Tories back F+G's bullet train

UK Ultraspeed, the proposed £30bn bullet train style project, received a boost today when the Conservative party got on board. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne announced his support for the scheme on the BBC’s Today Programme this morning. Faithful+Gould is providing cost planning and cost management on the scheme, which would install a network of super-fast trains shrinking distances between major cities. At speeds of up to 500kmh, passengers could go from London to Birmingham in half an hour, or from London to Scotland in two hours. The train would be energy efficient, relying on magnetic levitation.

The man behind the project, Alan James, argued that the “maglev” scheme would be less complex than many believe. He said costing it was “a particularly simple job” because much of the project would be prefabricated. “We already know exactly what materials we need: We need 280 substations between London and Glasgow and 841.16km on infrastructure between London and Glasgow.”

He said the project was basically a “long concrete viaduct” whose height would vary from 80cm to 20m above ground as it crossed the country. “It’s an extremely straight forward project to build. We are trying to create a ‘Brunel billiard table’ where the length of the legs underneath are altered to ensure the table is the same height everywhere.”