Chair of Transport for the North reacts to ‘axing’ of Northern Powerhouse Rail

The future of Northern Powerhouse Rail is uncertain after the Transport Secretary Mark Harper admitted that the Government was considering all options as it seeks to shave £50billion of spending while the newly appointed Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Grant Shapps, added fuel to the doubt by saying he didn’t think there was much point in going ahead with the full plans, including improved connections between Leeds and Manchester via Bradford.

Chair of Transport for the North (TfN), Lord McLoughlin, remains hopeful saying:

“We will wait to see in two weeks’ time what the Autumn Statement says, but the Chancellor made clear in his first statement to the House of Commons last month that he sees capital spending as vital to a credible economic growth strategy; and as TfN’s research has shown, on those terms alone Northern Powerhouse Rail is beneficial to both the national and northern economies.

“In addition, the last Conservative manifesto was clear on its commitment to build NPR. And furthermore, the Transport Select Committee recommended in August, that the government should revisit the evidence base for the decisions that were made on NPR in the Integrated Rail Plan, and the Chair of that committee then is the new Rail Minister.

“TfN Members are clear that building NPR in full via Bradford is the best option to provide the solution to the capacity constraints on our rail network and underpin the long-term sustainable economic growth for our region.”

Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) is a major strategic rail programme, specifically designed to support the transformation of the North’s economy by providing effective and efficient rail connectivity between the North’s major economic centres, offering a faster and more reliable service across the entire region. Connecting the people, communities and businesses of the North.

TfN: Why the north needs Northern Powerhouse Rail?

Looking at a rail map of the UK, the main lines run south to north, where as the connections east to west are much poorer.

Northern Powerhouse Rail will improve the transport connections for the North to make the North more competitive and cohesive, including improved links taking in Liverpool, Manchester, Bradford, Leeds, Doncaster, Sheffield, Stockport, Hull and Newcastle.

Northern Powerhouse Rail will make it easier to travel to several northern cities for its workforce. Over 25 per cent of workers in the North will be within 90 minutes of four or more northern cities. That’s 15 per cent more than with the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) and HS2 alone.

NPR will have a major impact on the transformation and development of the regional jobs market, giving businesses access to a highly skilled workforce and supporting flexibility to an individual’s career development, opening new opportunities, and offering new challenges.