Advantageous once Ireland is United and Scotland has gained its independence ... a start to circumvent the Isle of England.

High Speed Rail Group (HSRG) has proposed tunnelling under the Irish Sea between Stranraer and Larne in its submission to a review led by Sir Peter Hendy, who is expected to publish his interim report within weeks.

The two towns are 31 miles apart but a preferred route for the tunnel, based on 120-year-old research by the Victoria engineer James Barton, would be diverted to avoid Beaufort's Dyke, a 1,000ft deep trench in the Irish Sea.

I must admit to being a fan of Jules Verne and his adventure novels like Journey to the Center of the Earth.