West Ham MP Lyn Brown has argued in Parliament that a new high speed train should be re-routed so it stops at Stratford.

MPs were debating the location of the London terminal for High Speed Two (HS2) during the second reading of the Bill in the House of Commons when Ms Brown put the case forward for Stratford International station.

HS2 is a multi-billion pound project to connect the Midlands and the North to the Europe-wide high speed rail network.

If Parliament approves, the construction is due to start in 2017 and the first trains from Birmingham to London will depart in 2026.

Currently, the favoured location for the London terminal is Old Oak in Hammersmith & Fulham but Ms Brown argued that changing it to Stratford International would create a strong link with HS1 which is already due to stop at the station.

She said: “The expenditure we are talking about today must include a robust and substantial link to Stratford between HS1 and HS2.

“About £1bn of taxpayers’ money has already been invested in Newham’s international station, so it should get the international services for which it was built.

“To do otherwise would be crazy.”

Ms Brown added that recent research suggests as many people will use the HS2 London terminal to travel to the Docklands, Essex, East Anglia, and Kent - which Stratford has rail links to - as central London.

But Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter said: “I hate to disagree with my honourable friend, particularly as she is my Whip, but I think she will see that the overwhelming consensus of opinion is in favour of the Old Oak interchange.

“Although I understand that she is standing up for her constituents, I think she is whistling in the wind rather here.”

Ms Brown laid out the case for HS2 stopping at Stratford International in her Recorder column. Click on the link on the right hand side to read it.