HIGH-SPEED LOOPERS

Capital among 9 city stops in top architect's futuristic transport plan

- DANNY DE VAAL

A TOP architect has unveiled an ambitious plan for a raised high-speed rail network that would link nine cities across Ireland and northern Britain across the Irish Sea.

'The Loop' - the brainchild of the president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Chris Williamson - would connect Dublin and Belfast with Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool in England, Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland and Bangor in Wales.

Williamson described the scheme as a manifesto designed to "inspire" and "provoke" debate about future infrastructure and regional development.

If built, The Loop would form a continuous circuit, with trains running in both directions on an elevated viaduct at speeds of up to 480km per hour. The journey time between any of the cities would be no more than 90 minutes.