250mph trains on their way
11 March 2010, 13:51 | Updated: 12 March 2010, 07:53
Two hundred and fifty mile an hour trains could soon be running close to Brackley and Aylesbury.
The government's announced plans to start building a new £30bn high-speed rail link between London and Scotland in 2017. It could be finished by 2026.
The trains would run out of London to Amersham and then on to Wendover and Aylesbury before moving through the countryside up to Brackley and then on to the West Midlands.
If the project is cleared, the new line will mean journey times between London and Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield will come down from around 2 hours 10 minutes now to 75 minutes when the new network is in place. London to Glasgow and Edinburgh journey times would be reduced to just three and a half hours.
The government's promising people worried they'll end up living near the new line will have a chance to express their concerns to bosses during a public consultation due to start in the autumn.
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis thinks the new link will be good for the environment: "High speed trains emit far less carbon than cars or planes per passenger mile and the local impact of high-speed lines is far less than entirely new motorway alignments in terms of land-take and air quality."
Buckinghamshire County Council say they're frustrated and disappointed about the government's plans.
Leader David Shakespeare said: "High Speed 2 will give Buckinghamshire all the environmental disadvantages while promoting economic benefits elsewhere. Our residents won't benefit as the trains will pass through the county without stopping, simply leaving Buckinghamshire with huge damage to our environment and Green Belt."
The dark blue line shows the proposed route through Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire
