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Network Rail announces high-speed rail study

24/06/2008

A new west coast line could reduce rail journey times between Manchester and London to 74 minutes, it has been claimed.

Network Rail said a high-speed rail track running alongside the West Coast Main Line is just one of five possible lines that could be built across the country.

The operator has launched a study to see whether it would be feasible to build the lines, which are intended to take the pressure off the existing network which is expected to be at full capacity by 2025.

Network Rail chief executive Iain Coucher told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that many of the lines "are beginning to get full up, so we've got to put our minds towards what the future may be".

Earlier this year, the government reaffirmed its commitment to increasing long distance services on the West Coast Main Line by almost half from December 2008.