A BRADFORD MP has quizzed the Prime Minister about the future of the district's rail links.

Bradford South MP Judith Cummins is keen to see Bradford included on the route of the high-speed rail route known as HS3.

Today, she asked David Cameron in question time to give his commitment to the electrification of the Calder Valley Line and lend his support for Bradford to be a fundamental part of the proposed Northern Powerhouse rail strategy.

In response, Mr Cameron said commitments were made on electrification in terms of North-South lines and East-West lines and he would look carefully at her proposal. He added: "We want everywhere, Bradford included, to benefit from the Northern Powerhouse.”

Ms Cummins said afterwards: "I hope David Cameron heard Bradford loud and clear and Central Government will soon offer a concrete commitment to improving regional rail links to Bradford in the near future.

"I will continue to press Central Government until the Prime Minister offers the city of Bradford this important pledge.”

The future of regional rail links has already drawn support from Bradford Council and the business community, including West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, which is lobbying hard.

Bradford Chamber’s President, Andy Caton said “We’re pleased to see that Judith is making her voice heard in Parliament on the key issue of whether or not Bradford will be included on the route of HS3.

"We believe that it is crucial to Bradford and West Yorkshire’s future growth and development that the line comes to the city. We don’t have a fast-track across the Pennines, the Calder Vale line still awaits electrification, and we wait to see how the city will benefit from HS2."

One of the options being looked at by the Government for the HS3, a new 30-minute link between Manchester and Leeds, would be for it to call into Bradford Interchange or even a new, purpose-built high-speed rail station. The journey currently takes 49 minutes. No formal timetable has been set out to deliver the scheme, although it is not expected to be up and running for at least a decade.

In his last budget, the Chancellor George Osborne set aside £60m to fully investigate where HS3's new railways and tunnels should go - and which towns or cities the route should pass through. High Speed 2 is a planned high-speed railway in the United Kingdom linking London, Birmingham, the East Midlands, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester.

Mr Caton added: "It’s essential that the city does not miss out in this latest development to better connect cities across the north of England. When we talk about rolling out the Northern Powerhouse, this is what we mean – improving transport infrastructure has to be at the top of the list.”