Network Rail believes the High Speed 2 (HS2) project will benefit rail users in more than 100 towns and cities across the UK.

Its latest report - entitled Better connections: options for the integration of HS2 - looks at the wider impact of the multi-billion pound line.

The first phase of the route will stretch from London to Birmingham and the second stage will run from the second city to Manchester and Leeds - forming a Y-shaped network.

There have been suggestions that HS2 will do little to improve rail networks in other parts of the country, but Network Rail thinks its new study discredits such claims.

Leaders at the firm stated that passengers on the East Coast, Midland and West Coast Main Lines would also reap the rewards of the project.

Paul Plummer, Network Rail group strategy director, said HS2 will enable Britain to "stop playing catch-up" on rail capacity.

"HS2 provides an opportunity to fundamentally reshape our railway in a way that incremental improvements simply cannot deliver," he commented.