This high-speed rail loop would connect British and Irish cities

PROPOSALS for a high-speed rail loop that would link nine urban centres across Great Britain and Ireland have been put forward by RIBA President Chris Williamson.

The so-called ‘Northern Loop’ would create a ‘dispersed but connected’ global city of around ten million people.

“Maybe I have been too influenced by the scale, the vision and the ambition of The LINE in Saudi Arabia, having worked on the high-speed stations running alongside the 170-kilometre city for the last few years,” said Williamson. “But we in the British Isles should be equally ambitious about our future. At present the Government seems to expect each city to compete for the same investment funding, when we need to encourage connectivity and collaboration.”

Above: The proposed route of the Northern Loop. Image: Chris Williamson.

Williamson confirmed in a social media post on 8 February that the Northern Loop proposal had been submitted to the Royal Academy’s 2026 summer exhibition.

The plans suggest the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Bangor, Dublin and Belfast should be connected by a high-speed rail line. It calls for trains to run every five minutes at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour. 

The proposal claims that traveling from Edinburgh to Manchester could take less time than moving across Los Angeles.

Above and Below: How the elevated Northern Loop high-speed rail line could appear. Images: Chris Williamson.

Locally-sourced stone arches would be used to the elevate the tracks above the landscape – minimising disruption and creating the flat, straight runs that are key to any high-speed line. Engineering consultants Elliott Wood have provided input into the proposals from an early stage.

A copy of the proposals shared with The B1M indicate that the loop would be used to distribute energy as well as people. ‘Running alongside the rail system is a continuous infrastructure capable of gathering and redistributing power from onshore and offshore wind, alongside small modular reactors located at key nodes,’ the plans state.

The documentation also notes that linking centres of expertise across the nine cities would further its economic impact.

Above and Below: The Northern Loop would connect nine urban centres across the UK and Ireland. Image: Chris Williamson.

Williamson suggests that the Northern Loop would cost £130BN to construct and deliver £12BN a year in economic benefits.

The UK is currently constructing phase one of its second ever high-speed rail line, High Speed Two (HS2), which will run between London's Old Oak Common and Birmingham. 

The HS2 project has been branded an "appalling mess" by the UK Government and currently has no firm completion date. Latest estimates suggest that phase one could cost as much as £80BN.

“Britain needs a vision that can excite the country, regenerate the economy and restore confidence,” said Williamson. “Architects once published manifestos. They were not always right, but they inspired, provoked and set out ideas they believed in. This project is intended as a return to that time.”