The train line would pass by beautiful landscapes (Image: Cover Images)
Ambitious plans have been unveiled for a 740-mile high-speed rail network linking nine cities across the UK and Ireland in what its backer calls a bold vision for national renewal. Dubbed « The Loop », the proposed line would connect Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and Bangor.
At an estimated cost of £130 billion, the scheme would cross roughly 100 miles of the Irish Sea, tying together Wales, Scotland, England and Ireland in a single circular network. The project is the brainchild of Derbyshire-born architect and Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) president Chris Williamson. He has argued that Britain needs large-scale infrastructure projects to compete with countries such as China and Saudi Arabia, where vast developments are reshaping cities and transport links.
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Each of the nine cities would be within a mere 90 minutes of each other (Image: Cover Images)
Williamson has cited Saudi Arabia’s 170km Line project in the Neom region as an example of the kind of ambitious thinking he believes the UK lacks.
He previously worked on that Middle Eastern scheme and has said major projects are designed not only for transport efficiency but to inspire confidence and economic growth.
Under his proposal, 50-metre trains would run every five minutes at speeds of up to 300mph along an elevated viaduct. If completed, each of the nine cities would be within around 90 minutes of one another.
It could potentially allow commuters to travel between cities such as Newcastle and Glasgow in under an hour and a half, creating a northern economic zone of around 12 million people.
The line has been inspired by projects in Saudi Arabia or China (Image: Cover Pictures)
The Loop would become the UK’s third high-speed rail line. High Speed 1, which links London to the Channel Tunnel, opened in 2003. HS2, currently under construction between London and Birmingham, was originally intended to extend to Manchester and Leeds before parts were scrapped amid spiralling costs and political controversy.
Williamson’s proposal comes as the Government pushes ahead with its long-promised £45 billion Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) programme. NPR, announced as part of wider levelling-up plans, aims to improve east-west connections across the North.
According to the Department for Transport, initial phases focus on upgrading links between Sheffield and Leeds, Leeds and York, and Leeds and Bradford, with later stages including a new Liverpool-to-Manchester route via Manchester Airport and improved trans-Pennine services.
The Loop would cover 740 miles (Image: Cover Images)
Large-scale cross-border rail concepts are not new. A broadly similar proposal was discussed under the last Labour government more than two decades ago and received backing from then deputy prime minister John Prescott, but it never progressed beyond early stages.
Williamson said that such projects require strong political backing to become reality. He has argued that Britain once built thousands of miles of railway in the 19th century and that the challenge today is less about engineering capability and more about national ambition.
Whether The Loop remains an architectural vision or evolves into a formal infrastructure proposal will depend on funding, political appetite and cross-border cooperation.
For now, it stands as one of the most eye-catching transport concepts to emerge amid the ongoing debate over how best to revive the northern economy.
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