£30bn rail link to put Sheffield within three hours of Paris

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They say the supertrain would make it easier for people in Scotland and northern England to get to Heathrow, reducing the need for connecting flights.

Links to the Channel Tunnel would mean travellers could get from Sheffield to Paris in three hours, from Manchester to Amsterdam in four hours and from Leeds to Frankfurt in five-and-a-half hours.

Link to Europe: The new rail link would make it easier for travellers from the north to use the Eurostar service

The plan, which could be completed by 2030, is being unveiled on Monday by the 2M Group - an all-party alliance of local authorities unhappy about development plans at Heathrow.

The group says it differs from other high-speed proposals because it aims to connect more cities and links up with Heathrow.

Drawn up by railway civil engineer Colin Elliff the scheme envisages a single England-Scotland backbone with connections to other cities and lines.

It would be built in phases with the first closely following the line of the M1 from London to Leicester.

Edward Lister, leader of Wandsworth Council which is part of the 2M Group, said: 'We want a debate. We have a Government that can't see further than the next runway.

'It's time for some imagination in UK transport planning. We don't pretend for one minute we have all the answers but at least we're asking the right questions.'