THE Government has been urged to ensure new high-speed rail plans - dubbed HS3 - bring benefits to the entire region and not just the North's big cities.

Proposals to build a new 125mph rail from Manchester to Leeds have been welcomed by North-East business leaders who say the scheme could give an economic uplift to the entire North of England.

North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) policy and research manager, Mark Stephenson, has also backed a suggestion in a report by HS2 Ltd chairman Sir David Higgins for a new body for the North which would speak with one voice on transport infrastructure issues.

He said: "The Northern chambers are united in support of high-speed rail.

"Even though our region is not part of the current proposals, the impact HS2 will have on our members and the ensuing economic uplift this will generate in the North of England will be significant. We welcome any efforts to speed up delivery."

But while she described the proposals as positive, Penny Marshall, North-East regional director of the Institution of Civil Engineers, raised concerns that her region was being ignored.

"Clearly, more detail is needed, and it needs to be acknowledged that there is still a lot of England which is north of the M62 corridor which should be considered when planning our future rail infrastructure."

Martin Abrams, from the Campaign for Better Transport, added that the plans would be good news for Leeds and Manchester, but the challenge would be to make sure the benefits were felt right across the North.

"The Chancellor needs to make sure progress with high-speed rail goes hand in hand with upgrading the rest of the north's rail network," he said.

"Many passengers are still travelling on ageing diesel Pacers trains and some have even seen ticket prices double on evening Northern Rail services.

"They will be hoping for coherent improvements from the new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises this year, not just grand plans for HS3."

Transport union RMT was even more vocal in its criticisms of Sir David's report, titled Rebalancing Britain.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said it was cynical of the Government and Rail North to champion the HS3 proposals, while threatening to jobs and services through the new Northern and TransPennnine Express franchises.

"RMT will not tolerate this rank hypocrisy and instead of jam tomorrow, light years off in the future, we are demanding an expansion of services and capacity now," he said.