Rail investment will see the North rise again

Imagine for a moment a globally significant conglomeration of intellect, investment and innovation, with seamless connectivity ensuring social mobility and prosperity for anyone fortunate enough to be able participate.

That today is London and the South East of England, a sprawling economic powerhouse which far outperforms anywhere else in the UK in terms of productivity, and its ability to attract talent and money from across the world.

Within the next two decades, it can be the North of England too.

Successive governments’ awkward procrastinations on the rail ambitions of the North have finally given way to an investment in infrastructure that can be truly transformational.

Announced this week is a programme of rail improvement that will do far more than improve journey times, enhancing the prospects of millions of people in the North of England, while also giving UK PLC a healthy shunt in the right direction.

Firstly, the government has committed to a capped £45bn spend to support the delivery of Northern Powerhouse Rail, with £1.1bn in funding during this Spending Review period to accelerate planning, development and design work.

NPR phase one will improve connections between Sheffield and Leeds; between Leeds and York; and between Leeds and Bradford. Development work will also be taken forward on reopening the Leamside Line, a 21-mile route between Pelaw, Gateshead, and Tursdale, County Durham, which was closed in 1964.

Phase two will deliver a new route between Liverpool and Manchester via Manchester airport and Warrington. This can unlock major regeneration opportunities, including the redevelopment of Old Trafford.

NPR’s third and final phase involves better connections across the Pennines between Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and York. Regular services would run on to Newcastle via Darlington and Durham, and Chester for North Wales connections.

After NPR, the next promised investment will in a new railway line between Birmingham and Manchester, easing pressure on the bottlenecked West Coast Main Line.

This will not be “a reinstatement of HS2”, the government says. No timescale has been given but the line will not open until after NPR is complete.

The myth and misnomer of HS2 was that its key benefit was its high-speed connection to London. More importantly, it would have provided the much-needed additional rail capacity that is now promised.

Improved connectivity between areas already demonstrating the benefits of devolution, - and linked internationally via Manchester Airport - is what makes this infrastructure spend so exciting.

Part of the Northern Growth Corridor, NPR is forecast to add as much as £90bn in GVA across the North as the shimmering success of Greater Manchester’s trailblazing adventures in devolution spreads to neighbouring regions. Disparate destinations in the North will increasingly function as one economic region.

Greater Manchester has proven its case and then some. With annual economic growth of some 3.1% since 2015, it is outperforming many peer city-regions, including London.

This new era of rail connectivity will further enhance the benefits of locally controlled public transport, including Manchester’s pioneering Bee Network. Again, other regions are following suit.

But this week’s news should not end the lobbying of the northern mayors, who will still be keen to ensure that the government’s ambitions for rail in the north equal their own.

Details to be determined include timescales for delivery – the new Manchester to Birmingham line could be 20 years off construction; funding beyond the £45bn committed by government; and whether Manchester will get a new underground station at Piccadilly, safeguarding prime development land that would become unavailable if it was crossed by new railway lines.

Some might see this week’s announcement as a political ploy to appease the northern mayors and in particular, GM mayor Andy Burnham, who has consistently refused to rule himself out of ever returning to Westminster.

But that fails to grasp the strength of place-first politics outside of London and in Labour's northern strongholds.

Let’s not forget that it was with terrible timing that the previous plan to extend HS2 between the Birmingham and Manchester was scrapped by Rishi Sunak’s government… at the Conservative party conference in Manchester.

It should at least be acknowledged that Northern Powerhouse Rail was largely the brainchild of the Conservative chancellor and Tatton MP George Osborne.

Again and again, the north's leaders have demanded what is just, impossible and necessary, and have now succeeded in achieving it. It's merely a byproduct of their passion for the place that they are seen as such effective politicians, and in Burnham's case, a contender to lead the country.

After years of false starts and promises, the North’s transport revolution now finally appears to be getting underway.