Trains to overtake flying in the future

The largest European train operator is predicting that rail services will overtake air travel in the future for the UK. The hypothesis they believe will become a reality if a 250mph service gets the go ahead for UK shores.

The chief executive of French rail giant SNCF, Guillaume Pepy, said that that trains could easily replace planes from London to all British cities as far north as Glasgow.

“The crowning success of Eurostar, which now controls 80 per cent of the London to Paris and Brussels market, could be repeated if a replica of the French TGV system arrives in the UK. Distances as the crow flies in the UK allow the possibility to link almost all main cities to London by high-speed rail in more or less three hours,” said Mr Pepy.

Transport analysts have stated that train services from London to Glasgow need to be within three hours if they are to compete with air travel which currently holds around 80 per cent of travellers on the route. Virgin is the fastest train on that route and it currently takes them around four and a half hours.

The transport secretary, Lord Adonis said the government was keen to get expert help from Japan and France who have already introduced such high-speed services in their own countries.

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