A futuristic ‘hover train’ could ferry Manchester passengers to Liverpool in seven minutes and to Leeds in just nine minutes.

Travel firm Direct City Networks (DCN) is developing plans for ‘the world’s fastest underground system’ to run from Liverpool to Hull.

Dubbed DCN300+, engineers say the tunnel network would be the world’s fastest underground system.

The super-futuristic ‘maglev’ has no wheels and doesn’t run on a conventional engine, speeding along on a magnetically-charged cushion of air instead.

Able to travel at up to 350mph, the magnet-powered trains outrun anything in Europe, moving smoothly, quietly and shunning bad weather.

Leaving every 90 seconds, they would whisk you from Manchester to Leeds in around 11 minutes - down from an hour.

The Manchester-Leeds route, which would cost up to £3.7bn, is at the heart of the plan, which could then be extended to Liverpool and Hull.

A proposal has been submitted to Transport for the North, the Government body looking at improving the region’s transport links.

The DCN plan would see Maglev trains put into a tunnel stretching across the North. Its initial plans suggest the journey from Liverpool to Hull could take just 29 minutes.

It’s understood Andy Burnham, Labour’s mayoral candidate, is already looking at the scheme.

The maglev could work alongside Northern Powerhouse Rail, the proposed high-speed rail link from Liverpool to Manchester and Leeds that could connect to HS2.

DCN believes a tunnel would be the best option - with a straight line service cutting beneath cities and the Pennines.

The firm has worked with Hyperloop, the company created by US billionaire Elon Musk, to develop a train system which runs at 600mph through ‘vacuum tubes’.

DCN will soon reveal early proposals before launching a detailed feasibility study to attract the billions of pounds of investment that would be needed.

A spokeswoman for Transport for the North said: “TfN have been provided with information by Direct City Networks (DCN) PLC regarding a proposal to initially link Manchester and Leeds with a high speed ‘MagLev’ connection, with the possibility of this being extended to Liverpool and Hull.”

She said they had responded highlighting areas in need of ‘substantive additional development work’ before a proposal could be given detailed consideration.

She added: “Our current priorities include the preparation of a long-term Strategic Transport Plan for the North and development of the Northern Powerhouse Rail proposals, which will identify plans for infrastructure needed to transform the region’s economy by offering fast, frequent and reliable transport around the North for both passengers and freight.”

It's not science fiction... it's proper northern technology

The ‘hover-train’ might sound like pure science fiction.

But the idea can actually claim solid, northern roots - and Greater Manchester can even lay claim to the invention.

Professor Eric Latihwaite, an engineering maverick from Atherton in Wigan, lodged the first patent in 1956 after completing cutting-edge doctoral research at Manchester university.

And it’s not the first plan for such a link in the north. In 2008, UK Ultraspeed suggested a Maglev system linking cities including Liverpool and London.

It was also used on the link from Birmingham International station to the airport.

There are now several Maglev lines in Asia. The best-known is the Transrapid system in Shanghai, the world’s fastest commercially operating train, which can reach speeds of 267mph.

Last year, another system was launched in South Korea.

In Japan, the Chuo Shinkansen line currently under construction would allow trains to travel at more than 300 miles per hour between Tokyo and Nagoya. Most of that journey will be underground.

In April 2015, Japan got a test maglev to hurtle through the countryside near Mount Fuji, with 49 staff aboard, at a record-breaking 370mph.

And the Chancellor himself suggested the idea a decade ago, when the ‘northern powerhouse’ was just a twinkle in his eye.

During a visit to Japan in 2006, he said: “You have to ask yourself, if Japan is developing this technology, if China has already introduced this kind of train, if Germany is looking at this technology, why on earth are we not doing so in Britain?”

He added: “There are plenty of links I can think of - a link between Liverpool and Manchester, or Glasgow and Edinburgh, or London and its airports - which would bring huge benefits to Britain.”

He had good reason for the examples he chose, according to experts.

Firstly the main asset of a maglev - named after the technology that keeps it hovering, magnetic levitation - is its ability to accelerate quickly.

This means it’s actually ideally suited to shorter inter-city trips.

It also carries fewer carriages - so it’s better for fewer passengers travelling on trains at shorter intervals.

Jeremy Acklam from the Institution of Engineering and Technology, says although we will end up with a ‘conventional solution’, the idea should be looked at.

“Yes, it’s worth considering by Transport for the North for northern inter-city routes or to get from cities to airports,” he says.

“It’s perfectly sensible to consider all options.”