Jubilation over region's £62bn shot in arm

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond's announcement in his conference speech today that he is backing a route from London to Birmingham which then splits into legs to Leeds and Manchester will cut journey times to 80 minutes.

His decision marks victory for this newspaper's Fast Track to Yorkshire campaign, although it is likely to be 2030 by the time passengers benefit.

Stuart Andrew, Tory MP for Pudsey, Leeds, said: "I think it's absolutely fantastic news, just the sort of boost Leeds and the whole of Yorkshire needs.

"I think it really demonstrates what we've been saying all along which is that the party is concerned about the north of England and how we can bring economic success to the north. This is a brilliant way of doing it."

Leeds West Labour MP Rachel Reeves said: "That's really positive news for Leeds that they are sticking to the plans put forward by Andrew Adonis when he was Secretary of State for Transport in the last Labour government.

"It's really important that we rebalance the economy in jobs and growth in every region of the UK including Yorkshire, and high-speed rail will help achieve that."

Currently passengers face journey times of about two hours seven minutes to get from Sheffield to London, and a few minutes longer between the capital and Leeds. Under Mr Hammond's plans, some trains would go straight to Leeds without stopping, cutting journeys to 80 minutes. Other trains would stop in South Yorkshire, at a yet to be identified location.

Recent research suggested the 250mph link to the capital could be worth 62 billion to the Yorkshire economy. The South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) and West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (Metro) published their research last month in an effort to push the case for the "Y" route over the route outlined in the Tory manifesto, which would have left out South Yorkshire and seen passengers to Leeds going via Manchester first.

Mr Hammond's pledge that the branches to Leeds and Manchester should be built at the same time will do much to ease fears that the north west would be the first to benefit.

Coun Ian Auckland, Sheffield Council's cabinet member for business, transport and skills, described the Government's decision as "fantastic news".

He said: "It is extremely positive for Sheffield and the region. It opens up the prospect of really good journey times from Sheffield to London and there

is awful lot of evidence to suggest that business will really benefit."

Coun Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council's executive board member for regeneration and development, said: "If it's built at the same time, if it's of equal parity with the Manchester side then it does sound like very good news, but with all these things the devil is in the detail."

Mr Hammond said the funding for the high-speed network would be separate to general transport spending, amid concern from businesses that important upgrades needed before the line is built will be overlooked.

Campaigners are keen to press on with their case for the Midland Main line between London and Sheffield to be electrified.

LONG JOURNEY FOR PROPOSALS

October 2008: The Government announces it has ordered a study into building high-speed rail lines to the North amid a growing revolt by Labour MPs and Ministers.

January 2009: Hopes of a high-speed rail link between Yorkshire and London suffered a setback after Ministers ordered proposals for a line only as far as the Midlands.

February 2009: The Government said it may consider building two high speed lines to the North with one passing through the heart of Yorkshire.

March 2010: The Government reaffirmed its pledge to take plans for High Speed Rail forward but failed to provide any concrete figures for how the whole network would be funded.

June 2010: The campaign for a direct high-speed rail link between Yorkshire and London was boosted after Tory Ministers signalled they were willing to rethink proposals to force passengers to go via Manchester.

October 2010: Government announces it will back "Y" shaped network after all, giving direct high-speed link to Yorkshire.

Early 2011: Consultation to be published on entire high-speed network as detailed plans for route from Birmingham to South Yorkshire and Leeds are drawn up.

2015 onwards: Work starts on London to Birmingham line.

Early 2020s: Work starts from Birmingham to South Yorkshire and Leeds, taking about seven years to complete.