Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has announced plans for the new line between London and Birmingham, with a future extension to the north and Scotland.

The new trains could cut the journey time between London and Birmingham to between 30 and 50 minutes.

The public will be consulted on the proposed route, which will pass close to villages between Wormleighton and Ladbroke and Offchurch and to the west of Leamington and Kenilworth.

See the route here.
The cost of the first 120 miles of line from London to the West Midlands is estimated at between £15.8 and £17.4 billion. Work is unlikely to start until 2017 at the earliest.

In a statement to the House of Lords, Lord Adonis warned that the West Coast Main Line would be full by the 2020s, with very severe overcrowding "routine" and significant congestion around London, Birmingham and Manchester.

He said high speed rail could be the most efficient and sustainable solution.

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The route is the work of HS2 Ltd, a company set up by the government to analyse the business case for a high speed line between London and the West Midlands and outline options for extending this further north.

Linking London to Birmingham, Manchester, the East Midlands, Sheffield and Leeds, high speed trains would also run to Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Lord Adonis said the new lines would more than treble existing rail capacity on the West Coast Main Line, more than double that of the most ambitious conceivable upgrade to Birmingham and for less money.

And he added the impact of construction would be far less than than of new motorways, with less carbon per passenger mile than cars or planes.

Lord Adonis acknowledged there would be an impact on those living along the route, and said "significant" time would be needed to ensure consultation was properly conducted.

He added thay HS2 would be publishing a full appraisal of sustainability, including noise and landscape impacts, before formal consultation and the government was publishing details of a proposed exceptional hardship scheme for people whose properties might be directly affected.

The route was published today (Thursday March 11) but speaking before the announcement, West Midlands Friends of the Earth's campaigner Chris Crean predicted significant issues for many in the West Midlands.

He said: "An efficient and faster rail system has a vital role to play in creating a modern and low-carbon UK transport system. But questions remain about how successful a new high speed rail line will be in cutting emissions, and its wider impacts on communities and the environment.

"A high speed link will cost billions of pounds, but is unlikely to deliver major carbon cuts unless it is part of a wider strategic approach to transport that has the development of a low-carbon future at its heart."

He added: "We will need to be convinced that this project is in the wider interests of the regional economy, bring significant benefits to all and help the region to meet its environmental responsibilities including our commitments to reduce our climate change emissions."

The Campaign to Protect Rural England highlighted six areas including the impact on the Warwickshire countryside, the importance of a Birmingham city centre station in urban regeneration and the need to keep inter city services at Coventry and Wolverhampton.

It also sought assurances that money will not be diverted from local rail investment and called for support for investment to ensure regeneration, also warning that new 'parkway' stations could increase congestion on local roads and pressure for housebuilding.

Senior transport campaigner Ralph Smyth said: "High speed rail could be the low carbon backbone of a sustainable transport system. But communities need to be involved in the planning process and any damage to the countryside needs to be minimised.

"Careful routing and landscaping of the new line combined with measures to limit flights are needed for HS2 to live up to its promise."

Also speaking before the announcement, Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said train companies had been looking forward to its publication.

He said: "The commitment that all three parties have shown to high speed rail is a vote of confidence in the industry, and will help place train travel at the heart of a successful low carbon economy.

"The plans must be affordable at a time of real constraint in the public finances and must show how high speed rail will be paid for while continuing to invest in the existing network."

Mr Roberts stressed that the new line must be a commercial success, adding that Manchester and Leeds were "potentially bigger prizes" than linking London and Birmingham.

Unite union's deputy general secretary, Jack Dromey welcomed the creating of jobs and said the line would open up the regions to development and investment.

He said: "British manufacturing must benefit. High speed trains in Britain should be made in Britain.

"High Speed Rail now creates the opportunity to rebuild a rail industry to rival any nation in Europe."

• See next week's Courier for more details.