Cardiff Council leader Rodney Bearman is calling for a 190mph high speed rail line to be laid between south Wales and London as part of a national expansion of the network.
High speed rail will bring substantial uplift to the economies of the regions it reaches, it is essential Wales is included, he says but exclusion would have potentially serious consequences for Cardiff and its near neighbours.

UK car production fell heavily in July, figures have shown, dropping 8.9pc on the same month last year.
Just over 98,000 cars were produced in the month, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The drop comes after a run of eight straight months when production increased.
Total vehicle production was down by 7.5pc to 107,578 in the month, and engine and engine production fell 3.4pc last month.

Mazda is recalling over 40,000 certain Mazda3 and Mazda5 models equipped with electro hydraulic power assist system.
Affected vehicles are equipped with a hydraulic power steering system with an electrically motorized oil pump that lubricates the gear/pinion bearing with power steering fluid. Residual particles from the inside of the hydraulic pipes may lead to a loss of steering power assist due to failure of the electric oil pump, in some instances, but steering control remains possible.
Only a few specific models, produced between 2 April 2007 and 30 November 2008, could be affected: The first generation Mazda3, with either the 1.6 MZ-CD diesel engine or the 2.0 MZR gasoline engine, and the Mazda5 with either the 1.8 or 2.0 MZR gasoline engines. In Europe, this represents a total of 40,260 Mazda3 and 30,242 Mazda5 cars.
In the UK, the recall affects 3,417 Mazda3 models and 6,851 Mazda5 cars.

General Motors has paved the way for an initial public offering, expected to be perhaps even the largest share sale in US history.
GM, 61pc-owned by the US government, has officially filed its proposals with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The move begins the timetable for the IPO, which analysts believe will raise between $12bn (£7.7bn) and $20bn.

Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata has reportedly hired Citigroup Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG to raise as much as $1 billion from selling securities, two people with knowledge of the matter have told Bloomberg.
It wants to cut debt payments and expand operations after its shares rose more than 30pc this year.

A national poll reveals that more than 69pc of the UK population wouldn’t buy an electric car.
For these buyers the biggest concern (32pc) is the limited distances electric cars can travel – typically only 100 miles - while for a quarter of those surveyed the cost is the main barrier to purchase despite the Government offering a £5,000 subsidy on electric car sales. The survey by Parkers.co.uk also found that 18pc of people wouldn’t buy an electric car because they don’t think they are actually ‘green’, with 17pc thinking conventional cars were just better.

Volkswagen plans to reintroduce the $85,000 Phaeton to the US after it flopped and was withdrawn in 2006.                                                                                      Now it is seen as vital to the German carmaker’s aim of tripling its share of the world’s second-largest market by 2018.

Almost 6.5 million British adults (14pc) are planning to take their cars abroad over the next 12 months, according to Sainsbury’s Car Insurance.
However, millions of these drivers will, sometimes unwittingly, break the law by engaging in driving acts that are illegal in some foreign countries. Unsurprisingly, France is by far the most popular country for Brits planning to drive their cars abroad with 4.3 million of us (9pc) planning to do so. One in three of those people (32pc) won’t carry a reflective jacket in their car, 15pc won’t carry a warning triangle, and 2pc will use a speed trap warning radar detector; all illegal acts in France.

Volvo Cars CEO Stefan Jacoby says Volvo will continue to represent safety, strength and reliability but will sharpen its image by pushing for stronger “emotional positioning” in the global upscale car market.
He took over at the new Chinese owned business this week and predicts that China, where Volvo expects to sell only 30,000 cars this year, will become the brand’s largest market within five years.