needed", a report that the government had attempted to bury. Blair was noted as saying that a cross-country link of this sort would "bring Britain together", although this was called "pie in the sky" by critics. Alan James, director of UK Ultraspeed, took the opportunity to claim that it was the fastest and safest system in the world. Competing political interests initially claimed that Blair's sudden support for the issue was nothing more than electioneering. However, this was soon followed by a Commons All-Party Rail Group visit to China and Japan to visit the maglev systems there. Shadow transport secretary Chris Grayling returned "positively bouncing with enthusiasm", noting that even at full speed the train was quieter than a Virgin Voyager. This led to full party support for the proposal on both sides of the aisle. Blair's support led to an official study into the Ultraspeed concept, as well as competing long-distance lines using TGV-like equipment. This was all taking place just after the well-reported opening of the Shanghai system, and the announcement that the Chinese government was examining a 170 km extension of that line. Transrapid was also actively pitching the system for several other lines. It appeared that the maglev's day had finally come. It was also noted that the maglev system had originally been invented in the UK, and the first maglev system built and operated there – the Birmingham Maglev of 1984. Scepticism Shortly after James' comments on safety, the Transrapid test system in Emsland suffered the fatal Lathen train collision in late 2006. This quickly revealed "major safety failings" and led to the German transport minister asking "Whether the Transrapid's safety measures were adequate". The company quickly responded by noting the accident had nothing to do with the technical aspects of the system. When Ultraspeed was being proposed, only two Transrapid tracks existed; the original Emsland test facility, and the Shanghai Maglev Train. Transrapid was also part of a number of other active proposals at the time, notably a airport link in Munich similar to the Shanghai installation. All of these were much shorter than the Ultraspeed line, so there was an increased element of technical risk involved in the UK proposal. Much of the proposal's claimed advantage was based on the cost of installing the tracks. As the maglev line is elevated, many of the problems with ground-based high-speed rail are mitigated. There is