A new rail line will be built between Birmingham and Manchester, the government has announced.

However, no timescale for when it would be built was provided – or any other details, such as how it would be funded.

The Treasury said it wants a new Birmingham-Manchester rail line, but it would not be “a reinstatement of HS2”.

Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government scrapped a planned extension of HS2 between the two cities in 2023 to save money.

Land obtained for HS2 between the West Midlands and northern cities will be kept while the project is developed.

A new line would ease pressure on the West Coast Main Line, the government said.

The Treasury did not provide a date for when it aims to have the new line finished, but said it would not open until after the completion of Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), a scheme to boost east-west rail connections across northern England.

Sir Keir Starmer said the government was “rolling up its sleeves” to deliver NPR.

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The Conservatives scrapped the Birmingham to Manchester route of HS2

The programme’s first phase is set to improve connections on existing lines in the 2030s on these routes: between Sheffield and Leeds; between Leeds and York; and between Leeds and Bradford.

They do not require major new land acquisitions.

A second phase of NPR is set to involve a new route between Liverpool and Manchester via Manchester airport and Warrington, using a combination of new and existing lines.

The third and final phase will involve better connections eastwards from Manchester to Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and York.

There is also money for a new station for Bradford.

Regular services would run on to Newcastle via Darlington and Durham, and Chester for North Wales connections.

Development work would also be taken forward on reopening the Leamside Line, a 21-mile route between Pelaw, Gateshead, and Tursdale, County Durham, which was closed in 1964.

The first phase of NPR will use land already obtained for a scrapped HS2 line
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The first phase of NPR will use land already obtained for a scrapped HS2 line

The Treasury said a “funding cap” of £45bn would be set for NPR, although this could be topped up by local contributions, such as through increased revenue from business rates.

It added that an initial £1.1bn for development and design work would be available to enable the creation of a “detailed delivery plan which will include timings”.

Sir Keir said: “Over and over again, people in northern communities, from Liverpool and Manchester to York and Newcastle have been let down by broken promises.

“This cycle has to end. No more paying lip service to the potential of the North, but backing it to the hilt.

“That’s why this government is rolling up its sleeves to deliver real, lasting change for millions of people through Northern Powerhouse Rail: a major new rail network across the North that will deliver faster, more frequent services.”

However, the Tories accused the government of “watering down” NPR and said ministers had “put back any plans to actually deliver it and rewritten timetables on the fly”.

Shadow rail minister Jerome Mayhew said: “Labour lurch from review to review, deadline to deadline, with no grip on costs, no clarity on scope and no courage to make decisions, exemplified nowhere clearer than the hatchet job of Great British Railways.

“Northern Powerhouse Rail could have been transformational, empowering regional growth and regeneration. Under Labour it risks becoming a permanent mirage that is endlessly redesigned, downgraded and never delivered.”