Network Rail (NR) has outlined plans to create a high-speed rail line from London to Scotland costing £34 billion.
Commuters will be able to arrive in Scotland in just over two hours from London with train speeds reaching 200mph.
Leaving from the capital, the line is expected to run through Birmingham, Manchester, Warrington, Liverpool and Preston before reaching Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Once up and running, NR claim almost £55 billion of value would be generated, paying for the cost of the line 1.8 times over.
More than 1,500 miles of track, with 34 miles of tunnels and 32 overpasses are to be built, as well as eight new stations with 400 metre-long platforms.
London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh can expect new terminal stations built close to existing city centre stations.
The planning stages are estimated to take up to five years, with NR adding that a further five years would be required for construction.
It had already begun assessing new-line requirements before the company High Speed Two (HS2) was set up. HS2 will make a report to the Department for Transport by the end of this year.
