George Osborne calls on Government for ‘HS3 Rail’ from Liverpool to Hull

Former Chancellor George Osborne has called on the government to commit to building high speed rail links across the North, from Liverpool to Hull.

In an article in the Financial Times, Osborne said the new railway would “transform the northern economy” as he announced the launch of a campaign for the new-high speed connection starting with a line across the Pennines.

It would follow on from the existing HS2 scheme linking London and Birmingham which would be split into two branches to Manchester and Leeds.

The campaign is asking for the second phase of HS2 to be remodelled at four junctions which will then connect to their rail proposals.

“There is no geographical reason why this cannot happen,” wrote Mr Osborne.

“The distance between Manchester and Leeds is shorter than the length of the Central line on the London Underground.

“The Northern Powerhouse Rail fits with [Theresa] May’s stated objective of building an economy that works for everyone.”

Osborne said plans for HS3 “will not be cheap”, with some estimates for the Pennine construction reaching £7bn.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport told the BBC that the government had already made a commitment to Northern Powerhouse Rail, giving £60m to Transport for the North to develop plans .

“[We] look forward to working with them once proposals are submitted later this year,” it said.