THE North-East could get a new highspeed train link after all under plans by the boss of Network Rail.

Chief executive Iain Coucher said he was proposing three new 200mph lines, one of which would run from London to Edinburgh, via Leeds and Newcastle.

He said Network Rail - which is responsible for Britain's rail infrastructure - would commission a study into the network of routes, which would cost more than £50bn.

Mr Coucher's latest comments contrast with a speech he gave two years ago in which he said cities such as Leeds and Newcastle presented "no real economic business case" to be included on a new North-South high speed rail line.

The new link would run largely parallel to the East Coast Main Line, although it would use existing lines through cities.

It would cut journey times from Newcastle to London King's Cross from two hours 20 minutes to one hour 30 minutes.

Two other new rail routes would also be built from London to Glasgow, via Birmingham and Manchester, and London to Cardiff, via Bristol A spokesman for Network Rail said Mr Coucher's previous comments were made when he was talking about a very narrow business case for a single high-speed line.

He said: "The growth of the railways is such that we need to find a way of accommodating the more people that are using them, and new high-speed lines are one way of doing that."

The Government has previously said it would make no decision on a new high-speed link until 2012. But many in the industry believe this is too late, especially since capacity on most intercity routes is due to run out in 2015.

Hopes of a major upgrade for East Coast have long since been shelved in favour of cheaper, small-scale improvements aimed at tackling rail bottlenecks.

A new high-speed link could bring about a £3.5bn economic boost, according to the Northern Way, a collaboration of the North's three regional development agencies.

Peter Wood, of North-East Rail Future, said: "I would be very surprised if a good business case could not be put together in terms of developing three high-speed links.

"It would be very expensive, that is true, but it could be funded through some kind of public/private partnership, so the taxpayer does not bear all the burden."

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: "The question of whether, when and where any new lines might be needed will be examined in the context of an integrated transport strategy."