Government told cutting Northern Powerhouse Rail would be 'short term thinking'

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has resisted calls to deliver Transport for the North’s plan for a £43bn network, with high-speed lines running between Liverpool to Leeds and a new station in Bradford.

He recently announced he will stick with the cheaper alternative – set out in the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan a year ago – for one new 40-mile line between Warrington and Marsden and upgrades to existing infrastructure.

However, Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) and other major infrastructure projects are currently being reviewed, as the Government attempts to plug a £50bn gap in public finances with spending cuts and tax hikes, and this has sparked fears that it could be watered down again or scrapped

Northern leaders claim the project must go ahead as it will transform the outdated and overcrowded rail network, and encourage businesses to invest billions of pounds in the North and create thousands of jobs.

Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said the Government needs to stop being indecisive and deliver the original plans for NPR, with a stop in Bradford.

“When the Victorians laid the railways, the infrastructure we still rely on today, it was a vote of confidence in the century to come and that’s exactly the kind of long-term thinking we need now,” she said.

“It’s really important the Government does not allow short-termism thinking about the current economic crisis – that they have undoubtedly created in Westminster – to hold back growth and investment in the North.

“The chopping and changing and lack of political will in Westminster has held back lots of rail investment over the last 12 years, the Transpennine Route Upgrade should have started over a decade ago.”

It comes after former Chancellor George Osborne said there is “no fiscal reason” for scrapping NPR and he did not slash funding for major infrastructure projects like HS2 during “austerity 1.0”.

Henri Murison, chief executive of The Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said Chancellor Jeremy Hunt must commit to funding NPR in the Autumn Statement on November 17.

“He needs to show the private sector that despite the short-term pain we’re going through, we can deliver long-term growth by building Northern Powerhouse Rail across the Pennines,” he said.

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, said the Government does not need to pay for NPR “here and now”, but it needs a long-term spending plan for the project, as it is key to unlocking economic growth.

“Doing nothing is not an option,” she said. “We’re the youngest city in the UK, a city of 540,000 people right in the middle of the North of England, and the whole of the North is going to be dependent on our workforce in the coming years.”

Chris Woodroofe, Managing Director of Manchester Airport, cannot abandon plans for a “once-in-a-generation investment” in the North’s rail network.

“If the UK is serious about levelling-up, then NPR should be delivered – in full – as soon as possible, including a new line from Manchester to Leeds via a station at Bradford,” he said.

At a conference yesterday, Rail Minister Huw Merriman said the Government remains committed to delivering all the projects in the Integrated Rail Plan and is “working on our options” for improving services in Bradford.

It comes as Northern leaders are still waiting for a £100m study, which will look at the “most effective way” of getting HS2 trains to Leeds, after the eastern leg of the line was cut short.