A NORTH East council leader has questioned whether the government’s HS2 high-speed rail project will benefit the region at all.

Councillor Bill Dixon, leader of Darlington Borough Council, was asked at a full council meeting to support a motion by Conservative group leader Coun Heather Scott to approve the Government’s project.

Coun Scott also called on councillors to urge Darlington’s Labour MP Jenny Chapman to support the scheme which she described as a “great opportunity” for the town.

Coun Scott said: “This isn’t a party political motion, it is for the benefit of Darlington.”

If HS2 goes ahead, it would see the creation of a 140-mile line running between London's Euston station and Birmingham in a project costing about £50bn.

The Department for Transport says it will cut the trip from Birmingham to London from one hour 24min to 49 minutes.

The second phase of HS2 would see the journey from Manchester to London halved to just over an hour and the Birmingham to Leeds route slashed from two hours to 57 minutes.

However, Coun Dixon said that whilst he remained open-minded about HS2, he was unsure of the benefits it would bring to the North East because the region was not particularly well connected to Leeds.

He said: “It isn’t that I am actually opposed to HS2 – it was after all a Labour government that brought it in.

“But it is far from clear when the benefits will arrive in Leeds let alone in Darlington - it will be many years hence and we still don’t know what those benefits will be.”

He added: “There is likely to be a huge benefit for Leeds, I understand that and it is great for Leeds, but we should be open-minded about the benefits for Darlington and the North East.”

Coun Dixon said the refurbishment of Darlington’s train station was a more significant issue for the council and that is what he would be imploring the town’s MP to lobby for.

Coun Scott’s motion was carried, with amendments by Coun Dixon.

*A poll carried out for a national newspaper today (Sunday, December 1), revealed that just three per cent of voters believe that HS2 will be delivered on time and on budget.

The Sunday Telegraph/ICM survey also showed that more than two-thirds of people want the Government to scrap HS2, or suspend the plan while other options are considered.