The government has backed up £32 billion plan today for high-speed railway which will create hundreds of thousands long term jobs in the building engineering sector, help the economy and cut the journey time from London to Birmingham to 49 minutes.

As reported this week, top business leaders and economists pushed the government to give green light to the high-speed rail (HS2) between London and Birmingham.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening backed up the first phase of HS2 in the Commons today, a 100-mile link, which will be built for 10 years and high-speed trains will start running by 2026.

“High Speed 2 is a scheme to deliver hugely enhanced rail capacity and connectivity between Britain’s major conurbations,” the Transport Secretary said.

“It is the largest transport infrastructure investment in the UK for a generation, and, with the exception of High Speed 1, is the first major new railway line since the Victorian era.”-Mrs Greening added.

The government has also argued that the project will generate £44bn of benefits to the economy over 60 years. The line is considered to be extended further north to Scotland in future decades.

Cities in the north of England such as Manchester and Leeds would also see reduced journey times and will be equally accessible when the whole project is finalised in 2032.

In a statement today, The Department for Transport said: “HS2 is not just about getting between London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester more quickly, but bringing faster services and many more seats to towns and cities well beyond the HS2 network.

“It would work just like a motorway. No one uses a motorway to get all the way from their front door to their final destination, but they use it because it offers high capacity and faster services – precisely what HS2 will offer rail passengers.”

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