from Edthefolkie: I wouldn't hold yer breath chaps if I were you.

If you google "High Speed 2" you will find that basically it's all still at the talking shop stage, although Andrew Adonis is due to set out the proposal soon. The route(s) beyond Birmingham are still distinctly cloudy. Moreover, the Conservative transport spokeswoman is banging on about how there ought to be a Heathrow hub as well, as well as the usual "it's all Gordon's fault, we'd have 'ad a mag-lev to the Orkneys by now" stuff.

The fact that the proposal includes an enormous new station in Central London rather than branching off from St Pancras will of course be anathema to many. And then there's the spending cuts...look what might happen to Crossrail (yet again) as a pointer.

Christian Wolmar's site is always educational about the serpentine ways of 21st century rail travel, by the way. See http://christianwolmar.co.uk/