After the debacle of HS2, a new project is proposed to take advantage of the money already invested to create a new lower speed line (LS1) between Birmingham and Manchester.

It all sounds a bit like Germany's proposal to take advantage of the UK's abandoned Rwanda assets in order to help deal with their migrant crisis.

Ominously, the private sector consortium proposing LS1 is led by none other than the former HS2 Ltd chairman Sir David Higgins.

How convenient, as the Church Lady might say.

According to Sky News:

A proposal to build a new 50-mile railway line as a cheaper but slower alternative to a scrapped section of HS2 has been unveiled.

A report has said journeys between London and Manchester on the line would only be 15 minutes longer than they would have been under the original HS2 plans.

Granted, on a good day the new LS1 line could be up to 30 minutes quicker than the current provision - assuming no strikes or leaves on the track.

An artist's impression of the new trains looks exactly like the high-speed trains that have been running for years in China, France, Russia and elsewhere in the world.

Robert Stephenson must be turning in his grave.