Labour has finally announced plans for a new Northern rail network – but passengers will have to wait until the 2040s to be able to use it.
Rachel Reeves will on Wednesday announce plans for ‘Northern Powerhouse Rail’, a long-awaited transport network connecting major cities in the North.
The plans include new lines connecting Liverpool to Manchester, and Bradford to Huddersfield. Upgrades will also be made on existing lines connecting Manchester with Leeds, Bradford, York and Sheffield.
The Prime Minister promised these new links would ‘help working people do what they need to do’, from ‘getting to work, taking the kids to school, or days out with the family’.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, meanwhile, said the ‘transformative plans’ would create jobs, build homes and unlock opportunities for businesses to invest.
However, the public may have to wait until the 2040s to actually use the new network, with construction on Phase 2 – the Liverpool to Manchester line – only starting in the 2030s.
In the meantime, the Government will launch a lengthy planning phase for the project as it tries to learn from the mistakes of HS2.
First announced by Labour in 2009, the high-speed rail project was beset by delays and ballooning costs after a failure to plan upfront, critics say.
The plans include new lines connecting Liverpool to Manchester, and Bradford to Huddersfield. Upgrades will also be made on existing lines connecting Manchester with Leeds, Bradford, York and Sheffield
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will say the ‘transformative plans’ for Northern Powerhouse Rail would create jobs, build homes and unlock opportunities for businesses to invest
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has previously warned the Government not to give his region a ‘cut-price infrastructure option’
Work will only begin on the Liverpool to Manchester line of Northern Powerhouse Rail when Phase 1 of the project – upgrades to existing lines in Yorkshire – is complete.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, former transport minister Mike Kane said while the news on the new network is ‘welcome’, the scale of the Government’s ambition to unlock the economic potential of the North through better rail connectivity will ‘only be realised when we see spades in the ground delivering it’.
Transport Minister Peter Hendy briefed MPs on the plans.
The Chancellor has set a spending cap of £45bn for Northern Powerhouse Rail, with £1.1bn coming from the Department for Transport’s budget for this Parliament.
But with costs not yet set in stone, the Government intends to call on regional mayors to support the project from their own budgets.
This may lead to strained conversations with Andy Burnham, with the Manchester Mayor previously warning the Government not to give his region a ‘cut-price infrastructure option’ in comments to The House magazine.
The Government also played down reports that it is committed to a new Birmingham to Manchester line, citing it as a future ambition to be delivered separately from Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Land connecting the two cities would be held back from sale while the Government considers the new route.
A plan to link the two cities as part of HS2 was scrapped by the then-prime minister Rishi Sunak in 2023.