PM drops Northern Powerhouse Rail plan

Claims have been made that the Prime Minister is planning to U-turn on promises made by Liz Truss for a full Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) line, following an ‘across the board review’ of the pledges made by Truss.

In October, the former prime minister committed to build a fully electrified line from Liverpool to Hull, including a stop in Bradford – currently the worst connected town in the UK. The project has been billed as ‘Crossrail for the north’ and would have been a huge leap forward in the government’s ambitions levelling up plans.

Truss’ promise

In a televised interview a month ago, Truss was definite about plans for the scheme. In an interview with ITV Calendar, interviewer Harry Horton asked her if the new scheme meant a full new line all the way from Liverpool to Hull with a stop in Bradford? She responded: “it does”, before adding “there will be [a brand new electric line] and it will stop in Bradford. I’m very clear about that”.

The initial promise for this service was made back in 2014, in a bid to connect all major cities across the north. It was scaled back at the launch of the Integrated Rail Plan.

Only three weeks ago, former transport minister Kevin Foster gave his assurance in parliament that plans for NPR were coming soon, after being questioned by Labour MP for Leeds North West Alex Sobel. Sobel asked: “Will we see a new line between Leeds and Manchester via Bradford, not an upgrade on the Transpennine line, when will the funding be delivered, and where will spades go in the ground, because we need that line for the growth the Government wants to see.”

Foster replied: “I am delighted to note the support from the opposite benches for the statement the Prime Minister made last week, as I’m sure will she.

“We will certainly make sure that we set out in detail soon, having engaged with those in the region who have a clear interest – particularly in the detail of the plan and how we shall deliver the many benefits that project will bring, but also to ensure the impact of construction is minimised.”

Levelling down?

Two weeks ago, the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt did some initial backpedalling on the pledges, noting that spending cuts are having to be made due to the economic freefall we find ourselves facing.

However, today’s announcements from transport secretary Mark Harper, made to Sky News, suggest that only the basics may be looking increasingly likely.

Harper told Sky that the government were “very committed to delivering what is in the integrated Rail Plan”. This would suggest that Truss’ promises have been downgraded from a brand new, all-singing-and-dancing network, to something much less impressive.

The plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail, as outlined in the Integrated Rail plan are:

“The government’s plan to transform rail links between key cities across the north of England through new lines and upgrades. The Integrated Rail Plan recommends the ‘core’ network would run from Liverpool to York via Warrington, Manchester Airport, Manchester Piccadilly, Huddersfield and Leeds, integrating with the HS2 Phase Western Leg. Wider Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) services are to be considered, including to Newcastle, Hull and Sheffield.”

The investment in the project is expected to have been cut from £39 billion to only £17.2 billion, and there is no mention of any connection or integration for Bradford.

West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin, who along with mayors from other northern cities has recently been campaigning for better service levels for the north, told Sky News: “What is not acceptable is for Northern Powerhouse Rail to be the low-hanging fruit; the collateral damage for the chaos that we’ve seen in government.

“Every year that goes by where we don’t have that investment we lose £2bn for our community. If we were to build that new station in Bradford […] we would get an investment of £30bn, 130,000 jobs for our region. It is really important that government don’t slash this easy target.”

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