Architect Unveils Visionary High-Speed Rail ‘Loop’ Linking Britain and Ireland

Dublin/London:  A leading British architect has unveiled an ambitious proposal for a raised, high-speed rail network that would connect nine major cities across northern Britain and extend across the Irish Sea to Ireland.

The concept, titled The Loop, has been developed by Chris Williamson, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and co-founder of architecture firm Weston Williamson + Partners. The scheme would link Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool in England with Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, Bangor in Wales, and Dublin and Belfast in Ireland.

Williamson described the proposal as a manifesto intended to “inspire ambition and provoke debate” about the future of infrastructure investment and regional development in the British Isles.

If realised, The Loop would form a continuous circuit, with high-speed trains running in both directions on an elevated viaduct at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour. Journey times between any two cities on the network would not exceed 90 minutes, dramatically reducing travel across the region.

Under the proposal, travel from Edinburgh to Manchester would take less time than crossing Los Angeles by road. The system is designed to support a new model of living and working, enabling people to reside in one city while commuting to another, such as Newcastle and Glasgow.

The idea draws inspiration from large-scale international infrastructure projects, particularly Saudi Arabia’s NEOM development and The Line—a 170-kilometre linear city on which Williamson’s practice has worked in recent years, though that project has since been scaled back.

“Perhaps I have been influenced by the scale and ambition of NEOM The Line,” Williamson said. “But the British Isles should be equally bold in planning for the future. At present, cities are forced to compete for limited investment, when what we need is connectivity and collaboration.”

Williamson argues that linking the nine cities would help create a “northern powerhouse” with a combined population of around 10 million, comparable to major global metropolitan regions.

If built, The Loop would become the UK’s third high-speed railway. High Speed 1 opened in 2003 between London and the Channel Tunnel, while High Speed 2 is currently under construction between London and Birmingham. Proposed extensions to Manchester and Leeds have been cancelled or remain uncertain due to cost concerns.

The Loop proposal goes significantly further, crossing the Irish Sea twice. This would require the construction of tunnels or bridges, building on long-standing ideas for fixed links between Great Britain and Ireland.

The estimated construction cost is £130 billion, with projected economic benefits of approximately £12 billion annually, according to Williamson.

Beyond transport, the project is conceived as a piece of national infrastructure with wider strategic value. Williamson said the elevated corridor could function as an energy “ring main,” distributing electricity from onshore and offshore wind farms, as well as from small modular nuclear reactors located at key hubs.

Proponents argue that concentrating energy and connectivity along the route could support new industries, including data centres, advanced manufacturing and other energy-intensive sectors. Waste heat generated along the corridor could also be reused for food production and related purposes.

The engineering concept has been developed with structural engineering firm Elliott Wood. The rail tracks would be supported by stone viaducts constructed from pre-tensioned stone beams, using locally sourced materials to create a design that blends with the surrounding landscape.

Trains, approximately 50 metres in length, would operate every five minutes. Some services would run point-to-point between cities without intermediate stops, while others would pass through stations to allow passengers to board and disembark.

From major stations, automated vehicles would provide last-mile connectivity, extending the system’s reach beyond the core network.

While acknowledging that the project may appear highly ambitious, Williamson said its real value lies in its potential to stimulate long-term thinking and act as a catalyst for economic renewal across the region.