This is how a new ‘badly needed’ east to west rail network across the North could look

Plans for a huge east to west rail network across the North of England have been submitted to government.

Northern leaders have sent their preferred routes for the ‘Northern Powerhouse Rail’ network to parliament and called for its backing.

The move follows huge budget cuts to Transport for the North, which oversees the region’s transport network, which saw the body lose 40 per cent of its core funding and a fifth of its total annual support for the next financial year.

The cuts also saw plans to implement a London-style ticketing network, which would have allowed customers to tap in and out of the system with their bank cards, ‘wound down’.

Leaders were growing increasingly concerned that the ‘northern voice’ was being silenced when it comes to northern rail projects, often cited as key to the Government’s ‘levelling up’ strategy – so have spoken up.

Back in the summer of 2014, George Osborne, then chancellor, launched the Northern Powerhouse scheme, promising a rail system that would get cities ‘radically connected’.

Now the region’s leaders have called on the government to ‘be ambitious’ when publishing its rail investment plan for the region, due later this month.

Transport for the North has formally written to government with its official plan for ‘badly-needed’ rail investment over the coming decades, which could see more than 70,000 jobs created in the North.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “This government were elected on a promise to level up the North of England and whether ministers back this vital project in full will be a key test of that commitment.

“This is absolutely not the time to be scaling back on ambitions for Northern Powerhouse Rail and people here will not accept yet another second class solution.

“Northern leaders stand ready to work with the government to make swift progress on this project and, at the same time, deliver the promised additional investment in day to day transport services that is long overdue here in the North.”

Leaders say the government should commit to ‘the full, transformational vision’ for both Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2; saying both will define the North’s economic future for the rest of this century, boosting jobs and growth.

The government’s Integrated Rail Plan is due to be released later in March and will set out the long-term investment plans for the North’s rail upgrades and how the projects will be delivered.

Here’s what Northern leaders have asked for from the government, including electrification of some lines and new routes elsewhere:

A new line to be build from Liverpool to Manchester via the centre of Warrington
A new line from Manchester to Leeds via the centre of Bradford
Significant upgrades and journey time improvements to the Hope Valley route between Manchester and Sheffield
Connecting Sheffield to HS2 and on to Leeds
Significant upgrades and electrification of the rail lines from Leeds and Sheffield to Hull
Significant upgrades of the East Coast Mainline from Leeds to Newcastle (via York and Darlington) and restoration of the Leamside line

Both Transport for the North and the Department for Transport have worked on drawing up the plans, with the aim of ‘radically improving the North’s ageing rail network’ and creating thousands of jobs, economic opportunities and helping to slash carbon emissions.

Once delivered, leaders predict the network will be able to:

Contribute £14.4bn annually to the UK economy by 2060
Create up to 74,000 new jobs in the North by 2060
Take the equivalent of 58,000 cars off the road

Tim Wood, Northern Powerhouse Rail Director at Transport for the North, said: “This is the culmination of years of work to radically connect the North’s communities by rail; create jobs; and boost the Northern economy for decades to come. Communities and businesses want to see certainty on what will be delivered and when, in order to make key investment decisions and create new opportunities.

“We hope that the significant body of evidence, worked up alongside the Department for Transport, will be reflected in an ambitious commitment to investment in the North in the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan.

"We can then swiftly press on with joint delivery for the Northern public. We’ve done the work together, now let’s get on and deliver for the North together.”

The North’s leaders have also asked the government for assurances that they’ll continue to have a full joint leadership role in the programme going forward. 

Under the proposed plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail, it is hoped that construction work will have begun by the mid-2020s.

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