YORK could get a new railway station to the north or west - bypassing the city centre station - if high speed railways are built north towards Newcastle and Scotland, a Government report has revealed.

A "parkway" station near either the A59, the A64, outer ring road or Harrogate to York railway line is one of the options on the cards in a "broad options" report produced by the HS2 company, looking at possible high speed rail links in the north of England and into Scotland.

Four different options, mooted for a new high speed line to reduce the journey time from London to Edinburgh and Glasgow to under three hours, include three along the east coast route, all possibly passing through or bypassing York.

The report, which stresses that the options are at a very early stage and should not be seen as preferred options or routes, says that a new high speed line bypassing York could make "significant time savings" on journeys from London to Scotland, but would miss out a key market on the route north.

It adds: "If sufficient time were to be made up by bypassing York, then a parkway on the bypass might provide more overall benefits and revenue than a slower route through the central station. In this scenario, journey time savings on through trips would outweigh the loss in benefits within Yorkshire from reduced ease of access."

The report also looks at "upgrade" options for the existing line, and says that as York is significantly east of the rest the line, diverting to the city's station adds time to the journey. An alternative would be for the line to stick closer to the A1(M), with a possible parkway station near the A59.

York station is highlighted as one of the major speed constraints on the existing mainline from London to Edinburgh, because it sits on a curve which limits speed to 30 mph, and because it is tight on platform space and is already busy with terminating trains.

But York Central MP Rachael Maskell said she would have serious concerns about the parkway station proposals, which she feared would damage the city's economy, which benefited from direct connections to the capital. She feared it could also lead to extra congestion because of greater numbers of people driving to the station to catch a train.

She said rail investment should focus instead on key improvements to services in the region, for example links from York to Hull, rather than on shaving 'five minutes' off the London-Edinburgh journey time.

York Outer MP Julian Sturdy also said he was concerned to hear about the parkway station proposals, saying: "Whilst it must be remembered that this paper is looking at hypothetical options for the future extension of HS2, we must ensure that York is not bypassed.

“The report suggests a parkway station as one of several possible options for York, but I am adamant that it would not be in the city’s best interests.

"Not only would it be inconvenient for residents but I believe it would detract from the economic benefits that HS2 would give to the city. I will continue to monitor these developments very closely.”