A Conservative government would have a list of rail upgrades ready to be green-lighted on its first day, David Cameron has promised.

The party leader also told the British Chamber of Commerce that he wanted to boost high-speed rail – an area where the Labour Government has been very cautious.

Mr Cameron said Britain’s economy needed enterprise to thrive in all parts of the country, but he warned that business was being held back by the lack of regional transport infrastructure.

He said his job meant he travelled all over the country, and in many areas transport was the single issue that concerned business most.

“If you can’t get to London by train in under three hours,  you won’t accept bland assurances from the Government that things are improving.

“The impact that transport decisions can have on regional development has been demonstrated very recently.

“Because of the new international railway terminal at St Pancras, much of Kent, previously an hour from London,  will now be just 20 minutes away – a change which will have a massive positive impact.”

Mr Cameron warned of a postcode lottery over government transport spending, saying that since 2000 it had allocated just £577 per head in the North East, compared to £1,637 in London.

“That isn’t fair and it isn’t good enough. Our regional economies need big transport infrastructure improvements.

“We also need high-speed rail routes – that’s why I recently sent (shadow Chancellor) George Osborne to Japan to see how they do it.”

Mr Cameron said that, to get the economy firing, they had to get Britain moving, and he pledged: “We’ll give every region the infrastructure it needs to prosper, by developing the efficient and sustainable transport system that it needs.

“I want an incoming Conservative government to be ready to move on day one with a list of projects – bypasses, rail upgrades, toll roads – that can be green-lighted.

“If we are to encourage genuine hubs of enterprise across the country that are linked to the rest of the UK and beyond, we need an efficient, effective and sustainable transport system that includes harnessing the huge transforming power of high-speed rail.”

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