Plans for 300mph 'floating' trains

A new 300mph rail link between London and the North could use "levitating" trains under proposals to be considered by ministers.

In the plans a train would "float" above a fixed electromagnetic rail, allowing services to reach previously undreamed-of speeds.

Tony Blair is said to be ready to order a study into adapting a "Maglev", or magnetic levitation system, after being impressed by experts at a Downing Street seminar.

The German system proved successful on a short route between Shanghai and the city's Pudong airport. There are plans to extend it elsewhere in China.

Such a scheme would cut journey times between London and Newcastle by half - to one hour 40 minutes.

But there is likely to be scepticism in the UK, where one in five trains still run late despite record spending of £5 billion a year.

It might also provide the rail industry with new excuses for late trains, such as "the wrong sort of magnet".