Tory recycling LD policies

Its good to see gorgeous George Osborne launching some Tory policy into the policy void that they have. (I think a void is synonymous with being "completely open minded"...)
But talking about environmental taxation is hardly breaking fresh ground. It sounds a little familiar and not unlike the Lib Dems tax paper launch nearly 3 weeks ago.
Osborne's love affair with new forms of transport (the Shanghai maglev), reminds me of a Simpson's episode (Marge vs the Monorail).
I can imagine George leading a rendition of "MagLev" during the tory conference.
On a serious note, there is an awful record in this country for building new rail based lines (it really all went wrong from the first Manchester Liverpool line that had major problems to overcome, with the latest problems being with the Channel link and Thameslink going well over budget). As there is so little spare land, dropping a new line onto the landscape is a difficult task. But the French and Germans have far more room to plow a new line through the country side.