THE rail network in the North-west must be extended otherwise traffic in the region will be gridlocked within 20 years, experts have said.

Campaign group Transport 2000 wants the government to urgently invest in the rail system, saying more electrified lines between Manchester and Liverpool are needed.

It also wants to see improved Trans-Pennine links between Manchester and Leeds.

The group has produced a 30-year strategy for the railways which includes reopening links across the Peak District, unblocking the Lake District with more public transport, improving rail links between east Lancashire to West and North Yorkshire, and improving and extending the Blackpool tramway.

Meera Rambissoon, of Transport 2000, said: "The railways are key to the prosperity, regeneration and growth of the North-west.

"However, rail in the region suffers a legacy of congestion and crowded trains on key routes, and carries only a fraction of its full potential for both passenger and freight traffic.

"Parts of the network are already at capacity and desperately need expanding, to free the region of bottlenecks once and for all."

A Department for Transport (DfT) spokeswoman said the government was examining the needs of the passenger, the economy and the environment as part of its rail strategy.

"More than 40 per cent of trains and carriages have been replaced in the last 10 years - Britain now has one of the youngest train fleets in Europe," she said.