HS2's Crewe to Manchester leg will go ahead the government confirmed today (Thursday) - although parts of its plans for an upgraded rail network have come under fire.

Journey times from Crewe to Manchester Airport will be cut to 15 minutes and from Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly to 24 mins as the HS2 roll-out is extended north of Crewe with investment in track, station facilities and a major rail depot north of the town.

Crewe and Nantwich MP Kieran Mullan asked when a bill for HS2 Phase 2B, as the Crewe to Manchester leg is known, will be put before Parliament. The London-Crewe HS2 route has already been made law.

The MP was involved in today's parliamentary debate at which Transport Secretary Grant Shapps outlined his Integrated Rail Plan.

Some of it came under criticism as the finer details of the Northern Powerhouse Rail plans, a new East-West high-speed line across the North, were put under scrutiny and after it was revealed a HS2 eastern leg to Leeds has been axed.

But the extension of HS2 from Crewe will be on track at some point in the future and the town is due to share in the £96 billion investment outlined by the plan.

Kieran Mullan says HS2 investment will help local people access jobs without leaving the area and free up capacity on existing rail lines from Crewe so as to provide more frequent and reliable services.

The MP said: "HS2 is already creating jobs and investment locally and this further vote of confidence means business and investors can be confident that we are getting HS2 all the way through to Manchester.

"This plan delivers the single biggest investment in the history of our rail network which will improve everyday journeys for rail passengers, bring communities across the North West closer together, and create jobs ten to fifteen years sooner than previously planned."

As part of the plan contactless ticketing will be rolled out across 400 stations in the North in a £360m package of ticketing and retail reform. There will new stations at Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly.

A new high-speed line will also be built between Warrington, Manchester and Yorkshire, forming the heart of Northern Powerhouse Rail, combined with upgrades on existing lines to deliver services from Liverpool to Leeds via Manchester.

These upgrades mean that journeys from Manchester to Leeds will be possible in around half an hour, a third quicker than current journey times.

But the rail plan was branded "woefully inadequate" by Transport for the North, whose interim chair, Cllr Louise Gittins, says it fails to deliver the building of HS2 and the Northern Powerhouse Rail in full.

She said: "After decades of underfunding, the rail network in the North is not fit for purpose. Our advice asked for an over £40bn network but the government has decided to provide even less than half of that.

"While we have been working on our upgrade plans we have watched as billions have been poured into HS2 building work from London to Birmingham. We have watched as billions have been poured into Crossrail being dug out and built across the capital.

"It is time for the North to have its fair share and time for it to have a proper railway network.

"If we truly want to level up the country we don't need words and promises. Today's announcement is woefully inadequate."

HS2's delivery time will remain off-putting for some, while changes in commuting practices during the pandemic may take effect for those planning development at the local level in the next decade.

Recently, in Crewe plans for a link rail bridge from Gresty Road to Weston Road were kicked down the road by Cheshire East Council planners.

It won't be until some time in the 2040s that HS2 Phase 2B from Crewe to Manchester would be finished.

And the benefit of reduced Crewe to London journey times won't be seen until the 2030s when the West Midlands to Crewe, HS2 Phase 2A, is completed.

The government says the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) will transform both east–west and north–south links by building three new high-speed lines and improve rail services to and between the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire and the North West.

Meanwhile, Crewe's MP added: "I will be looking at how we ensure services between Nantwich and Crewe are supercharged to make sure we can make the most of the extra connectivity for residents in both Crewe and Nantwich.

"I know locally we also still need to see a huge improvement in bus services as well and we are going to see the results of the billions of extra going into buses next year. I just have to ask people to be patient for now."