Member Article

'Maglev would transform North East' ? NECC

One of the region’s leading business figures yesterday backed calls for urgent action to install one of the world’s fastest train systems in the North East after seeing it in operation at first hand. James Ramsbotham, chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce, said magnetic levitation transportation – or Maglev – would revolutionise public transport and have a dramatic impact on journey times.

The Association of North East Councils (ANEC) announced last month it was setting up a working group looking into the possibility of a maglev system between Tyneside and the Tees Valley. Mr Ramsbotham recently travelled on the Transrapid Maglev system in China which links Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport with the city centre, a 19-mile journey, in just seven minutes. By car, the journey takes over half an hour.

Mr Ramsbotham said: “We are a 21st century economy mired in 20th century transport links which increasingly cause us problems around the major conurbations. Maglev would revolutionise travel in this region and would make the North East a much more cohesive place in which to live. “The economic benefits of such a link would be incredible. And if it were rolled out across the UK, it would shred existing journey times to the major cities. “Until you travel on Maglev, you cannot really appreciate what a phenomenal invention it is. It is ridiculously quiet for something travelling at such immense speeds and its ability to shrink long journey times is breath-taking.”

It is estimated that Maglev could cut journey times from the North East to London down to 90 minutes and passengers would be able to get from Tyneside to Edinburgh in 40 minutes. A Tyne-Tees link could reduce journey times to as little as 12 minutes between the two city regions.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .