Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh told The Yorkshire Post that the Government should build the proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail network and HS2 in full.

In November, the Government's Integrated Rail Plan curtailing the HS2 Eastern leg by saying it would now end in the East Midlands rather than Leeds as originally planned, while hopes of new high-speed line between Leeds and Manchester via Bradford were also dashed. Yorkshire will get just two miles of new high-speed track under the current plans.

Last month, the long-awaited Elizabeth Line in London opened after being built at an estimated cost of £18.9 billion, including £5.1 billion from the Government.

Passengers enter the Elizabeth Line platforms at Paddington Station, London, as the new line opened to passengers for the first time last month.

Boris Johnson said at the time:

Mr Johnson said: “As the Elizabeth line opens to the public, we know it’s not just Londoners that will reap the rewards, but the whole country – because better transport grows the economy, levels up opportunity and creates jobs.”

The Government said the Elizabeth line project is supporting 55,000 jobs, 1,000 apprenticeships and is forecast to boost the economy by £42 billion.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post ahead of the HS2 Bill second reading in Parliament on Monday, Ms Haigh said: “The Government's failure to deliver on their promises is a lost opportunity to deliver a once-in-a-century transformation of the North.”

“If levelling-up is to mean anything, it should mean building an Elizabeth Line in the North. The Conservatives promised Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 in full – that’s what Labour would be delivering.

“The scheme would spark a rail revolution and create tens of thousands of jobs, connecting millions of people in major towns and cities in our industrial heartlands. It would give businesses confidence to invest, and make the north their home.”

She added: “They have hacked off the Eastern-leg, erased the promised new line from Leeds through Bradford to Manchester.

“Their watered down plans for HS2 and Northern Powerhouse are not what we were promised – they’re cutting off the North, limiting our ambition to connect our towns and cities and almost guaranteeing a lesser service for decades to come.”

“People have had to wait too long for a proper, functioning transport system in the North. This was about the North and Midlands getting its fair share.”

Ms Haigh said: “We saw in London with the Elizabeth Line what investment in public transport means – that was a Labour government that fired the starting gun, and a Labour mayor that delivered it.”

“We should be showing exactly the same ambition for the North.”

“The next Labour government will put passengers back at the heart of our railways, and deliver a better deal for working families and the taxpayer. And we’d invest in rail with our plans to Buy, Make and Sell in Britain driving growth and support jobs and businesses across the UK, while tackling the climate crisis.”

Earlier this month, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Integrated Rail Plan meant £96bn worth of investment for the North and Midlands.

He said of the £60bn of planned transport spending in the next three years, investment per person will be highest in the North (£368), followed by the Midlands and East of England (£311), and the South (£299).

Mr Shapps said: "I don’t deny that historically, London has received significantly more transport investment than cities in the North.

"But these latest figures prove that under this Government, a fundamental shift in transport spending priorities is taking place.

"We are not just talking about levelling up – we’re actually delivering it.

"I suspect many people in the North will have read about the opening of the Elizabeth Line – or Crossrail, as it’s better known – and seen it as further proof of London-centric transport bias. We certainly supported the project.

"But the vast majority of the funding for the line came not from central government, but from London itself and was planned over a couple of decades."

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Labour's Louise Haigh calls on Government to build 'Elizabeth Line for the North'