Sir David Rowlands said his personal choice would be a network that includes a service travelling through the East Midlands to Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle.

His comments were welcomed by business leaders and politicians who have backed the Yorkshire Post Fast Track to Yorkshire campaign for a 200mph service to London and are lobbying the Government not to choose an alternative option of a single west coast line with a branch to Leeds.

Sir David was appointed by the Government as chairman of High Speed Two (HS2), the company set up to advise Ministers on possible configurations for high-speed rail.

His vision is a network that travels from London to Birmingham before splitting to run parallel along the east and west side of the Pennines, finishing in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Sir David said: "We are probably going to express a preference that goes both up the west and the east side of the Pennines, so it goes up through Manchester to Scotland, but also on the east side of the Pennines goes up through the East Midlands, through Yorkshire and certainly up to Newcastle.

"I know there have been arguments as to whether the East Midlands or Yorkshire will lose out.

"We think we will tell the Government that the preferred option from our point of view is a network that services certainly both Manchester as well as places like Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle."

The report from HS2 is due to be submitted next month and Ministers are expected to announce their policy in the new year.

An HS2 spokeswoman insisted no decision had been made on their preferred configuration and added that "a number" of options were being considered.

A decision on the order in which any network will be built has also not been taken – the spokeswoman said timescales and building plans were a matter for Ministers once they had received the HS2 recommendations.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has admitted it would be impossible to build everything at the same time and would not be drawn on which cities stand to benefit first.

The issue has provoked a series of clashes between MPs who fear their constituencies may be the last to be connected to the line – or miss out altogether.

The British Chambers of Commerce yesterday called on politicians to develop a cross-party consensus on how to build the network so long-term public and private sector funding can be secured.

Minister for Yorkshire Rosie Winterton said: "I am very encouraged by this latest news favouring a network approach. Any plan which includes our region and ensures we will gain all the benefits of a high-speed link has to be welcomed."

The director of policy at the Yorkshire and Humber Chambers of Commerce, Nick Pontone, said the "breakthrough" statement showed there was a strong business case for Yorkshire to be served by its own high-speed line.

The configuration favoured by Sir David would be similar to the £69bn project submitted to HS2 by Greengauge 21, an organisation formed to assist the debate on high-speed rail.

Greengauge 21 director Jim Steer said: "The key message that it's not possible to serve both sides of the Pennines with a single route has been picked up by HS2, which is most welcome.

"A direct route between London and Yorkshire is a better option than a route via Manchester."

Yorkshire Forward chief executive Tom Riordan said the comments were "extremely encouraging".

He said: "We've said many times that a configuration which ensures that the east of the Pennines is part of the HS2 network is vital for Yorkshire and Humber's economy and future competitiveness."