'Always watch clever people with statistics' says G. Edlin.
'london edinburgh takes 4 hours by train non tgv paris marseilles 4 hours by tgv same distance' says G. Edlin.

Er, no.
London- Edinburgh by train 632 Km, 4.5 hours.
Paris-Marseille by TGV 750 km, 3 hours.

High speed rail lines have been an economic and social success wherever they've been built in Europe.

I. Watson, Oxford,

G W R wonderful railway not content with soaking the uk taxpayer for 1 billion pounds a year to run a railway in france and 7 billion to build 50 miles of line to the channel tunnel they think they can compete with the airlines ,it costs roughly a penny a mile to move a backside on a plane in fuel costs 16 p a seat on eurostar but as eurostar is only 30% used the pasenger average is nearer 50p true the amount of carbon is 25% but that doesn't cut the mustard when you are using 50 times the amount of power your still 12 times greater than air transport always watch clever people with statistics,london edinburgh takes 4 hours by train non tgv paris marseilles 4 hours by tgv same distance.Lovely toys but stopping distance is too great to use their full speed and maintain a crowded timetable

g edlin, london, u k

A high speed link calling in the North West and Midlands would provide a real alternative to air flights in the UK. Could we please get on with this and fund it with the £2.9 bn (and growing) pot for the pointless one-lane addition to the M6?

Beverley, Stoke on Trent, UK

I read this with envy from the U. S. where cars and jets rule and rail is not even on the radar, except in a few large metroplitan areas.

Steven, Chicago, USA

and what happened to the direct rail link for the north which was supposed to go directly to the tunnel. no chance! we havent even got dual carriageway on the A1 between Newcastle and Edinburgh. Past Morpeth you can still get stuck behind a tractor!

ian, blaydon, england

Clearly a great idea - I wish it every success as a regular train traveller. Just to point out it's not very well publicised but you can already go to any UK rail station, show them your eurostar ticket and ask for a saver to 'london international' and you will be sold a special ticket which not only entitles you to travel cheaply at any time but means that if you miss your connection because of delays they have to put you on the next available eurostar for free.

Steven , London,

Great news. Have travelled on trains in France, Germany, Spain , Italy and Denmark in last couple of years - all excellent. Starting high-speed network in UK should be top priority and I mean "Starting" cause present service isn`t up to standard required.

Jock, Madrid,

It would be nice to have the UK involved, but this sounds the complete opposite of British rail policy.

The one thing missing is a policy of carrying bicycles, which ought to be a natural for trains, but European express trains do not guarantee space. Easyjet and British Airways do make it simple to travel with my bike.

Rod Dalitz, Edinburgh, Scotland

Great idea! Pity Britain only has the one paltry line to add to the scheme. Looking at the map one has to be ashamed. France is covered by high-speed lines, the rest of Europe is catching up and Britain...one one snivelling little drip of a line from London to the Channel, how pathetic. The North of England and Scotland should be joined into the scheme too...and not by 2020, by 2015 or earlier.

Andrew, Scalloway, Shetland

Yes, let the Scots find their own way to Europe, and let them pay for any high speed line to Scotland. For years I've cheered, as a UK citizen, Scottish teams abroad. But all they do is throw separatism back in our faces and cheer for foreign teams playing England. And water? They've got so much that there aren't even water rates in some areas and the rest goes down the rivers into the sea. But offer it to the English by pipeline when we've suffered droughts? No, they never have. Now they'll find being on the fringes of Europe not quite so comfortable.

pete, biggleswade, uk

This news is completely meaningless to anyone who does not live in or near London. With a return standard class ticket from Leeds to London costing over £170 who is going to waste hours getting to London, dragging cases across the city and then more hours on the train. I think I will stick with the airlines.

Keith, Leeds,

I dont think 185 mph for the Scots train can be called high speed - that is what the TGV does!
Odd - living in France I still cannot buy a ticket on line from France to Doncaster - liitle England remains.
Oh and point of infomation - all TGV's offer you a booked seat - you cant travel without a seat

Robin HIcks, Pezenas, France

We don't need the silly High Speed 2 proposal (Greenguage 21).
Rather the present Crossrail proposal should be abandoned and High Speed 1 (CTRL) extended to Reading & Watford Junction.
This would allow Alstom Duplex (double decker) on the lines when the existing Eurostar trainsets are replaced in 2012.
Also the new 140mph Javelin trains due to run between Ashford (Kent), Ebbsfleet, Stratford & St Pancras from 2009 could use the extended lline.

Peter Hooper, Windsor., Berkshire.

"Why no British involvement?"

