HS3: Policy 'has no route and no price'

Plans for a high-speed "HS3" rail link in the north of England have moved a step closer after a report by the boss of the HS2 scheme, Sir David Higgins.

The government says it will now produce a strategy looking at options, costs and a delivery timetable for HS3, which could cut journey times from Manchester to Leeds to under half an hour.

However, speaking to the BBC, Andrew Mason from Stop HS2, argued that the north needed infrastructure "now, not in 2033".

"It's only another sticking plaster on the failed policy of HS2 that has brought this about.... They have brought out a policy that has no route and no price."