Super-fast bullet trains will start arriving in Manchester six years early under a government pledge to put the city at the heart of its £32bn high-speed rail plans.
Transport Secretary Justine Greening today gave a green-light for the first section of the route between London and Birmingham to open in 2026 - and a Y-shaped extension of the network to Manchester and Leeds in 2032.
Ms Greening also pledged that the specially-designed 200mph trains will start travelling to Manchester as soon as the line to Birmingham is built.
The bullet trains will 'hop' off the high-speed line near Lichfield in the West Midlands and then travel north on the existing West Coast Main Line at slower speeds - cutting the journey time from London to Manchester to 98 minutes.
But the biggest boost will come when the second phase of the line is built to Manchester in 2032 - when the journey times to London will be slashed to just 68 minutes.
That is just over half the current journey time is 128 minutes.
Ms Greening also stressed that the network should be seen as a 'foundation' for possible further extensions of the network, bringing hopes that the line could eventually go to Scotland.
She said in a written statement to Parliament this morning: “I have decided Britain should embark upon the most significant transport infrastructure project since the building of the motorways by supporting the development and delivery of a new national high speed rail network.”
MPs, business leaders and transport campaigners have been fighting to win support for the Manchester link.
More than 100 key business figures and civic leaders signed a letter backing the plans.
Hopes were raised after a government-backed Network Rail report said last week the alternative - increasing long distance services to Manchester without infrastructure investment - would be 'detrimental' to local services.
Local supporters of high-speed rail have welcomed the decision. They say a £560m package of improvements to the rail network around Manchester, the Northern Hub, also needs to win approval.
Susan Williams, campaign director for the North West Rail Campaign, said: "This is a first step in seeing high-speed trains coming to Manchester and further north.
"We will be looking for comfort from the Secretary of State that the needs of the north will be planned for and addressed from day one.
“It is also important that Network Rail’s plans for the Northern Hub, the rail network around Manchester, are delivered in their entirety. If they are not delivered, it will undermine high-speed rail.”
Opponents on some sections of the route through southern England say construction will damage rural landscapes.
The government says the project will create 40,000 jobs and benefit the national economy by £43.7bn over 60 years. Local estimates suggest it would create 10,000 jobs in the north.
Manchester council leader Sir Richard Leese said: “This is welcome news. We believe that the high-speed rail line is essential to help address imbalances in our nation's economy and help attract jobs and investment to Greater Manchester and other areas outside London and the south east.
“A new high speed line will help create much needed extra capacity on the existing rail network and will complement the huge investment which is taking place in local transport here. We now call on the government to do everything possible to push ahead with construction as soon as possible.”
Emma Antrobus, transport policy manager at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: "We have campaigned long and hard on behalf of businesses for this major investment into infrastructure, which will provide a significant boost to the nation's economy.
“The benefits for Greater Manchester and the North West are essential to complement regeneration plans and support job creation through increasing capacity for vital journeys for both passengers and freight.”
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I,v got as much chance of travelling on this railway as having tea with elvis , yesterday, on the moon.
Why is it going to take so long? The French or Spanish would do it in half the time. What about a high speed northern west to east corridor as well?
How many million to cut the London to Manchester journey by 20 minutes.
Crazy money and lining the pockets of those contractors that get the job.
There is more pressing things to spend millions and millions on.
This is all well and good, but why are we spending £32Bn on a railway when we have to cut our Police force, Hospital staff, our schools are suffering and Council services are being cut.
Would it not be better to improve what we allready have and use this money where its most needed, do we really need a high speed railway to get to London ? I dont think so.
thought we had no money? also the cost of using such transport only a select few will be able to afford!!!
Let's just make sure that it does come to Manchester when it does happen not a town nearby.
I suspect they will be many factions trying to have this major terminal in their little towns and I don't think I need to name them here.
I'm not against HS2, but it just seems like it's going to take an increadibly long time to build. We should be well out of recession by then, we may even have been through a couple more.
Surley it would be better bringing regional commuter services up to scratch, above and beyond what Northern Hub offers?
The impact on jobs would be more immediate and it'd benefit more people.
The Chinese could build it in three weeks. Of course the trains would mostly become airborne at 300mph, as seen in Wenzhou last July.
I'll stick with a carefully built one ta. But I would say though, the whole lot (London-Leeds & Mcr) could be built in ten years if we put our minds to it.
It's going to cost more the longer the project is delayed. Why not do it in the next 3 years. How much will be fares from Manchester to London?
I come home every year and the missus loves to visit London so any shorter time is a good thing.
So - should be on time then!
6 years early, the UK is 100 years behind Germany where trains and public transport is concerned.
Why not have two projects to meet at Birmingham as they did with the Channel Tunnel (Illegal Migrant Gateway) project. That way the cost will be kept down and "Employment will vastly improve. Surely this would have been a "WIN WIN" for both parties.
Great news but imagine if one of them came off the tracks.
This must be excellent news for yoonited fans who should be in time for kick off at the swamp every game
i doubt it will be built further then birmingham all this y shape is total nonsense to bring in support from all over uk as i work for network rail so i do get some inside information the main reason for this london ran out of living space 10 years ago anyone one living up here would know and over inflated floor space in london is driving overseas bussiness to look eleswhere in europe and heathrow airport despite terminal 5 is cant even cope now let alone in next 20 yrs bottom line is london is in crises and it needs a hub the major city closet to the capital with aboundance land and space for growth of the capital is birmingham which means people from the south can jet off or use the nec far quicker then using heathrow itself any more then 30min journey would not favour people in the south this module has already been used in china and japan where space is at premium so they suck in the next toiwns and cities for some reason the goverment is in so favour of birmingham that they allowcated a new bussiness district similer to the one in london docklands befor this even being built i wonder know why they want it so mush down there.
By the time this is completed,transport will be completely revolutionised. We may even have 'beam me up Scotties' as in Star Trek! Don't laugh,they were mocking the possibilities of mobile phones some 30 years ago. Science fiction books have always been the great predictors for the future and I have read literally thousands of them. There was no mention in any of them about the possibility of mobile phones,believe it or not
Nonsense, we need trains through to the continent Paris, Brussels etc. and beyond . The proposed trains will only go as far as London, how useless and short-sighted. You have to take your family and bags on the underground when you get there to make a connection to get the Eurostar. What a nonsense. This will never be acceptable. This region needs to be connected to the continent.
a complete waste of money!!!