Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the potential cost of constructing a High Speed 3 line between Leeds and Manchester.

The Department is working with Transport for the North, Network Rail and HS2 Ltd to consider improving transport connectivity between cities and regions in the North of England; and new rail links between Manchester and Leeds forms part of this work. I would expect to be able to comment on the scope and the scale of possible investments within the next few months. However, candidate schemes in supporting the future growth and wellbeing of Northern economies must be both affordable and offer acceptable value for money.