North East and Cumbria: Ultraspeed trains

Richard Moss Political Editor BBC North East and Cumbria

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Newcastle to London in 100 minutes?

Two centuries ago, the North East was at the forefront of the rail revolution. Robert Stephenson was building state-of-the-art steam engines at his works in Newcastle.

In the same building, there was a chance to find out why the North East could be at the heart of a 21st Century transport transformation.

This time it is trains that fly. Magnetic Levitation is the technology - trains hovering above magnetic rails.

No need for wheels, with the result that maximum speeds can reach 300 miles an hour.

This week the company behind the technology was trying to convince North East business leaders to back it.

UK Ultraspeed's Alan James made his sales pitch in Robert Stephenson's old engine works - now converted into swanky offices.

The hard sell for the region was what it could do to journey times. Newcastle to London in 100 minutes instead of 165 minutes.

Middlesbrough to London in 85 minutes rather than over 3 hours, and ¿ Newcastle to Teesside in just 10 minutes.

UK Ultraspeed hopes the North East might act as a pilot by building a Tyne-Tees line to kick start the revolution.

The region would be at the heart of the unfolding network, giving a £27bn boost to the North East economy and narrowing if not banishing the North-South divide.

But of course there are pitfalls. The flying trains would need a whole new rail network - 500 miles of it, at a cost of £25bn.

New land and new money - neither of which are in plentiful supply.

UK Ultraspeed also believes it can use private finance to build the infrastructure, yet some PFI experts have told the Politics Show that they cannot see how you can avoid taxpayers making a substantial upfront contribution.

And transport Professor Phil Blythe from Newcastle University is sceptical too.

He believes a high speed rail link is vital for the North East but is dubious about the technology on offer from UK Ultraspeed, and about the planning nightmare it could involve.

Instead he believes investing in the current network may be a better bet.

Nevertheless some North East politicians are enthused.

David Clelland, the Labour MP for Tyne Bridge, sits on the Transport Select Committee and he is now pushing for the Government to take UK Ultraspeed seriously.

At the moment though, although minds appear to be open in Government, the chequebooks remain closed.

And there are some who believe the North East may back the wrong horse if the region puts it's weight behind UK Ultraspeed's dream.

The question is will they be right to be sceptical, or could these flying trains finally provide the Holy Grail for the region - the end to economic backwardness.

The Politics Show

That is the Politics Show, Sunday 26 March 2006 at 12.30pm with Richard Moss and Mark Denten.

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