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£9bn railway investment to be announced by coalition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18851907

Details of a £9bn investment in the railways in England and Wales will be announced later by senior ministers.

The schemes are set to include electrification of the Midland Main Line between Bedford and Sheffield.

Other rail improvements are expected to be unveiled for the Manchester area, south Wales and East Coast Main Line.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who is due to meet business leaders with David Cameron, said the plans would help "close the north south divide".

He and the prime minister are expected to brief on the rail plans at their meeting in the Midlands

These are expected to include:

Electrification - completion of the Midland Main Line from Bedford to Sheffield, local lines in the Welsh Valleys, and an extension of the already-announced electrification between Manchester and Leeds

The Northern Hub - a series of projects around Manchester that improve northern rail capacity to get more and faster trains across the north of England

Upgrades to the East Coast Main Line from London to Leeds and Newcastle

The reopening of the east-west link from Oxford and Aylesbury to Milton Keynes

Electrification of the lines from London to Bristol and Cardiff, and from Manchester to Liverpool, Blackpool and Leeds.