Adonis unveils high-speed rail plans in Lords statement

Plans for a new high-speed rail network, featuring 250mph trains, have been announced by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis.

A White Paper is recommending a route for a new line between London and Birmingham with a future extension to northern England and Scotland.

The public will be consulted on the proposed route, with work unlikely to start until 2017 at the earliest.

Lord Adonis told the House of Lords on 11 March 2010 that "extensive and detailed" consultation would be needed on the project, particularly with any communities which might be affected.

The transport secretary said the proposals would slash journey times from London to Birmingham to between 30 and 50 minutes.

Lord Adonis said: "High speed rail is a policy of huge strategic significance for the country.

"The time has come to create a credible plan, and for this to be a national cause," he told peers.

For the Tories, Baroness Hanham said her party had long been convinced of the need for a high-speed network.

But she warned: "The statement is full of general principles but lacks detail on cost analysis, funding sources and the expertise necessary to deliver any part of the project in the reasonably near future."

Lord Bradshaw, for the Liberal Democrats, welcoming the statement, called for an assurance that the whole project "is not going to become a meal ticket for consultants and various hangers-on".