The proposed track linking Glasgow and London via Edinburgh, Tyneside, Teesside, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham would cost about £29bn to set up.

The first phase could be built in four to five years and the whole system could be running in 12.

Trains would travel every 10 minutes and carry 40 billion passengers per year.

A single ticket between Newcastle and London would cost between £35 and £40.

A typical vehicle would be 10 carriages long and carry 840 passengers (700 economy, 140 premium).

The track or guideline would run at ground level or at heights of up to 20 metres.

The whole system could be run by 46 staff at three operational sites.

About half the stations would be based at airports, including the one planned for Newcastle.

The only maglev system currently in operation runs between Shanghai and its airport.

Siemens and ThyssenKrupp, the two Germany companies which own the maglev technology, have had a test track in north-west Germany since the early 1980s.

* For more information on the proposed UK maglev system visit www.500kmh.com