Britain Announces Plans for High Speed Train

Soon you'll be able to catch a ride from London to cities in northern England at up to 225 miles per hour, the AP reports. The new 140-mile line will be the first new railway north of London in a century. Sure, the plans won't take effect until construction begins in 2017, and the project isn't slated for completion until 2032. But in the meantime, rail-riders can begin to think about getting excited about the forthcoming travel opportunities that the $51 billion project will someday afford.

"In Britain there's a particular benefit for linking up our major cities by high-speed rail," Prime Minister David Cameron told The Guardian Monday. "Think about what we're doing today. London to Leeds, 2 hours and 13 minutes today; with high-speed rail, an hour and 20 minutes. It's a massive change."

The project comes as the second half of the construction that produced the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The drastically decreased travel times can be seen in full here.

Photo credits: High Speed trains map courtesy of Wikimedia/Cnbrb; High Speed 1 train courtesy of Wikimedia/ClemRutter