A third runway at Heathrow airport would be scrapped by a Tory government in favour of a high speed rail line.
Theresa Villiers, shadow transport secretary, made the announcement at the Conservative Party Conference on Monday.
She said a new high speed rail line between Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and London would cut journey times between Birmingham and London to 40 minutes and between Leeds and London to less than an hour and a half.
It was claimed that such a move would cut Heathrow flights by 66,000 a year - about 44% of the planned capacity of the third runway.
The party says it would cost £1.3bn a year for 12 years with a Tory government spending £15.6bn on the project and the private sector contributing a further £4.4bn.
The proposed 180mph rail link would run between St Pancras in London - the terminus for Eurostar - and Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. It would be a new railway with a new track freeing up the West Coast Mainline for more commuter journeys. There would also be a high-speed link between St Pancras and Heathrow.
Villiers said: ‘It will leave a lasting legacy for the future - and it will lay the foundation for a high speed network that I believe will one day stretch across the country.’
She said the rail line would help businesses and generate huge economic benefits, potentially to the value of £60 billion as well as ‘healing long-standing divisions in the economy by shrinking the distance between north and south.’
Construction of the new high speed line would begin in 2015, with full completion by 2027.
Theresa Villiers, shadow transport secretary, made the announcement at the Conservative Party Conference on Monday.
She said a new high speed rail line between Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and London would cut journey times between Birmingham and London to 40 minutes and between Leeds and London to less than an hour and a half.
It was claimed that such a move would cut Heathrow flights by 66,000 a year - about 44% of the planned capacity of the third runway.
The party says it would cost £1.3bn a year for 12 years with a Tory government spending £15.6bn on the project and the private sector contributing a further £4.4bn.
The proposed 180mph rail link would run between St Pancras in London - the terminus for Eurostar - and Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. It would be a new railway with a new track freeing up the West Coast Mainline for more commuter journeys. There would also be a high-speed link between St Pancras and Heathrow.
Villiers said: ‘It will leave a lasting legacy for the future - and it will lay the foundation for a high speed network that I believe will one day stretch across the country.’
She said the rail line would help businesses and generate huge economic benefits, potentially to the value of £60 billion as well as ‘healing long-standing divisions in the economy by shrinking the distance between north and south.’
Construction of the new high speed line would begin in 2015, with full completion by 2027.
