Hull 'effectively removed from UK rail map through Integrated Rail Plan snub', council leader claims

The plight of Hull was highlighted at the Transport for the North board meeting in Leeds.

Hull has effectively “been removed from the rail map of the UK” by the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan, city council leader Daren Hale has claimed.

It had been hoped that Hull would be connected to the Northern Powerhouse Rail network and given faster electrified connections to places such as Sheffield and Leeds in the Integrated Rail Plan.

But the IRP said improving lines to the city could only be considered in future and would be dependent on the core NPR network between Liverpool and York being delivered within budget. The decision came despite the IRP admitting that Hull currently suffers “poor” connections despite being a key port that is integral to the regional economy.

Speaking at a Transport for the North board meeting in Leeds on Wednesday, Coun Hale said: “The IRP is bad for the North but it is catastrophic for the people of Hull and East Yorkshire.

“I represent the third or fourth poorest district in the country and this is not going to do anything towards levelling up.

“The North has got completely done over by this but some areas got it worse – and we’re one of them.”

He said failing to connect Hull properly to the rail network would lead to problems with freight deliveries and hit climate change efforts in a part of the country that currently has some of the highest carbon emission levels in Europe due to concentration of industry.

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