The £39 billion Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme will boost capacity and connectivity on Cumbria’s rail network, a leading business figure has claimed.

While investment in the scheme to improve transport connections across the North would be focused outside the county, it and Carlisle as a strategic rail hub would benefit, Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said.

More than 80 Parliamentarians sent a letter to Chancellor Philip Hammond this week, to start the debate on how the Government will support, in full, Transport for the North’s (TfN) Strategic Plan.

Mr Murison described the £39bn for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) as the first down payment towards the larger £120bn pot needed by 2050 to deliver the strategic plan – which includes several major rail and road projects in the county.

Northern MPs are keen to test Mr Hammond’s commitment after he pledged to examine the business case for Northern Powerhouse Rail in his Spring Statement.

They say it is vital it is delivered alongside HS2, to create a high-speed network that would open up labour markets currently inaccessible to young people across the North.

Mr Murison said: “Northern Powerhouse Rail will deliver upgraded and, in part, new infrastructure which increases connectivity from Cumbria to Sheffield, for instance, where key nuclear assets in manufacturing can be found.

“It will also ensure there is more capacity on existing lines for those across Cumbria, to places such as Manchester Airport.”

Mr Murison said the real prize for Cumbria would be securing a HS2 stop at Carlisle. Improvements to the city’s railway station to make it HS2-ready are included in the plan, along with plans to improve journey times and the reliability of services from Carlisle to West Cumbria and Newcastle.

“Our priority at the Northern Powerhouse Partnership is to get the best solution overall to close the North–South divide, based on a high-speed network for the Northern Powerhouse,” he said.

“That means Carlisle as the key gateway for The Borderlands on HS2 with a station ready for it, with benefits across both Scotland and Northumberland, as well as improved connections out to West Cumbria.”

Mr Murison said that Carlisle MP John Stevenson will be a key player in helping to secure the £120bn to support the plan as a co-chair of the Northern Powerhouse All-Party Parliamentary Group.

The group brings together Conservative and Labour MPs and peers, with business and civic leaders to lobby for investment to help boost productivity and increase the contribution it makes to the UK economy. It is working with TfN to secure the funding needed for NPR and beyond.

Barry White, TfN chief executive, said: “We know that Northern Powerhouse Rail is an opportunity not only to transform the way people travel across the North, but to unleash our economic potential. There is a clear economic case for investment in a pipeline of Northern infrastructure. We must now ensure that, through the upcoming Government Spending Review, the North gets the investment it needs and deserves.”

While NPR rail has seen little opposition, HS2 continues to court controversy, with former minister Dame Cheryl Gillan claiming it will cost more than Brexit and reach well beyond the agreed £52bn budget.

Earlier this year MPs sought urgent reassurances that phase two of HS2 would be delivered north of Birmingham. Any link to Cumbria would fall in the third phase of work, with HS2 trains using the existing West Coast Mainline north of Wigan.