High-speed rail network linking all major cities

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Transport minister Lord Adonis is pushing to give firm backing to the train link by early next year - before the next general election.

One proposal is for a single line, with trains running at 225mph including double deckers, from London to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as having a spur link to Heathrow airport.

Other options include direct lines to the North and Scotland. The Government has ordered a report into High Speed Two, a fast line to the West Midlands with possible extensions, which could be operating within 12 years. This follows the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, know as High Speed One.

Lord Adonis today signalled his determination, against some reported opposition within Whitehall, to press ahead with the development to Birmingham. Europe already has 3,600 miles of high-speed track, with 2,000 miles under construction and 5,300 planned.

Dismissing arguments that Britain could not adopt high-speed rail like France and Japan for geographical reasons, he told a conference in London today: "It is no longer a defensible position to oppose high-speed rail on the grounds of English exceptionalism.

"High-speed rail is a key driver of modernisation - economic, environmental and social."