MOVES to save the £7.5 billion Intercity Express Programme are being stepped up, as a delegation of business leaders from the north east of England meets the transport secretary Philip Hammond to urge him not only to continue the project, but to place the Hitachi assembly plant in their region.

It is reported that between 500 and 800 jobs would be directly created, with further benefits for suppliers.

The Japanese prime minister has already made his own bid to keep IEP going, by making a direct plea to David Cameron.

Agility Trains, the consortium led by Hitachi, was named as the preferred IEP bidder as long ago as February 2009, but confirmation was delayed by the financial crisis, the changing stance of the former Labour government on electrification, and the imminence of a general election.

A partnership of Bombardier and Siemens is still the official reserve bidder.

Even though there is no contract yet, regional competition to gain from improvements to the Intercity fleet is becoming fiercer.

While a group of business leaders from County Durham are telling the transport secretary that the IEP assembly plant should be built at Newton Aycliffe, the MP for Crewe and Nantwich, Edward Timpson, has been setting out an alternative.

He told the Commons in a Westminster Hall debate on 15 September that the cheaper option of upgrading the Mk3 fleet, which has been outlined by Sir Andrew Foster in his IEP report, not only deserves consideration but that the major refurbishment contract should be awarded to the Bombardier works in his constituency.

Meanwhile, MPs in South Yorkshire are still lobbying for the IEP assembly plant to be built at Tinsley in Sheffield, although this site has been ruled out by Agility Trains itself, leaving Newton Aycliffe and Deeside in North Wales on their shortlist.

Delegations not withstanding, the uncertainty over IEP seems set to continue for a while, with no decision to be expected in advance of the government's announcement of the Spending Review, which is due on 20 October.