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A high-speed rail network mirroring that of Germany is needed to reconnect the UK, according to the influential High Speed Rail Industry Leaders (HSRIL) group.

In a submission to the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), the HSRIL calls for the network to be in place by 2050. It says this network would be a “critical pillar of the UK’s transport and economic infrastructure and as part of an overall improved railway network to connect town and cities”.

NIC is currently assessing the country’s future infrastructure needs, with its National Infrastructure Assessment due to be published this autumn.

HSRIL, a coalition of industry experts involved in major infrastructure schemes both in the UK and abroad, points out that even once HS2 is built, the UK will have 412 miles of high-speed railway compared with Spain’s 1,926 miles and China’s 14,000.

In its submission, it states that lower productivity, investment and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and areas correlate with poor transport links, and that high-speed rail would be a “transformational response”.

It argues: “Improving connectivity across the UK is critical. It underpins the mobility of labour, as well as goods and services, to align the supply and demand for skills and talent between and within regions.

“A national high-speed rail network will support a healthier environment, reducing the demand for domestic air travel and releasing capacity on existing road and rail networks.”

HSRIL wants NIC to outline the minimum standards of connectivity which has been achieved for broadband. It wants a future HS map to include:

Effective links for Scotland and Wales and poorly served areas of England, such as the South West.

Improved east-west connectivity and linking cities such as York, Liverpool and Newcastle.

Improved connections to and between UK ports and airports.

HSRIL Director David Brewer said: “Poor rail connectivity holds back many areas, creating economic isolation and constraining growth. We need to prepare for the strongest future, following Brexit, shared by all parts of Britain with a plan for high-speed rail and setting minimum levels of connectivity like those proposed for broadband.

“HS2 will make a huge difference, but needs to be the beginning of the story, not the end. We need to reconnect all of Britain.”