one routes, and the first is the Liverpool link.
Dr James said it could follow the Manchester Ship Canal route to link the two airports, before crossing the Pennines to Leeds.
He said: “Liverpool to Manchester and Leeds is a great first step.
“It’s a privilege to be treading the same ground as Stephenson.”
Feb 27 2008
Why we need to get up to speed, by Phil Lambell
PRESSURE was mounting on regional spending chiefs last night to hand out cash that could bring an ultra high speed link to the North.
A revolutionary maglev system, said to be as fast as the Japanese bullet train, has been proposed as the best way to link up cities from Edinburgh, though Newcastle and across the Pennines to Manchester and Liverpool.
And now Northumberland-based UK Ultraspeed could see the long-standing transport dream become a reality after securing public funds from the North West.
More than £220,000 will be spent on a business plan for a Liverpool to Manchester maglev route after regeneration bosses at The Merseyside Partnership decided it may be the way forward.
And a further £250,000 will go on setting out the business case for a Manchester to Leeds link.
Last night, there were calls for their counterparts in the North East to match the cash injection.
UK Ultraspeed chief executive Dr Alan James said the North East, potentially one of the biggest beneficiaries, needed to show the same level of investment or risk being left behind.
He has called on development agency One NorthEast to put the rail system at the heart of its transport ambitions.
While the ultimate aim is to stretch the line to London, the initial benefit would be to create a “Northern super-region” delivering a multi-million pound boost to economy.
Dr James said: “We want to turn the talk of a super-region into a reality, and make us as competitive economically as we have always aimed to be.
“Liverpool to Manchester and Leeds is a great first step. We now look forward to similar partnerships with the public sector in other parts of Northern England and Scotland, to combine all of the great cities between the Mersey, Tyne, Forth and Clyde into a ‘North Britain super-region’ to act as a genuine counterweight to London and the South East.”
Tyne Bridge MP David Clelland, who sits on the transport select committee, last night added his voice to those calling for more cash to support the scheme.
He said: “There has never been a proper costing of this. The Government balks at the idea of this and has so far refused to really look at it.
“But I believe maglev can be a way forward for us, especially with the suggestion of a Tyne-Tees link. It is important we start planning for this now.”
Businesses in the North have called on One NorthEast to show more support for transport projects and provide the cash for a “detailed evidence base”.
Ross Smith, head of policy at the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: “There are a lot of different transport priorities that people and businesses in the region will want to see further.
“But what we need first is a robust evidence base with which to take the region forward.”
A spokesman for the development agency said: “One NorthEast has already funded through the Northern Way a study which examined the impact of high speed north-south and trans-Pennine rail connections, highlighting potential economic benefits.
“We will continue to pursue the potential for high speed connections through our support for the Northern Way.
“We are due to meet Dr James next week and will listen to his proposal.”
27 February 2008
Maglev attracts public funding
By Robert Wright
A consortium aiming to build high-speed magnetic levitation rail - or maglev - routes across the UK will today announce that it has for the first time secured public sector funding to help develop its plans.
Alan James of UK Ultraspeed will tell a conference in Milan that the consortium has received funding from the Merseyside Partnership, a regional development organisation, to develop its plans for a high-speed link between Liverpool and Manchester.
UK Ultraspeed, whose owners include Siemens, the German engineering giant which developed much of the company's technology, argues high-speed trains floating above tracks by magnetic force would be the best way to introduce high-speed rail to the UK.
Stage One Study Confirmed
Wednesday, 27 February 2008