The recent announcement by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis of plans for a new high speed rail network, has caused much concern amongst the local community of Brackley and the surrounding area.

The announcement follows on from two attempts in recent years by private consortium ‘Central Railway' to develop a cross border freight railway along a similar route, linking the road and rail systems of Britain and the near Continent via the Channel Tunnel. The proposal was that its main shuttle services would carry lorry trailers (lorries on trains) that they argued would achieve a large scale transfer of freight from road to rail plus wider transport and environmental benefits. The Secretary of State turned down the proposal in 2004 and at the time Central Railway stated that, ‘real progress will require Government support'.

The latest announcement is therefore causing great interest, as being Government backed, it will be able to overcome many of the planning objections that Central Railway faced.

The recent Government plan is recommending a route for a new line between London and Birmingham with a further extension to northern England and Scotland. The 250mph trains would cut the travelling time from London to Birmingham from 1 hr 24 mins to 49 mins and from London to Glasgow or Edinburgh from over 4 hours to under 3 hours. There is apparent support for the new high speed line from the Scottish parliament and it is reported that discussions between the Scottish government and the Department of Transport on how an extension north of the border would be funded are already underway.

Before the plans can progress the public will be consulted on the proposed route, with work unlikely to start until 2017 at the earliest. Reopening rail lines and stations, closed over 40 years ago as a result of the ‘Beechings Cuts' figures prominently in new proposals from Britain's train operating companies. When the British Railways Board was created in the 1960s, its first chairman was Dr Richard Beeching, a director of ICI. His report on the re-shaping of the rail industry led to the network being cut by a third, with 2,000 stations and 5,000 miles of track closed down. Over 200 stations were reopened in the 1980s and 1990s before privatisation, but few have come on stream since then.

Despite the overall reduction in track and station capacity in the past 45 years, the rail system today carries approximately 30 percent more passengers than it did then. The Government expects passenger numbers to increase by another 22 percent by 2014, with yet more growth in the following five years. The train operating companies also point out that during this time, many large towns have changed radically with declining mining and manufacturing industries now meaning that they generate large numbers of commuters from these urban centres. Additional lines are also being considered, including between Oxford and Milton Keynes.

Commenting on the government's announced plans for high speed passenger services (HS2), the Freight Transport Association has added its voice to the debate, stating that rail freight mustn't be forgotten. Christopher Snelling, head of global supply chain policy, said, "FTA is concerned that investment in a scheme as ambitious as HS2 could damage improvement in freight services by draining resources from other areas of rail spending, in particular the Strategic Freight

Network (SFN). " The FTA also wants assurances that freight paths on the West Coast Main Line north of Birmingham, a section of track crucial to rail freight movements, are protected ahead of the potential increase in passenger use.  

While cities have generally been keen to back the plans, stating that the UK's railways have not kept pace with the growth of cities, rural communities have been less enthusiastic. They are unlikely to gain from the new services but are likely to lose out in terms of impact on their local environment.

The proposed line would run along the eastern edge of Brackley, crossing a number of waterways and new roads that have been constructed since the original railway line as taken up in the 1960s. The topography of the area is said to lend itself to creating a vertical alignment crossing these obstructions using viaducts.

Although a general election is looming, all the major political parties have voiced support for the project.