HST are a must for the 21st century however forget city centres they create planning problems and multiply the cost. The direct lines should avoid built up areas; Ashford to Nuneaton to Stockport to Durham would be ideal with large car parks and interchanges for local cities, motorways and airports.

MICHAEL COLLINS, ECCLES, UK

Apparently they are building two aircraft carriers fuelled by oil.
As the supply runs out.
American carriers are nuclear powered...they can run forever.
Which westminster wonder made that decision??

Rick, newcastle, uK

Finally investing! 44 years late!
Although one will have though that adapting the technology already dominant in the neighboring countries, to which the UK is already connected at great cost, will make sense.

Governed by Idiots.
We didn't have to wait 64y for that lots.

Lauren, London, uk

This is a GREAT opportunity. High speed trains should be the way forward for the UK.

Ben Virgo, GuangZhou, China

A steel wheeled high speed line for the U.K. would be a serious strategic error. Steel-wheeled technology such as TGV, ICE, and Bullet trains have been made obsolete by the lower cost, less noisy, smoother, and faster 2nd generation Maglev 2000 system developed by Drs. James Powell and Gordon Danby

James Jordan, Falls Church, Virginia, U.S.

This article is uninformed. Why write about Japan and its "bullet trains" -- a phenomeonon of the 1970s -- when France, Britain's neighbour, has the world's biggest and most successful network of high-speed trains?. They have transformed the France yet there is only a passing reference. Bizarre

Joan Arles, Arles, France

If we have airport taxes to travel by plane, why not terminus taxes for travel by train and bus? Or is this already in the planning stage by Labour.

jonathan Mills, Brighton, UK

They've had these in Japan for 20 yrs, so we're al least 40 yrs behind...we're getting there!

aj, London,

We should be ashamed of ourselves that it has taken so long just to start talking about it.
SM Spain

sean morahan, Palamos, Spain

200mph trains? The way Britains economy is going, there will not be enough money to clean up the manure from the horse and carts! Also, I always knew that my trade as a gas-mantle repairer would come back!

F Rasmin, Brisbane, Australia

Ignore the whiners, etc. High speed rail is the future for medium-distance. It is economically and ecologically sound, and doesn't fill terrorists' purses with petrodollars. I've just been on a 4 hrs German ICE ride and it was a lot less stressful than having to drive the distance (faster, too).

Matt, Berlin, Germany

Paying for the Olympics in 2012 will bankrupt Britain for the next 50 years, so no trains in our lifetime I fear!
...and why do we always have to develop our own technology - just buy what works already from Japan or Germany, it's much cheaper!!

peterj, aberdeen, uk

Let's hope Labour back their words with their chequebook - this is something that will make a real and lasting improvement to the country.
The sooner the better - let's hope it doesn't take 15-20 years as this is desperately needed and also creates much needed capacity on the existing railways too.

Rob, B'ham, Uk

Maglev lines down the centre of existing motorways is the answer.

Geoff Naylor, Winchester, England

Well along with the technology can we also adopt the japanese standard of clean trains that are affordable, run on time and are actually enjoyable to use.
Having visited japan, it really does show how very very poor the standards in the UK rail industry are.

Rich, leeds, uk

Britain developed the railway. Britain had the first 100 mph steam loco. Britain developed high speed diesel technology. Britain developed Maglev. Britain developed tilt technology. Britain developed high speed rail on classic rail lines. It's all rather sad really.

Simon Billeau, Perth, WA, Australia

Shinkansen was introduced in the 60s but it doesn't mean that the technology hasn't evolved.

Tokyo-Osaka route is the busiest in the world and at peak times has 200 mph trains running at 5 minute intervals.

Imagine Network "10 minutes of delay is not a delay" Rail achieving this kind of timetable.

Yu, London,

The Tories have been arguing the case for high speed rail for several years now. There is a very strong case for high speed rail (10 % emmission of short haul flying) - just such a shame it is another policy stolen by labour who will now claim it is their own idea.

Tony, Exeter, UK

To summarize: The UK needs a high-speed train service to offload saturated airports. Don't want French or German kit. An American-made train would be preferable, but the US doesn't have the technology. That only leaves the Japanese, so we'll give them the 20 billion and pray for the best.

kv, Madrid, Spain

If it makes you all feel better, our supposed "high speed" Amtrak train service between Boston and Washington through New York and Philadelphia pretty much sucks since they didn't really upgrade the tracks enough. It can only really go high speed over small segments of track.

