Work will start this week electrifying the next stage of the Midland Mainline between Kettering, in Northamptonshire, and Market Harborough, in Leicestershire, according to the Transport Secretary.
Speaking on a visit to Network Rail contractor SPL Powerlines in Leicester, to see wiring gantries being built for the track, Grant Shapps said it was “exciting to get things done now rather than waiting decades”.
Midland Mainline electrification was downgraded a few years ago by previous Tory Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.
However last month the Government announced the full electrification of the rest of the line north of Market Harborough to Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield.
That was announced as the Government decided the eastern leg of HS2 will now only go from Birmingham to as East Midlands Parkway station, near East Midlands Airport on the Leicestershire/Notts border – rather than all the way to Leeds.
The project is part of the Government’s £96 billion Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) for the Midlands and the North.
The IRP was met by fierce criticism when it was published because of the downgrading of HS2 and a failure to use new lines for the full Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project.
But the Government insisted it will result in similar improvements to the previous plans, which it said would take less time and cost less.
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Mr Shapps told the PA news agency: “We’re not having to wait, we’re getting on with it.
“We’re going to have more reliable services, we’re going to have better capacity, and we’re going to have modern trains on lines delivered to people one heck of a lot earlier than it would have happened.
“Spades in the ground straightaway. We’re not wasting time. We’re starting before Christmas.
“A lot of those people who were making comments when they saw the Integrated Rail Plan last month, I think today should confess that the one thing you can say for sure is we’re getting on with it.”
Work will also take place over the festive period to speed up the electrification and re-signalling of the railway between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, included in NPR.
Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh accused the Government of “cynical broken promises”.
She said: “People will not be taken for fools. They promised the electrification of the Midland Mainline a decade ago.
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“They promised HS2 to Leeds. They promised Northern Powerhouse Rail. They simply cannot be trusted to deliver.”
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