Jim O’Neill: North’s transport is still a major priority

AS part of this newspaper’s Back on Track campaign which was launched in the wake of the Government’s decision to ‘pause’ its rail investment programme, 70 business leaders signed an open letter to Chancellor George Osborne calling for pre-election promises to electrify routes from Leeds to Manchester, and Sheffield to London, to be honoured.

The letter said that commuters – and business leaders – felt “betrayed” by the decision to halt improvements to the TransPennine Express and Midland Mainline routes. Below is the full text of the response sent to Jeremy Clifford, editor of The Yorkshire Post, by Treasury Minister Jim O’Neill.

THANK you for your letter of 16 July to the Chancellor about transport investment in Yorkshire. I am replying as Minister responsible for this policy area. Rebalancing the economy is a fundamental part of the Government’s economic plan, with investment in transport infrastructure a crucial means of achieving this. For this reason, I fully understand and share your frustration with the pausing of TransPennine electrification.

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The Government is taking immediate action to solve the regrettable problems at Network Rail. As you will be aware, the Government has appointed a new chairman of Network Rail, Sir Peter Hendy, and tasked him with developing a plan to put the railway investment programme back on a sustainable footing. The Secretary of State for Transport (Patrick McLoughlin) has asked for this report to be available in the autumn, and the Treasury, the Department for Transport and Network Rail will work together to take Northern transport forward as a priority.

In the meantime, the Government remains fully committed to providing a 21st century railway to connect up Yorkshire and the North more generally, and is considering all options for delivering on this ambition. The Government is continuing to invest in Yorkshire, as part of the £13bn investment in Northern transport over this Parliament. This includes a commitment to delivering new trains and replacing the outdated Pacer trains on the Northern franchise, as well as delivering one-third more capacity, 200 new services every single day and free wi-fi on board on Northern and TransPennine Express routes. By 2018, the Government will also have introduced brand new InterCity Express trains on the East Coast Main Line serving destinations including Doncaster, York and Leeds, bringing journey times down and providing many more seats.

Major investment in the road network is also a priority: in November we committed £1.4bn to new road investment schemes in Yorkshire and the Humber. This includes work already underway to expand key Northern sections of the M1 to four lanes and upgrading the M62 - the first transPennine capacity upgrade since it opened in 1971.

The Government is also determined to help cities in Yorkshire, and across the North, by pooling their strengths into a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Specifically, the Government has established and provided £30m additional funding over three years for Transport for the North (TfN), which will work to realise the vision of first-class transport infrastructure that will drive economic growth across the region. TfN will set out its transport policies and investment priorities, refreshing the long-term transport strategy for the North, and advance the introduction of Oyster-style smart and integrated ticketing across the region.

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We are also devolving far reaching powers over transport to mayor-led city regions to deliver fully integrated public transport systems, which will meet the transport needs of both large cities and local communities.

I recognise the concerns you have raised and share your views on the importance of good transport links in Yorkshire. I hope this reply has provided reassurance over the Government’s commitment to delivering transport investment in the region.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley is a Treasury minister. He was previously chief economist at Goldman Sachs.