Douglas Johnston, New York, USA

TheUK will be entering the 20th Century around 2028...Well done!

MS, New York,

Hot air.. Labour smoke & mirrors designed to take our minds off the current crisis. it's just an aspiration designed to make people (aka voters) think that Labour is working for them. Where are the trains going to come from..? France or are we going to re-invent the wheel?

Geoff, Bayonne, France

why do you want to do something dating back to the 60's, and in 20 years time? Crazy!

paolo, london,

If the Manchester-London line is congested, they should charge it like they plan for the roads! Labour claim it's the only answer to too many people wanting to go to the same place at the same time, or does penalising people who need to get to work only apply if they drive?

Andy P, Dereham, UK

And pigs might fly!!

A.M. Williams, Stafford,

I think Bruce, Four Ashes, UK makes a good point. Put the rails in blighted areas and help beautify such areas.

Patrick Riley, Stockton, USA

It would make more semse to use the deep underground Maglev system that the military uses. By the time Nu Labour get this show on the road, it will be a museum piece!

Clive, Lancing, England

By the time we get these Japan will be using Maglevs

Phill , Cheshire, UK

You dont have to go to Japan to get great train service. Just cross the tunnel. France has had these trains for years. On time (when they dont strike) and very fast. Thatcher pulled the plug on the eurostar going all the way up to the North. Must have more cars ...yeah right.

Nik, London, UK

Looks as if its on the same time scale for the Olympics!
Both of them ready TOGETHER ..WHIZZ IDEA !

Nimrod, derby, UK

Great idea ..it will be just in time.......just before the system is OBSOLETE !

Tony, derby, UK

Will wecatch up with the Chinese now and the trains will use maglev engineering so they are safer, cheaper to run and very quiet? Do not hold your breath. Also, if sited in false tunnels so the countryside is not affected and using vacuum technology, they can reach well over 1000 mph then.

B J Deller., Marbella, Spain

The west coast main line is scarcely congested with gaps between trains. For passengers, inconvenienced by weekend closures, it's payback-time. We need services which use the renewed line's speed-capabilities. High-speed rail can wait till we're out of recession and public finances are sound again.

Paul Danon, London, England

It is sad to see the level that Britain, who once led the world by creating the first trains and subways, has reached. And I will not mention the level of her politicians who seem to believe we are dumb.

olive, barcelona, Spain

Here we go again-more Labour spending pledges which they haven't got the money to pay for.

Andy, Bristol, UK

Obviously the project is in its infancy but a fundamental point needs acting upon. Bullet train technology is 40+ years old. Japan intends to install the Maglev by 2025. So why install such a historic system which would cost some £20billion for only one hours reduction in journey time? EVLAUTE&PLAN!

Thomas, S.W. London, UK

We can't run trains promptly & reliably at 100mph (prompt does not mean Network Rails within 10 mins!) so what chance have we got running them at 200mph? And for trains to run at this speed we need straight tracks which means the decimation of our land and perhaps some of our monuments?

bruce, Four Ashes, UK

Just one line... between London and Manchester... commencing in 20 years? To me it sounds not like wonderful news but a bad joke.

Barrie Redfern, Zdole, Slovenia

How about some investment in the West Coast Mainline for once? A high-speed rail link from London to Plymouth would do very nicely.

Jonathon Staples

How about the £10bn invested over the last 10 years ?

Alex, London,

There are more important things to spend that money on.
Let's face it, are we all expected to spend our spare time travelling back and forth to Manchester? Who wants to go to Manchester?

P.Nobleza, London,

If the tree huggers don't stop it, Health and Safety will.

David Masu, Zürich, Switzerland

Britain prefers to spend a total of £70 bn on nu nuclear rockets......that is the priority.

T Andre, London, UK

I totally agree with you Stefan. These bullet trains depart every 5-10 min but are never late for a minute, except for rare occasions like heavy snow. And 0 accidents so far. They take pride in providing excellent service. But here we are, even the local o/ground trains &tube are often not working.

Kayo, Surrey, UK

Well, I went from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Newcastle upon Tyne at 100mph! Mind you it cost’s me £19.30 per day. The joke's on us!

