It was designated as a motorway to link London with one of the country's leading university cities.

The route was to link London to Basingstoke, in order the reduce pressure on the A30.

A further 51 miles of route was added to link London with Colchester by 1843.

This was used as a route for horse-drawn mail-coaches linking London with Dover.

Trains can link Newcastle and London in a few minutes over two and a half hours.

A chain of such stations linked London with Portsmouth.

The line will link London & Birmingham in phase 1 by 2026.

Whitehall officials said there was no planned campaign behind all the activity linking London and Johannesburg.

More recently, rail links sprang up in the county, linking London to the north.

It will also link London more efficiently into the European and global transport networks.