Do we have a high speed rail network, other than the Eurostar connection?!

Good point about connectivity though. Imagine it is due to privatisation and the need for all TOC's to negotiate to join Railteam rather than the national DB.

Jon, Winchester,

This certainly makes high speed rail travel an even more attractive alternative to the miseries of air travel for short and medium haul.
The canny traveller can already enjoy bargain rail travel
outside the overcrowded summer season.

Mark Lyndon, London, UK

No mention is made of the massive cost of rail travel to get to London in order to avail oneself of the cheaper continental fare structure. [Currently, German 'walk-on' fares are of UK proportions.]

Michael, Bridgwater, UK

I've been booking return tickets from Cologne to London via the Thalys travel office without any problems, and they've cost me around 100 Euros each time. Deutsche Bahn is also encouraging people to use its new highspeed rail connections to Paris with cut-price offers.

The big question is when will Britain finally wake up to the fact that high-speed trains are the easiest way to travel across Europe, and that many people would be more than happy to use trains to get from A to B within the UK, but that it's only attractive if it's both quick and affordable. £200 to get from London to Edinburgh by train is neither of those at the moment. So people carry on flying.

Esther, Bonn, Germany

What can I say? As a european I am thinking that it's about time! I definately feel that rail travel has not yet been explored to its full potential and that this great idea could spark something greater in the long term for us conjested europeans! Viva Europa!

Silvio, Cambridge, U.K.

Great, great idea, and it sounds well thought through too. I will certainly take advantage of this during my gap year for travelling. I agree though, that Britain needs to get a move on so that we can join the network properly.

Sally, Leeds,

It is a bit ironic that back in the 70's you could buy a student ticket that would allow you to travel virtually with unlimited travel on any sea crossing and rail operation in Europe, except a few Swiss ones, but including Scandinavia for twenty eight days with NO booking problems and only the need for a Thomas Cook Timetable, yet this is only now just meeting those objectives within a much more limited sphere. We use to go into what was then the old Communist block and down to Turkey as well with very few, if any, problems!! Talk about reinventing the wheel, and they call this progress!

J Baker, Brighton, Sussex

High speed train (European definition) 300+Km/h.
High speed train (British definition) ~160Km/h.
The UK government are talking about a 30 year plan to catch up with the Europeans, with no sense of irony at all.

Toby Martin, Munich, Germany

Julia (St Albans), the point is that Eurostar originally promised to continue running some trains from Waterloo (using the section of the station specially designed by Grimshaw, to much critical acclaim originally). Had they adhered to this, passengers from both north and south of the Thames would have been catered for.

Barry, Wallington, UK

Excellent idea but it really should be possible to book from any UK station. Otherwise it rather defies the whole point of the exercise and regional passengers will probably still take cheap flights as there will be no incentive to go by train unless in the London area.

Geoffrey, Belfast,

While I will use the train all the time except for journeys with my dog - why cannot the stations hve the same facility as the ports so we can cut our carbon emissions - at present it is only viable to travel with pets by car!

nicolls, Warminster, UK

What a pleasure as long s you get a seat as well. When will the new magnetic levitation trains be ready. They are green and faster and smoother, and safer with the potential to be much faster that aircraft. Ideal for longer routes.

B J Deller, Marbella, Spain

As the English will soon declare independance from Scotland, why on earth should we wast our money on "High Speed Two, a new 185mph line between London and Scotland ".

A new line would be almost totally built in England, though used mainly by Scots; and even if the Scots were to pay for it (and pigs might fly) I see no reason to accept all the disruption it would cause to the English.

Mike Bibby, St Albans, England -not EU

This is a great idea and very forward looking by the European rail companies. It is definitely time for a high speed train service between London and Glasgow. To those south of the river who are worrying about having to travel on the Underground (shock!) to catch the Eurostar; what do you think those north of the river, or north of London, have been doing all these years?

Julia, St Albans, UK

Excellent news for travellers and the environment. Just one problem. Why no British involvement? It's all very well being able to catch the next connection at Paris or Brussels but what about the millions of us who have to use GNER or Virgin to get to London in the first place?

Continental journeys could still be ruined by late arriving services to London

scotleag, uk,

And to do a thorough job, how about reopening all the railway corridors closed during the 1960s by following the Beecham report?

Peter Webster, Auckland , New Zealand

Hurry up you guys get it sorted soon. Definitely a good idea with airports getting to be a nightmare. Love the TGV speed.

rod, northallerton, uk

Once Eurostar switches to St Pancras all of those south of the River will have to circle London to catch it. Why not also pick up passengers at Waterloo?

Ian, Frederick , MD USA