UK Ultraspeed has appointed Bell Pottinger Business & Brand to promote its revolutionary plans to transform high-speed ground transport.
Ultraspeed proposes to link Britain’s major regions using the world’s most advanced intercity transport system. Magnetic levitation (‘maglev’) vehicles, capable of carrying almost 1,200 passengers, would travel at over 300 miles per hour between London and Glasgow, via the Midlands, Manchester, Teesside, Tyneside and Edinburgh. The total journey time would be 155 minutes, making Ultraspeed a much faster alternative than the new generation of high-speed trains.
Bell Pottinger Business & Brand is tasked with raising awareness of Ultraspeed’s capabilities within key national and regional media (including print, TV and radio), in addition to assisting Ultraspeed’s communications with national and local government, as well as key stakeholders involved in the ongoing debate about high-speed ground transport. The total value of the account is likely to exceed six figures.
Kevin Read, Managing Director of Bell Pottinger Business & Brand, commented: “The choice for the future is between sticking with ‘heavy rail’ technology or becoming the first Western nation to reap the benefits that maglev will bring. Compared to high-speed rail, maglev is faster, quieter, generates zero emissions and uses eight times less space. Furthermore, the benefits that maglev could generate for Britain through urban regeneration and economic investment would be worth hundreds of billions of pounds.”
Ultraspeed has already contributed to Sir Rod Eddington’s review on the future of Britain’s transport network, which will be published this summer, and hopes to become involved with the government’s planned review of options for the north-south high-speed link later this year.
“The Bell Pottinger team has responded with vision and verve to the highly unusual challenge of communicating the facts, benefits and sheer transformational impact of our 300mph ground transport system to UK policymaker and public audiences,” said Alan James, UK Ultraspeed’s Chief Executive. “We’ve got the technology to zoom passengers from London to Manchester in 45 minutes and in Bell Pottinger we have the right communications specialists to zoom UK Ultraspeed to the top of the national transport agenda.”
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For further information, please contact Kevin Read:
• Direct line: 020 7861 2506
• Mobile: 07771 885902
• Email: kread@bellpottinger.co.uk
Notes to editors
UK Ultraspeed is a proposed new national ground transport system, which drastically reduces journey times between major cities in Britain by operating at speeds of up to 500km/h (311mph).
The maglev vehicles float above a fixed guideway track on an electro-magnetic ‘cushion’ and are guided, propelled and braked by electric currents that pass through the guideway.
The world’s first commercial maglev system, linking Shanghai’s city centre with its airport, began operations in 2004. Last month, the Chinese government announced plans to construct a 200 kilometre extension, from Shanghai to Hangzhou. In UK terms, this will be equivalent to travelling from London to Derby in under half an hour.
For further information about Ultraspeed, please visit www.500kmh.com
