THE region’s ‘single biggest transport intervention since the Industrial Revolution’ is the bold ambition unveiled in Transport for the North’s (TfN) plans to develop the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) network over the next 20 years.
TfN’s board, which includes representatives of the various city regions, local and regional authorities, business leaders and transport bodies from across the north of England, agreed on February 7 to submit the plan to central Government for approval.
The Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) is costed at up to £39billion over 30 years, and will call on the Government to back TfN’s vision for an expanded and upgraded rail network linking all the major cities and conurbations of northern England.
The full details of the proposals remain confidential while they are being considered by Government, but the seven priority ‘corridors’ include a new high-speed line between Leeds and Manchester via Bradford, including a possible city centre station in the latter; a new double-track link from Liverpool to HS2 Phase 2a via Warrington and Manchester Airport; ‘significant upgrades’ between Sheffield and Leeds, including integration with HS2 Phase 2b; route upgrades between Sheffield, Leeds and Hull, between Newcastle and Leeds, and of the Hope Valley route between Sheffield and Manchester.
Read more in the March 2019 issue of The RM – on sale now!
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