Hopes for a new North-South high speed rail link which could slash travel times between the North-East, London and Scotland are set to receive a boost.

A study by Rod Eddington, the former chief executive of British Airways into Britains transport infrastructure, due out soon, is thought to recommend a new high speed line, possibly powered by hi-tech Maglev trains.

Meanwhile, a new non-profit organisation is understood to be waiting in the wings to progress such plans and has received the backing of, among others, former Virgin Rail boss Chris Green, now a non-executive director at Network Rail.

Government ministers have already looked at the merits of the Transrapid system, which uses magnetic levitating (Maglev) trains and which has proved a success in China.

The trains, which run at speeds of more than 300mph, would slash journey times, with, for example, Newcastle to London taking little over an hour and-a-half.

Dr Alan James, of UK Ultraspeed, which hopes to introduce the technology to the UK, said last year that a high speed rail system linking the likes of Newcastle and Middlesbrough with London and Scotland could be up and running by 2012 to coincide with the Olympics.

It would also make any perceived North-South divide a thing of the past, he said.

However concerns have been expressed about how much a high speed link would cost with estimates ranging between 16bn and 30bn upwards and how it would be paid for.

Rail expert Christian Wolmar, who writes on industry issues, told The Northern Echo: The sponsors of this idea hope that it will be built, at least in part, with private sector money but there is no record of the private sector being able to carry out such projects profitably.

He added: Railway infrastructure does not pay for itself, and if supporters think that Gordon Brown is keen on spending huge amounts on such a scheme, whether he is Chancellor or Prime Minister at the time, they can dream on.

Two years ago the Strategic Railway Authority, previously responsible for Britains railways, shelved indefinitely plans for a high speed North-South link saying it wanted to focus on the here and now of rail infrastructure.

But such a project has remained firmly on the agenda, with Prime Minister Tony Blair including a high speed North-South transport link in Labours last election manifesto.

Business groups in the North-East also continue to campaign heavily for a link because of the huge economic benefits it could bring.

A report by the Institute of Civil Engineers, out before Christmas, also backed a link ahead of expanding the motorway network or increasing the number of airport runways.