Manchester to Liverpool in 7 minutes ... by Tube
IT sounds like something from a futuristic film – superfast pods hurtling through an underground tunnel powered by magnets to connect the north’s biggest cities in a matter of minutes
But transport officials are seriously considering proposals for the ‘ world’s fastest underground system’ which would whisk passengers from Liverpool to Manchester in seven minutes flat.
On the current rail network, the quickest trains between the two cities cover the 33mile distance in 40 minutes – only slightly faster than almost a century ago, when the journey took 45 minutes.
Direct City Networks, the company behind the idea, proposes using maglev trains which would hover above tracks and be propelled by magnets at speeds of 350 mph.
The scheme could also extend under the pennines as far as Leeds and Hull, the company says. The entire 116-mile journey from Liverpool to Hull could take just 29 minutes, DCN estimates, adding that its line could be built in addition to HS3 – the Government’s planned new high speed railway from Liverpool to Hull.
It would want to build the line underground so it could travel in as straight a line as possible and avoid disruption. Rather than using long train carriages, passengers would travel in smaller pods, or capsules, which would run at 60 to 90-second intervals.
DCN’s proposals would be expensive – Manchester to Leeds is the only section to be costed and that could run to £3.7 billion.
But the company says the faster travel opportunities could bost the north’s economy by several billion pounds and create tens of thousands of additional jobs.
It will soon reveal its early proposals and will then move on to a feasibility study.
Labour’s candidates for the Liverpool and Manchester mayor roles, Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham, are said to be ‘looking carefully’ at the scheme. Transport for the North, the government body responsible for improving transport networks as part of the Northern powerhouse scheme, confirmed it has been made aware of DCN’s plans.