Another thing put in rail is a completely british desined and built train, from the same bloke that designed the penolinos.
http://www.extravaganzi.com/wp-conte...ry-Train_1.jpg
Not a loco, but the pendolinos were (and are) very successful, and that was british thinking there, even if they were not Brithsh built. All that is needed is to use the same logic on diesel traction.
Britain has the potential to do it, but in the last 30 or so years the "cutting corners policy" has emerged in what is left of our industries. To my mind this is down to the constant attempts to turn the UK into a tertiary country. It hasn't worked, and so here we are.