TRAFFORD MPs have welcomed the announcement that Manchester will be connected to other northern cities under plans for an east-west high speed rail ‘HS3’ line.

Prime Minister David Cameron this week backed proposals by HS2 boss Sir David Higgins to link Manchester with Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle – adding that it had been an error not to include coast-to-coast connectivity in HS2.

A report looking at options, costs and a delivery timetable for the line – which could slash journeys to Leeds from 48 to 26 minutes – will be produced in March.

Stretford and Urmston MP, Kate Green, said, "This is long overdue. It’s ridiculous that some journey times in our region are as slow as they were a hundred years ago.

"I've always argued that HS2 should be a trigger for maximising the economic potential for the North West.

“HS3 is vital to boost our economy, ensuring the greater connectivity that our region so desperately needs."

Sale East MP Mike Kane said the line would be ‘a key factor in the economic success’ of Manchester and would help end the ‘disparity between the north and the south of England’.

He added: “So what does that mean in reality for the people here in Sale and Trafford? Ultimately it will help us build a stronger local economy, which in turn will create more jobs, growth and investment for our area.

“With massively reduced travel times the boundaries of employment will extend beyond Manchester to cities like Leeds, opening up new opportunities.”

Altrincham and Sale West MP Graham Brady welcomed the proposed line, adding: “It would have been preferable to proceed with this before HS2. It is a long way off, but it is encouraging; a positive proposition.”

STOP HS2 – opponents of the £43 billion ‘Y’ shaped high speed line due to run through Warburton and beneath parts of Altrincham – said the announcement of HS3 was a ‘tacit acknowledgement that HS2 will be a failure’.

Their campaign manager, Joe Rukin, added: “We have been saying since the start that if you want to help regenerate the north, you would spend the money there, and the very last thing you would do is make it quicker to get to London.

"Up until now, northern cities have been offered HS2 or nothing. Now there is something else on the table, which would actually help the north, support for HS2 will crumble further.”