These are the rail schemes the North wants while it's waiting for HS2 to arrive

Transport for the North (TfN) is pushing for both the high speed rail projects to be delivered at the same time to provide the maximum benefit for northern England.

But in their submission to the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan, which sets out the timescales for major transport schemes in the North and Midlands, they argue that work should begin soon on other schemes.

TfN says that by electrifying existing lines, upgrading signalling and creating new platforms, benefits would delivered to passenger and freight lines which would improve capacity and reliability to aid the North’s economic recovery.

The hope is that a sustained period of investment would give greater confidence to businesses and the supply chain than the current ‘‘stop/start’’ trend of transport investment which has blighted the North over the years.

A report says: “There are very clear opportunities for accelerating a wide range of schemes across the North which could be delivered in the next 10 years and provide the foundations for a modernised rail network and could allow NPR services to start running in the 2020s.”

Among them are the electrification of the line between Leeds and Hull, a freight priority route on the East Coast main line between London, Yorkshire and the North East and improvements to the Hope Valley route between Sheffield and Manchester.

The Integrated Rail Plan, which is due to be published before the end of the year, was first announced in February by Boris Johnson as he announced that the high speed rail project HS2 would go ahead despite opposition from many Tories.