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| New high-speed rail link proposed | New high-speed rail link proposed |
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| Network Rail has proposed a new £34bn ($55bn) high-speed railway line linking Scotland and London. | Network Rail has proposed a new £34bn ($55bn) high-speed railway line linking Scotland and London. |
| The line will go via Birmingham and Manchester, getting passengers from Glasgow to London in just two hours and 16 minutes, the rail firm said. | The line will go via Birmingham and Manchester, getting passengers from Glasgow to London in just two hours and 16 minutes, the rail firm said. |
| The proposed new line would become the country's second high-speed rail link after the line that runs from London St Pancras to the Channel Tunnel. | The proposed new line would become the country's second high-speed rail link after the line that runs from London St Pancras to the Channel Tunnel. |
| Network Rail rejected routes going via the Midlands or the east of England. | Network Rail rejected routes going via the Midlands or the east of England. |
| However, any final decision on the proposed line will be made by the government. | However, any final decision on the proposed line will be made by the government. |
| That could depend heavily on how much it costs, said the BBC's transport correspondent, Richard Scott. | That could depend heavily on how much it costs, said the BBC's transport correspondent, Richard Scott. |
| New line | |
| Network Rail's proposed new line linking Glasgow and London, on which trains could travel as fast as 200mph, will also serve Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. | |
| FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from the Today programme | |
| It would cut travelling between London and Birmingham to 45 minutes, from a best time of one hour and 22 minutes currently. | |
| Rail passengers would also be able to get to Manchester in one hour and 23 minutes, from two hours and eight minutes now. | |
| Network Rail said the new line would require more than 1,500 miles of rail, sleepers and ballast, as well as 138 bridges over roads and current railway lines. | |
| Network Rail says the new line is required to ease the pressure on Britain's railways. It says passenger numbers have rocketed by 40% over the past decade, and that by 2024, many existing lines will be at full capacity. | |
| Transport Secretary Lord Adonis told the BBC that high-speed links were vital for the future. | |
| "Virtually every other major developed country in the world has now built high-speed lines. And all those that started building them between their major cities have extended them now to cover large parts of their country," he said. | |
| "There's a general acceptance that if we're going to meet additional transport demand over the next 40 or 50 years, then that can't be by building more motorways or having a lot more short-haul aviation." |