Universities looking to create ‘Golden Octagon’ reinforces the need for full Northern Powerhouse Rail - The Yorkshire Post says

These seats of learning are not only producing talent for the future but also driving innovation.

And ambitions to create a Northern ‘Golden Octagon’ to complement the famous Southern ‘Golden Triangle’ of Oxford, Cambridge and London are to be lauded.

Especially as it would look to maximise the impact of the research base across the North to enable business innovation and societal transformation.

However, as Professor Charlie Jeffery, vice-chancellor and president of the University of York and chair of the N8 group of Northern research universities, rightly points out, to help unlock the region’s economic potential the Government needs to invest in infrastructure in the North.

Specifically it needs to reverse the short-sighted decision not to build the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) network in full.

The economic arguments are overwhelmingly in favour of the scheme. It would make it easier for international investors landing at Manchester Airport to travel across a network spanning all the way from Liverpool to Hull.

To get the economy moving in the right direction, businesses need to be equipped with the tools needed to deliver growth.

Whether that is a more mobile workforce, easier access to customers, a more attractive environment for capital or innovation that gives them a competitive edge.

Levelling up was supposed to be about recognising that potential and more importantly unleashing it.

Yet while London and the surrounding areas recently celebrated the opening of the £19bn, 73-mile long Elizabeth Line, the plans for NPR have been reduced to a rump.