Sykes, Gary , Northumberland

To all the Brits asking why it will take 20 yrs?

Its simple really, planning permission hell, caused by selfish middle class NIMBY's who will come crawling out of the woodwork to oppose anything that might threaten 'their' little piece of England.

15yrs to get planning permission, 5yrs to build

Mac, Nottingham, UK

Surely there must be an error. They meant 200 years, not 20, right?

Mingly, London,

More talk. It won't happen the country is almost broke. Just Nu Labour promise.

Rob, Birmingham,

Perfect timing from Labour as usual... let's see if the Japanese can enlighten us on this being a good current economic policy... err perhaps not in the current times? Cryptic!

Mark, London, UK

And my old man walked on the moon !

Phil de Buquet, Newport,

Why Japanese bullet trains at 200mph? Europe has had fast trains (the French TGV) operating since 1981 and recently hit a speed record of 357mph? Why Japan when you can find better in Europe...are you people not only half a century behind, but nuts?

Jim, London,

Guess who can see a General Election coming up?

Lord Adonis is earning his bonus and how!
Gordon put in his thumby
and pulled out his dummy
and said it all's a bit bogus for now

Stephen Green, Correns, France

How about doing it right now?

We need massive infrastructure improvement projects NOW and we need REAL stimulation for the economy NOW. Why wait 20 years - at least?

What are we waiting for? What on earth is wrong with us? Why must we look at 1960s Japan?

Ronnie, Bucharest, Romania

The walk-on fare will be £799 though!

Colin Soames, London,

Since we are already connected to the European high speed rail network shouldn't we at least consider the French TGV so you just might be able to catch a train from Edinburgh to Madrid if you wanted to rather than always needing to change in London?

steve, London, UK

They should take the opportunity to build a rail network that accepts European gauge trains. The British one is stupidly narrow and affects stability of the trains and width of the the trains.

Isembarr, London, UK

Why did they need to go to Japan to come to this conclusion?

Jamie Gilmour, Bolton, UK

One wonders why Lord Adonis chose 1960's Japan as his inspiration?
I assume he's been to 21st century... France. All of Britain's public infrastructure is quite decrepit in comparison. Of course that would be too politically embarrassing a comparison.
'Vive la Japon' is so much... safer.

Jason, Nottingham,

Surely if the planning process is improved it could be built in half that time?

For environmental reasons any new transport hub should be near to Canary Wharf, with links to Europe as another option. The Thames gateway would be an ideal location to relieve Heathrow congestion.

Damien Vaugh , London, UK

In just 20 more short years. Wow. They'll be inventing steam next.

Andrew Milner, Karuizawa, Japan

brief timeline of high speed rail introduction by country (new infastructure + pupose-built rolling stock) : 1964-Japan, 1981-France, 1988-Italy, 1991-Germany, 1992-Spain, 1997-Belgium, 1999-Norway, 2003-UK (CTRL, no domestic service), 2004-Korea, 2007-Taiwan, 2008-China. Pick the oddity....

Nicolas Jasson, Paris, France

20 years! We need this now! The Americans put a man on the moon within 9 yrs, built an atomic bomb in 5. In slow-lane UK it takes that long to fix a bloody escalator! It'll take 20yrs and millions just deciding to build the wretched thing and the French will have to do it due to lack of expertise.

CKP, Surrey, UK

Genius! Why did no one think of this before???!!! Thank god for nu-labour

Ade, London,

and typical of governments undertaking industry projects they are behind the times. they are copying something done in japan in 1964 when they should be looking to the future. a maglev line would allow trains to travel at 500mph+ and would be cheaper to run. let businesses create our rail infrastruc

will, grimsby, uk

Why is this being modeled after the Japanese bullet trains when you have French and German High Speed Rail expertise just a few miles away across the Channel?

Rutledge, Charleston, SC, USA

The German maglev really is the only way forward/ Clean, very fast and quiet, it must be the choice for ministers if Britain is to really advance its backward transport infrastructure.

Jeremy Allen, Turku, Finland

50 years old. Why not go with the German maglev technology which is being expanded in China. In a couple of years what was a 2 1/2 hour journey from Shanghai to Hangzhou will be reduced to 25 minutes. I believe it goes at about 460kph. Will we be talking about getting that in another 50 years?

