ELECTRIFYING the rail line for York to Harrogate and Leeds could boost the local economy by £400 million and improve service for passengers, politicians have said.

The leaders of all four parties on City of York Council have joined forces to call on the Government to electrify the line.

They claim the move would bring economic benefits and lead to faster, cleaner and more frequent train services.

Labour's James Alexander, Conservative Chris Steward, Liberal Democrat Keith Aspden and Green Andy D'Agorne have jointly written to Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin calling for the line's electrification to be prioritised within future infrastructure spending.

They said the upgrade would provide significant economic, social and environmental benefits across both the region and nationally.

"Through the electrification of the line, modern, clean trains and fast and frequent service pays for itself with £400 million of benefits for the area, leaving a legacy of lower running costs now and into the future," they said.

"The lower cost of operating the line means reduced costs overall to the taxpayer, and a better connected region: supporting business and regional economic growth with access to labour, jobs and visitors driving local and international competitiveness."

They claimed more than three million annual vehicle kilometres would be removed from the highway network, meaning both less congestion and less carbon.

"The Leeds-Harrogate-York line is already well-used, with passenger growth of 20 per cent in the last five years," they said.

"Modernisation of the line would further encourage usage through providing an offer of more frequent trains - twice as many - and 20 per cent faster journey times - a total saving of 15 minutes between York and Leeds."

They added that they were united across parties and across the region, and were working with partners including Harrogate Borough Council, Metro, North Yorkshire County Council and the North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.

They concluded: "We would welcome further opportunity to discuss the potential these improvements could bring and outline the business case more fully."