A revolutionary transit system capable of travelling at 311mph, that could link Manchester and Liverpool in less than 10 minutes, has come a step closer to reality after a feasibility study was launched into the use of magnetic levitation (maglev) technology between the two north-west cities.

The study is being part funded with £110,000 from the Mersey Partnership, which will be matched by UK Ultraspeed, the company promoting the technology in the UK. It is also putting £250,000 towards researching a link between Manchester and Leeds. Work has begun and the research should be completed in May.

Ultraspeed estimates that extending the Liverpool to Manchester route across the Pennines to Leeds, with a similar alignment to the M62 motorway, would result in a total infrastructure cost of £35M per km including land, stations and depots.

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