Stuart, Shanghai, China

Today's Britain can no longer get big technological projects right.

Kevin Dunn, Perth, Western Australia

Best stick with diesel powered trains. Theft of cable isn't likely to end anytime soon.

J Jenkins, York,

More and more talk. Others just get on with it. We are becoming a nation of talkers. Even the Spanish have sorted out their trains, with quite a lot of help from Northern Europe, of course. The government that actually does something will be wildly popular.

Colinc, Shrewsbury,

How about some investment in the West Coast Mainline for once? A high-speed rail link from London to Plymouth would do very nicely.

Jonathon Staples, Perranporth, England

Where does" regeneration and national pride "come into the nation that invented the railway buying this latest development from abroad? Let us not kid ourselves, it may not be Japanese but, thanks to more than simply the present gov'ment , although they do not help, it will not come from Britain.

D.L. Stephens, York, England

Try getting the current trains to work without leaves on the track first!

Farrukh, Woking,

How many years in power before they come up with this idea. Maybe they want to spend what little money the Country has left to borrow in an attempt to win some votes.

Half a century behind Japan. Impresive new labour

Duncan, Liverpool, UK

Build the high speed rail network but don't expand Heathrow - build the new super airport in the Thames estuary and run high speed lines into it. We need clean start super infrastructure, not piecemeal improvements.

Frank, Stroud, uk

There is a fundamental difference that makes trains reliable and efficient in Japan - worker enthusiasm, pride and ability. Ask yourself whether British rail workers have these traits and sadly you also have the answer to whether such a system will work well.

Stefan, Tokyo, Japan

From Tokyo to Osaka is about 550km as the bullet train travels. From London to Manchester is only about 290km. Yet the Tokyo to Osaka line (which cuts through many mountains) was built in 5 years, using 1950s technology! So why couldn't the line in the UK be built at least that fast?

Edwin, Tokyo, Japan

Sorry, but even if they chose Maglev's they'd be 20 years behind the times! If we'd decided to build a space shuttle at the same time as the Americans, ours would still be on the drawing board. We should know how useless our leaders are at adapting to the times.

Paul, Milton Keynes, UK

It would make more sense if the current rail system worked instead of being overpriced and prone to breakdown. I regularly suffer delays of over half an hour on a 45 minute journey into London.

Peter, Swindon,

That would be what ....about 50-60 years behind Japan?

Peter, Cambridge,

One short question:
What about the Maglev that has been suggested?
Maybe Britain should look into the future and use something environmentally friendly!
(See charts, less energy used in operation than normal trains)

As the government claims to be so commited to environmental protection...

D.C:M., Doncaster,

it shouldnt be 100% state funded, private comapnies, should share the burden. bullet train technology is a proven train technology also consider maglev technology and other technologies..see other possibilities , & max out the potential of these lines to reap commerical and social benefits

dennis, london , uk

I just travelled from Beijing to Tianjin at 220 mph.
The new Beijing to Shanghai bullet trains will travel at 240 mph.

nick valler, Manila, Philippines

What utter nonsense. Here are my predictions for 2028: - (1) Britain will no longer exist as an independent country (2) The Home Secretary will be educationally subnormal. What is more likely?

Richard Clarke, Chicago, USA

As long as the rail companies don't use this as an excuse to charge even more excessive prices, and then cancel the trains at the last minute because of "leaves on the track" or other such lame excuses.

Lisa, London,

Come off it, really that fast?...and within 20 years?..... based on Japan?
I went from Cologne to Mannheim last week at 200 mph and 3 weeks ago from Barcelona to Madrid at 220 mph (and that is not even talking about France) .....laughable

Cor, Bexley, UK

Bit of a joke really. Imagine having a brick dropped from a bridge at 200mph... This isn't Japan, or France...

Michael, London, UK

Sounds marvellous, but it isn't going to happen. The rapidly worsening state of the economy means cuts, cuts, cuts in public spending for the next few years, no matter who wins the next election

Richard, Bexhill, UK

our railways where built on private enterprise and still should be, just like all industries. if there is a legitimate case, how about you make the planning process easier, so companies actually have a chance to undertake the projects without burdening the tax payer with even more debt and taxes!?

will, grimsby, uk