The Prime Minister has claimed the North will no longer be “held to ransom by Victorian-era transport system” as the Government announces plans to boost the Liverpool-Hull corridor.
A major package of investment to improve transport across the North is planned, with the Government now saying it is to spend more than double the money per head on local transport in the North than the South, including London.
The Government hope to make the Liverpool-Hull corridor rival the Oxford-Cambridge arc in the South of England by aiding connectivity between the major Northern cities. However, the plans still fall short of calls for a high-speed rail connection from East to West, connecting Hull with the likes of Leeds, Manchester, and Liverpool. The high-speed line dubbed Northern Powerhouse Rail, or HS3, was previously committed to by Jake Berry when he served as a Minister in Theresa May’s government but such optimism seems a distant memory following the cancellation of much of HS2.
The latest announcement includes upgrades to the trans-Pennine rail route which will see journey times between Manchester and Leeds cut from 50 to 42 minutes. The Government will also support a series of other transport infrastructure projects across the North such as a Mass Transit System for West Yorkshire, a new Merseyrail station in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle, and the redevelopment of Bury Interchange. £415m will also be invested into the rail line that connects Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds, and York.
On the new funding, the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer said: “The North is home to a wealth of talent and ingenuity. But for too long, it has been held to ransom by a Victorian-era transport system which has stifled its potential. I lived in Leeds for years, I get that this has real-world impacts – missed appointments, children late to school, work meetings rescheduled – all leading to insecurity and instability for working people.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “For too long, the North has been left behind and relied on a crumbling transport system that’s not fit to serve the great towns and cities it’s home to.
“The Government’s Plan for Change will end that and schemes like the TransPennine Route Upgrade will bolster the region’s neglected potential and make travelling between these historic Northern towns and cities quicker, easier and greener.”
By: Andrew Spence, LDRS
