Tories in brief AIRPORTS Campaigners and environmentalists hailed Conservative plans to scrap the proposed third runway at Heathrow, as the party pledged to replace it with a network of high-speed railways linking London with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

By Jonathan Reed The line linking London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds promises to cut journeys from Leeds to London from 125 minutes to just 97.

THE Conservative Party must come off the fence on Heathrow expansion.

TRANSPORT Secretary Ruth Kelly returned to her Whitehall office yesterday, as travellers suffered their fourth day of chaos.

By Julie Moult, Ray Massey THE chairman of crisis-hit Network Rail relaxed at his Pounds 1.5million home yesterday saying he'd 'only get in the way' if he went into work.