Fast rail link ‘last best chance to tackle North-South divide’

Philip Hammond said the future prosperity of the country is reliant on closing the gap between different parts of the country which has grown wider over the past decade.

And he warned that only investment in infrastructure such as high-speed rail, which will link Leeds and South Yorkshire with London, Birmingham and Manchester, will help achieve it.

Mr Hammond’s strident support of the £32bn project, which has aroused passions from supporters and critics alike, came a day after Prime Minister David Cameron reiterated his support for the scheme by claiming its “time has come”.

Facing questions on the scheme in the Commons, Mr Hammond said: “I believe that it is not possible for Britain to maintain its prosperity in the 21st century in an increasingly competitive, global economy unless we can close the growth gap between the North and the South.

“Governments for the last 50 to 60 years have wrestled with this challenge and we haven’t succeeded yet. This approach, investing in strategic infrastructure, is the last, best chance to achieve it.”

The Government is consulting on its plans for the network, called High Speed Two (HS2), which will see a line from London to Birmingham open by 2026 and two branches north – one to South Yorkshire and Leeds and the other to Manchester – built by 2032/33. Journey times from Yorkshire to London would be cut by up to 45 minutes and the network would also ease congestion on existing lines.

Much of the opposition has concentrated on the route through the Chilterns, although opponents have also questioned the economic case for the line, which consultants expect to be worth billions of pounds to the Yorkshire economy.

The scheme has won the backing of hundreds of business and civic leaders in the region, with a new website – www.yorkshireneedshighspeedrail.co.uk – launched yesterday to build more support.

Mr Hammond added: “The Government considers that a high-speed rail network between London and Birmingham and onwards to Manchester and Leeds would drive economic growth and prosperity, as well as providing vital new capacity on the west coast corridor.”

He said the most difficult engineering phase would be laying underground tracks so trains could leave London, before driving through the countryside north of the capital.

“The logic of building this project is that we have to do the complex engineering challenge of getting out of London in tunnels – that’s the difficult bit of the project first.

“In engineering terms, once we’re out of the tunnels it’s pretty much plain sailing to complete the remainder of the construction.”

Coun James Lewis, chairman of West Yorkshire transport authority Metro, said: “Leeds needs high-speed rail because it has the potential to transform the shape of the national and the city region economy. A city centre high-speed rail station would provide a transformational new transport hub helping to spread the benefits of high-speed rail across the Leeds City Region.

“As well as campaigning for the long-term benefits of HS2, we will be pressing for more immediate improvements to existing routes, such as the electrification of the East Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line, trans-Pennine and Leeds-Sheffield links, which would deliver substantial benefits at modest costs.”

Coun Keith Wakefield, leader of Leeds City Council, said: “Leeds is a city that is going places and we need high-speed rail to improve access to the area as it develops further as a major hub for business, leisure, investment and jobs.

“High-speed rail will transform rail journeys from Leeds and many other Northern cities, providing travel opportunities and choices that we won’t otherwise have.”

On Tuesday a Yes to High Speed Rail campaign bus will call in at Leeds to drum up support.