Jonathan Oxley: Regional transport infrastructure the key to future of the North

He highlighted once again the importance of upgrading existing infrastructure, both in terms of new projects and improvements to rolling stock.

The IoD has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government to become an official member of the Northern Powerhouse partnership, an initiative creating a new network to help grow the Northern economy.

Also this week, I travelled to London for a short break with my family, which brought home a number of thoughts that will resonate with those who live and work north of Watford.

Firstly, the only realistic way of getting from my home to Leeds station is by road. Second, the Leeds to London rail service is just fine. It doesn’t need to be many billions of pounds faster. Third, what a great city London is and how lucky we are to have it.

Staying close to the Tower of London we had an incredible city landscape including the Norman White Tower, the Victorian gothic of Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast on the Thames and the iconic modernism of the Gherkin, the Walkie Talkie, the Cheesegrater and the Shard.

It got me thinking about whether we can have something like this in the North – and the answer is probably not. There is only room for so many great global cities on a relatively small island.

However, we could have something slightly different but in many ways just as great – a cluster of cities together as an attraction that balances the nation’s capital.

The attraction for us on a trip to London was some theatre, a bit of history and some art. To put together a comparable itinerary that I would have enjoyed as much would probably have been a challenge in a single Northern city, but perhaps not in a combination of Northern cities.

It would be easy to put together a great sports event, fine dining, great shopping, a good art gallery and some interesting history, but you would need to visit Manchester, Leeds and York to achieve it. Which would be fine, if you could get from one to the other with ease.

For those who argue that HS2 is needed for reasons of capacity (as opposed to speed) I would argue that if it were easier to get around the North we would be spending more time here and less taking up capacity on North-South routes.

Regional transport infrastructure is one of the keys to unlocking a great future for the North. Yes, we need better broadband speed, especially outside our city hubs, but there is still a requirement for face to face interaction.

The Northern Powerhouse project needs, by definition, to be driven by the people and businesses of the North. But we do need the support of national organisations with powerful voices such as the IoD, with its HQ on Pall Mall in London, in support.

The IoD has launched its Director of the Year Awards. To enter email [email protected] for an application form.