Britain Sees First Bullet Train

The first bullet train entered service in London earlier this week. This brought high speed travel to one of the world’s oldest rail networks. However, the government spending cuts that have been prompted by the global recession could stunt the rest of the plans to extend this project even further. However, nothing has been made official yet.

This bullet train was made in Japan by Hitachi Ltd and can travel over 140 miles per hour. This can cut travel time by as much as 50 percent from north Kent to the UK capital’s financial district.

Andrew Adonis, who is the UK Transport Secretary, said that this new bullet train will act as a catalyst for constructions of a High Speed 2 route running north from London. This will help in cutting down the time it takes to travel from Birmingham, Manchester, and other UK cities.

However, the author of “Broken Rails,” Christian Wolmar, said that he doubts these lines will ever be built. He went on to say that he has a lot of skepticism about the whole thing. He noted that he was in favor of the plan, but this is something that he felt should have happened almost 30 years ago.

In May, Britain posted a 19.9 billion pound budget deficit. This is the biggest of any month since way back in 1993.

The UK was the very first country to build a railway system during the Industrial Revolution. The first passenger line was between Stockton and Darlington. The first intercity service was from Liverpool to Manchester.