THE new coalition government formed by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats has said the establishment of a domestic High Speed rail network in Britain is one of its priorities.

A detailed document has been published setting out the policies agreed berween David Cameron and Nick Clegg, who are now Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively.

Although the transport details have yet to be fleshed out, the government has confirmed that a High Speed rail network will be established, although other rail schemes such as Crossrail have not been mentioned at this stage. But some key aviation decisions have been made. There will be no third runway at Heathrow, and no additional runways at Gatwick or Stansted.

ATOC said it was studying the announcement and would comment soon, but the news of a British High Speed network was immediately welcomed by Alstom, which has built High Speed trains for several other countries, including the iconic French TGVs as well as the Eurostar fleet.

Alstom president in the UK, Stephen Burgin, told Railnews it was a positive step in the right direction. "I certainly welcome this announcement. We hope we will be tendering to build High Speed trains for Britain in not too many years from now."

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