Northern Powerhouse Rail takes next step forward

Plans to improve rail connections across the North of England have taken another step forward with the inclusion of the Northern Powerhouse Rail Bill in the King’s Speech on 13th May.

The Bill will resurrect plans first included in the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill for a new railway link between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly. Plans for the line originally formed part of the HS2 high-speed rail link between Birmingham and Manchester that was cut during Rishi Sunak’s premiership to mitigate the spiralling costs of the project.

As part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project, the new link between the airport and Manchester city centre will connect to planned lines to Liverpool via Warrington, and across the Pennines from Manchester to Leeds in later phases of construction. Proposals for NPR also include a new underground station at Manchester Piccadilly, with the route to airport also likely to be in tunnels as was established in consultations on the HS2 route.

Use of existing plans and legislation to build the new link hope to accelerate delivery of NPR and help keep the project within the strict £45 billion budget cap set by government.

Businesses in the region have already welcomed the latest phase of support from Government for investment into the North’s transport infrastructured.

Chris Woodroofe, Managing Director of Manchester Airport, commented:

“We already deliver more than £8bn of economic impact a year, providing thousands of jobs and enabling trade, investment and tourism. But placing Manchester Airport at the heart of a better-connected North will make a major contribution, helping it to operate as a highly productive and globally competitive single economic region.

“That’s why I’m pleased to see this key step towards realising Northern Powerhouse Rail prioritised in the King’s Speech. Keeping up the momentum on this project is vital if we are to unlock its potential – to be genuinely transformative for people living right across the region.”

Alan Thomas, CEO of Ripe Insurance, which recently moved into Stockport Exchange, to take advantage of the town’s excellent transport connections, also welcomed the news. He commented:

“The Northern Powerhouse Rail Bill is an encouraging step because for businesses like ours, transport infrastructure isn’t just an abstract policy issue. It directly shapes where people can work, how easily firms can scale, and how confidently companies invest outside London. We need infrastructure that matches what we bring to the economy.”