The first phase of a £250 million project aimed at removing a bottleneck on the West Coast Main Line in the Stafford area has begun.

Atkins, Laing O'Rourke, Network Rail and VolkerRail have joined forces to create the Staffordshire Alliance and they will work together to deliver the much-needed infrastructure improvements.

Network Rail chiefs say there has been unprecedented growth in passenger and freight services in the past ten years and these works will pave the way for new timetables between 2015 and 2017.

The upgrade will enable two extra trains to run (in each direction) between London and the north-west of England, an extra fast train between Manchester and Birmingham and an additional freight service through Stafford every hour.

Alliance manager Dominic Baldwin is confident that the companies will be able to execute the project "efficiently and effectively".

This is one of many new schemes being undertaken by Network Rail across the UK.

The firm also revealed that the first works on the new Borders Railway route in Scotland have now started.