Railways in England and Wales are set to receive a £9 billion makeover, which is set to include electrification of the Midland Main Line between Bedford and Sheffield, along with extension of the already-announced electrification between Manchester and Leeds.

The rail projects also include focus on the Northern Hub, where improvement on northern rail capacity to get more and faster trains across the north of England is set to take place. Upgrades to the East Coast Main Line from London to Leeds and Newcastle are also in the offing.

The reopening of the east-west link from Oxford and Aylesbury to Milton Keynes is also planned. Lines from London to Bristol and Cardiff, and from Manchester to Liverpool, Blackpool and Leeds, will be electrified.

Building work on the rail projects will begin only in 2014 and continue until 2019. It is set to include £5 billion for the completion of current schemes, such as Crossrail and Thameslink and £4.2 billion for new projects.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg are expected to brief on the rail plans at their meeting in the Midlands. They said the plans would help bridge the north-south divide.

Ahead of the announcement on railways investment, Clegg said, “It’s great for the economy because it creates jobs and it helps close the north south divide. It’s good for the environment because it produces a cleaner way of getting about and it’ll help millions of rail passengers in the future who’ll be able to rely on clean, timely and reliable trains.”

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