The government has announced the second phase of the high speed rail line for the north west and Yorkshire. The lines will go from Crewe to Manchester and the west midlands to Leeds. The announcement didn't confirm the decision over where to site a new station in Sheffield.

The government's preferred option is for the main HS2 route to run east of Sheffield, but for a spur to take passengers to Sheffield city centre.

Another spur will take HS2 to a new station at Manchester Airport.

The announcement confirms that the government intends to push ahead with the controversial infrastructure project.

Critics of the £56bn project say it is a white elephant that will spoil some of Britain's most beautiful countryside. But the government says the new rail infrastructure will boost the economy by billions of pounds.

The announcement removes much of the uncertainty over the project, except over where to site Sheffield's station. From now, people in affected regions can begin the process of claiming compensation by contacting HS2 Ltd.

The original proposal was for trains from Birmingham to Leeds to stop at a new station built at Meadowhall, Sheffield's out-of-town shopping centre situated close to the M1 motorway.

After complaints that this would disadvantage Sheffield, an alternative option was developed to use the existing city centre station.

"The issue has been, do we build a line that passes on the edge of Sheffield to a very complex new station at Meadowhall alongside the shopping centre," Transport Secretary Chris Grayling told the BBC's Today Programme.

"Or do we do what Sheffield City Council requested, which is to take trains into the centre of Sheffield to Sheffield Midland station."

The provisional proposal is for the main HS2 line to run east of both Sheffield and Meadowhall towards Leeds, but to use the existing rail network to create a spur that runs through Sheffield city centre.

Mr Grayling made it clear that this was the government's preferred option. It would cost about £1bn less and be easier to construct, but he said there had been no final decision.

"It's the first time we've published that route formally. It has to be consulted upon, but that is our provisional judgement that that is what should happen," he added.

A final decision will not be made until next year.The first phase of the £56bn railway is due to open in December 2026 and will see trains travel at high speed between London and Birmingham before continuing on the existing West Coast Main Line.

The second Y-shaped phase, taking the high-speed line to Yorkshire, north-west England, and beyond, is due to be completed by about 2032-33.

Now that the government has confirmed most of its chosen route, it will go through the parliamentary process.

Mr Grayling said support and compensation would be available to those affected by the project.

But communities on the proposed new route in South Yorkshire still voiced strong objections. If the route goes ahead, the newly built Shimmer Estate in Mexborough is likely to be cleared to make way for HS2, causing anger amongst residents.

"It may be a new estate, but it's a proper community. For that to be destroyed is devastating. But the uncertainty, waiting until it happens, when you can actually put something in place to move, is horrible as well," Russell Holmes, who lives on the estate, has told the BBC.

(Source: BBC)