AT LONG last, the long-overdue upgrade of the West Coast main rail line is to happen.

The £1 billion project starts within weeks.

And, soon, passengers will be able to travel directly from Preston to the continent through the Channel Tunnel.

But while greeting the prospect and the investment, it still remains a mystery to us why they have taken so long to materialise - when, as Britain's busiest main line, serving a third of the population, the West Coast route has been neglected since the 1970s while other lesser lines were modernised long ago.

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