Rail passengers in Northern England could one day be zipping between cities on levitating trains as part of a vision to cut down journey times.
Plans are being hatched by Transport for the North to build a lightning quick railway connection from Liverpool to Hull via Manchester and Leeds that slices journey times down to a matter of minutes.
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Using maglev technology, the trains would be capable of topping 300mph and it’s believed to be the first time the tech has been used outside Japan.
To illustrate just how much quicker the line will be, Liverpool to Hull currently takes more than three hours and involves at least two changes. On the maglev that journey would take just 29 minutes.
It will take seven minutes to travel from Liverpool to Manchester, nine minutes from Manchester to Leeds, and the final leg between Leeds and Hull would be a mere 13 minutes long.
The maglev technology will allow small pods to travel at very high speeds through tunnels, levitating above the tracks using powerful electromagnets.
This all comes at quite a cost though, with the initial line between Manchester and Leeds priced at between £2.2 billion and £3.7 billion.
Elon Musk’s Hyperloop project is also eyeing up the UK as a possible place for a route. Musk’s tech would see trains propelled at 760mph to link London and Manchester in just 18 minutes.
When you combine the poor state of the country’s rail network with the fact the UK is leaving the EU, providing a faster connection between cities in the British Isles makes a lot of sense.
However, it’s unlikely to be here any time soon, so prepare to put up with the current situation for a while longer.
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Which journey needs maglev the most? Let us know in the comments below.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
