George Osborne is expected to give the go-ahead to two major rail projects in Wednesday’s Budget.
The chancellor will confirm funding for the HS3 high-speed rail link between Manchester and Leeds and a new underground Crossrail 2 line from north to south of London.
The £300 million of extra funding follows a report he commissioned calling for “immediate and significant investment” in transport for the North of England.
The High Speed North report by The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), which was set up last year to advise on long-term projects to boost the economy, said the HS3 rail link will slash journey times between Manchester and Leeds to 30 minutes from the current 50.
In its report, the NIC added: "Leeds and Manchester are just 40 miles apart, but there is no quick and easy way to travel between the two. In rush-hour, it can take more than two hours by car and by train it can be almost an hour.
"So we should kick-start HS3 across the Pennines and slash journey times to just 30 minutes. But we must not wait decades for change - journey times should be cut to 40 minutes by 2022.” It said a plan should be drawn up by 2017.
The Government will spend £60 million to draw up detailed plans for the route, which could be completed by 2033.
More details are expected in the Budget on Wednesday, although almost half of the money committed was announced in last year's Autumn Statement.
Osborne is also expected to announce £75 million to develop plans for a trans-Pennine tunnel between Sheffield and Manchester and explore options for improvements to the M60 ring-road around Manchester as well as the A66 and A69 coast-to-coast trunk roads further north.
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