Ah, the northern British high-speed line saga... this is something infamous in railway circles. Especially after someone decided that it shall be done one the cheap by four-tracking and upgrading the West Coast Mainline, but upgrade proved much more complicated and expensive than foreseen... in fact so much so that a new line would have been cheaper. Expect another decade of the idea being tossed around, and only then another ten years of squabbling with locals about the route, before any earth is moved... if at all.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}