Bradford business chiefs are rushing to give their views on the proposed HS2 high speed rail link between London and Leeds via Birmingham.

Within days of circulating a ten-point online questionnaire Bradford Chamber of Commerce received more than 140 responses.

The business body, which has 1,100 members, is seeking views ahead of the deadline for responses to HS2 phase two proposals next month.

Mike Cartwright, the chamber’s policy executive, said: “We’re asking members what they think of the HS2 proposal as the Phase 2 current consultation ends next month.

“There have been contrasting messages and views put out about the scheme’s benefits and so we’re now following up on earlier discussions with businesses, which revealed mixed views among the membership.

“People want to see more capacity on the railways, but with Bradford not on the HS2 line, connectivity to places like Leeds, Manchester and elsewhere remain vital in the future.

“We’re encouraging all businesses to take part in this short, easy-to-answer survey so that we have a more comprehensive understanding of their views. There are ten yes/no/undecided questions, with the opportunity to add further comments if people wish.”

Business bosses are being asked if they think there is a good case for building HS2 and will it benefit Bradford or benefit Yorkshire as much as London.

The consultation also seeks views on whether HS2 represents the best value for money way of improving the rail network and whether businesses support spending more than £42 billion on HS2 or whether they would prefer the money to be spent on other transport projects.

The chamber also asks firms whether HS2 is the best way to enhance rail capacity nationally and to improve rail connectivity for Bradford and West Yorkshire. The questionnaire also asks if Bradford should be better connected by either a new ‘central’ station in the city centre, or connecting Interchange and Forster Square stations Businesses are also asked to state how they think HS2 would affect their operations.

The chamber’s consultation follows a report by advocacy group Bradford Breakthrough in which private and public sector bosses gave conditional backing for the project after hearing from a senior HS2 executive.

Bradford Breakthrough, which represents 32 local senior leaders, came out for HS2 as long as other improvements to the rail network of direct benefit to Bradford happen alongside it.

Colin Philpott, Bradford Breakthrough chief executive, said: “We need ambitious infrastructure projects like HS2 for the future of our economy and extra capacity is desperately needed to prevent our rail network grinding to a halt.

“However, we are concerned that cities not directly on the HS2 route must be guaranteed some of the benefits of this enormous spending of public money.”