A Government-created company called High Speed Two (HS2) has been working on various routes and the related costings for more than a year.

It is understood that the alternatives will be presented to Government on December 31 and a decision on the exact routes is expected by April.

The routes will then be published in an announcement which is likely to blight huge swathes of land.

A spokeswoman for HS2 said: 'Although there are no passenger trains at the moment capable of travelling at 400kph (250mph), who knows what will be designed over the next 30 or 40 years?'

French designers are already working on trains capable of travelling at 225mph, which would cut journey times from London to Birmingham from 82 minutes to about 30 minutes.

At present, Europe's fastest train service is the 186mph Eurostar travelling between London and the Continent.

The new Network would cost at least £25bn and is expected to require funding from private companies.

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