BBC reports that a new vision for rail travel in the West of England shows how the area could nearly halve journey times between major cities and rural spots.

Political leaders from across the region and South Wales have set out their vision for how the area's train services should look by 2050. Trains journeys from Bristol to London could take an hour, and Bristol to Cardiff, only 30 minutes, they claimed. Plans would cost £7-8bn and would require investment from the government. Currently the area lags behind other parts of the UK with slower train times. Led by the Western Gateway Partnership, in collaboration with Transport for Wales, the new vision shows drastically improved journeys inside the area, as well as to London and elsewhere in the UK. Cardiff in particular has been identified by the government as being the "least well directly connected major city" in the UK. The vision promotes increasing capacity to allow up to four trains per hour between Bristol and Cardiff, reducing journey times between the cities from 50 to 30 minutes.

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BBC - Leaders reveal vision for West of England rail network