A HIGH-SPEED rail link from the North to London and other key parts of the country could benefit the region's economy by more than £3.5bn, according to new evidence.

The Northern Way, a combination of the North's three development agencies, has produced a dossier to show the huge benefit of a faster and better North-South rail link and cross-Pennine services.

The partnership - One NorthEast, Yorkshire Forward and Northwest Regional Development Agency - yesterday called on the Government to consider the case for new rail lines between Northern cities and London.

It said the new links could bring in more than £10bn worth of investment across the country.

Alan Clarke, chief executive of One NorthEast, said: "This report is very important in recognising the need to enhance North-South rail capacity to meet the increasing demand for travel in future, particularly as a resurgent North-East economy will lead to a faster growth in demand for both passengers and freight.

"This research not only supports recognition of capacity constraints on the East Coast rail link, but importantly highlights the significant economic benefits of introducing a new high-speed rail link as a proportion of regional GDP (gross domestic product) to the North-East."

Prof David Begg, chairman of the Northern Way's transport compact, launched the research in London yesterday. He said: "These wider economic benefits come about through reducing travel times in city-to-city and business-to-business access. They appear not to have been taken into account in the Government's Rail White Paper and are additional to those previously calculated for high-speed rail."

The Northern Way wants to see:

* an eastern high-speed rail link from London via the east of England, East Midlands, Yorkshire, the North-East and Scotland;

* road upgrades to combat key congestion bottlenecks including Newcastle Western bypass;

* a trans-Pennine link;

* investigations into road charges benefits the sustainable economy of the North.

Andrew Lewis, director of the Northern Way, said: "Without these prioritised investments and accompanying measures to manage demand, congestion bottlenecks across the North will prevent us meeting our targets for sustainable economic growth."

Liz Smith, assistant regional director from CBI North-East, also welcomed the report. She said: "Business in the region needs good quality transport links to the rest of the UK and internationally in order to compete and grow.

"It is encouraging to see new research which highlights the economic benefits that new transport infrastructure projects, like high-speed rail, can bring to the North-East.