Better train service ‘could bring region £12bn boost’

New research has claimed that investment to improve rail connectivity, alongside improvement to the stations in Sheffield and Leeds, would provide a dramatic boost for business.

The Yorkshire Rail Network Study, commissioned jointly by Metro, the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive and Leeds City Region, calls on Network Rail to improve the Yorkshire network as it plans projects and spending for its next five-year programme of work, starting in 2014.

Coun James Lewis, Metro Chairman, said: “Our study provides backing for rail network improvements that would contribute to Yorkshire’s economic growth, and we want to work with the Department for Transport and the rail industry to develop a comprehensive long-term investment plan for the Leeds and Sheffield areas so that the maximum economic benefits are realised.”

The Yorkshire Post Give us a Fair Deal campaign has been calling on the Government to live up to their pledge to close the North-South divide by investing in the region’s desperately under funded transport system.

The study claims the £12bn of benefits would result from quicker journeys and improved business links, better commuter services, and more capacity for freight.

South Yorkshire ITA Chairman Coun Mick Jameson said: “The report before the ITA suggests that faster trains between Sheffield and Leeds are badly needed and these will require investment at both Leeds and Sheffield stations.

“We need to change the platform layouts and make them longer to enable both passenger and freight growth. Major signalling works are already planned at Sheffield station in the next few years, so this presents an ideal opportunity... We also want to see investment in train stock.”

The Yorkshire Rail Network Study will be considered by members of the West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority on Friday, while members of the South Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority will view the report at their meeting on Thursday, March 1.

Leeds City Council leader Keith Wakefield warned that unless the Government funds Network Rail’s £560m Northern Hub programme, for delivery between 2014 and 2019, Yorkshire could miss out on huge economic benefits identified in the study.

“The Chancellor’s recent funding announcements for part of the proposed Northern Hub scheme and for the electrification of the trans-Pennine route between Manchester and York are extremely welcome but are only part of the story,” he said. “Network Rail’s £560m Northern Hub project is forecast to deliver £4.2bn worth of economic benefits and up to 30,000 jobs. We are therefore asking for the Government to commit to the completion of the Northern Hub project in full.”