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The cross-party group of politicians said improved transport connections were crucial for narrowing the divide between London and other English cities
£100bn must be spent to revolutionise transport in northern England by 2050, according to more than 80 politicians calling for government investment.
A cross-party group of MPs and peers from the North has written to the chancellor asking for regional road and rail links to be improved in time for the proposed arrival of HS2 in 2032.
The letter said the money was needed to "reverse decades of underinvestment".
The government said it was committed to developing "Northern Powerhouse Rail".
The letter's author, Kevin Hollinrake, Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton and the co-chair of the Northern Powerhouse all-party parliamentary group, said the proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) plan was at a "critical stage".
Passengers in Liverpool say Northern Rail services are "abysmal"
The plan, once described as HS3, is focused on cutting rail journey times, particularly east to west across the North.
It would see new high-speed lines between Manchester and Liverpool, Sheffield and Leeds as well as upgrading existing lines between Leeds and Hull and Sheffield and Hull.
Mr Hollinrake said: "Bringing forward the delivery date of NPR to the same time as HS2 arrives in the North could see the coming generation enjoy further education and job opportunities currently beyond young people today, and stimulate significant growth for the whole of the UK."
Labour's Caroline Flint, another co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group and a former minister, said the demanded £100bn investment was "a must-have for the people of the North".
"We have seen the huge impact the recent timetable fiasco has had on the Northern Powerhousecommuters unable to get to work, businesses losing out and childcare arrangements being disrupted," said Ms Flint, whose Don Valley constituency is in South Yorkshire.
"It is simply not good enough and needs urgent action to address the North's outdated transport network."
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Signatories to the letter include a number of Tory MPs representing northern constituencies at a time when Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has come under fire for his handling of the Northern rail fiasco, which saw timetable changes cause chaos across the network.
The Northern Powerhouse Partnership has estimated businesses have lost almost £38m because of Northern Rail disruption.
Earlier this week, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union said it had tabled a motion at the TUC Congress in Manchester in September calling for Mr Grayling to resign.
Mr Grayling himself admitted in May that the rail industry had "failed passengers".
In April, Transport for the North was set up to advise the government on developing transport infrastructure in the North.
The Department for Transport said: "Transport for the North are currently working to produce a business case for Northern Powerhouse Rail by the end of 2018. We will not stop to work with them to make that proposal as strong as possible.
"We are spending over £13bn through to 2020 to transform transport across the Norththe biggest investment any government in history has ever made."