By Chris Burn

Published 4th Mar 2023, 05:45 BST

The Colne Valley MP told dozens of Yorkshire business leaders at an event organised by CBI and Barclays in Parliament this week that while he was a “massive advocate” for both projects, there has been too little public discussion about the medium-term impact of delivering the schemes and the disruption they will cause to local communities.

“I want it all to be delivered but I just want this audience to understand the complexities of these huge programme,” he said.

“It is very easy for the Opposition to say, yes we will deliver it all.

Jason McCartney says there needs to be greater awareness about the challenges of building HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail

“We need to hold the feet to the fire of politicians of all parties.

"I have just been chatting to Greg Smith the MP for Buckingham, where HS2 has been coming through his patch.

"It is an absolute nightmare.

"Country roads are closed for years on end, every road is covered in mud, there is construction everywhere.

“In my patch we have just been told how much the TransPennine route is going to have to be closed with bus replacement services while they upgrade electrification.

“These are huge projects that will bring a lot of disruption.

"I want Bradford connected with Northern Powerhouse Rail but they will have to find a route and that route will have to go somewhere, through houses and roads.

“It is not as easy as just saying, we will deliver it all, and the Government is unfortunately finding how complex it is.”

Currently Yorkshire is not on the HS2 route after the Eastern Leg which had been due to run to Leeds was cut back to end in the East Midlands instead.

However there is a planned £100m study in how to connect Leeds to HS2 which could potentially revive the route.

Previously published HS2 documents have revealed that under the Eastern Leg proposals, more than 100 homes and businesses in Yorkshire would require demolition while the scheme would have cut through woodland, fishing lakes and golf courses.

Work would have also involved closures of some of Yorkshire's busiest roads and motorway junctions.

The Government has also opted for a reduced version of the Northern Powerhouse Rail plans, to the disappointment of local leaders.

Its approved scheme will involve a new £17bn high-speed line between Warrington and Marsden, which is two miles inside the Yorkshire border.

The Government said in 2021 that going ahead with a full new high-speed route between Liverpool and Leeds via Bradford, which Northern leaders had been calling for, would have cost an additional £18bn and only saved minutes from journey times.

Honesty needed over HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail 'nightmare' disruption, Tory MP says