Details on new high speed rail line

The Prime Minister has announced a new rail link which is supposed to bring cities across the North of England closer together but tonight it was claimed it could actually push them further apart.

The so-called High Speed 3 line would cut journey times between Hull and Liverpool - but the line would only be upgraded as far as Leeds and the former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott says it risks creating a new East/West divide. James Webster reports.

Hull City Council is welcoming the announcement of a potential new high speed rail link between Hull and Liverpool but says it is more important to quickly get the line electrified all the way to Hull.

Chief Executive Darryl Stephenson is pushing to make sure the city council is part of any talks on how transport across the North can be improved:

ITV News has obtained footage of a man "shoving" the Prime Minister at an HS3 launch event in Leeds.

As David Cameron left Leeds Civic Hall, the man rushes up and appears push to him.

Security officers then seize the man and hurry the PM into a waiting car.

Mr Cameron was in West Yorkshire to announce proposals for a third high-speed rail line in the north, known as HS3.

West Yorkshire Police have said that a 28-year-old man was briefly arrested but was released shortly after, saying the incident was "nothing sinister."

The Prime Minister has been "shoved" by a protester at the HS3 launch in Leeds, according to reports.

ITV News Deputy Political Editor Chris Ship has tweeted that a journalist at the event at the Civic Hall in Leeds reported that Mr Cameron was "pushed" by a protester before police officers stepped in.

More: Proposed 'HS3' link a 'costly vanity project'

Proposals for a third high speed rail link in the north of England are "little more than a costly vanity project, according to a leading think tank.

It would be better to spend money on smaller schemes rather than "creating headline-grabbing policies", said the Institute of Economic Affairs head of transport Dr Richard Wellings.

Dr Wellings, a stern critic of HS2, said:

The RMT union has said that it is "cynical in the extreme" that the government is "threatening to devastate jobs and services" whilst launching proposals for a third high speed rail link in the north of England.