Labour accuses Government of reannouncing major Northern rail plans more than 60 times without action

Analysis from the party released today said dozens of announcements had been made since then-Chancellor George Osborne announced a new proposed high speed link between Leeds and Manchester in 2014.

But that work was yet to get under way in any meaningful fashion.

Jim McMahon, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, said: “The Government talks a good game about improving the lives of people in the North, but the reality is yet more empty words and broken promises.”

But the Government said it was “absolutely committed” to levelling up the North, including in transport, with billions of pounds invested.

A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesman said: “On top of investing billions of pounds to achieve this, we’ve set up Transport for the North and the Northern Transport Acceleration Council to ensure projects are delivered as quickly as possible in a way that best suits the region.”

Labour said the lack of action combined with ticket fare rises, a cut to Network Rail’s enhancement budget, and Transport for the North being told to hold back on submitting a business case for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) until after the Government’s Integrated Rail Review was published were a worrying trend.

While Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership lobbying group, said Conservative chancellors had been supportive of Northern Powerhouse Rail - but now was the time to show it.

“It was a Conservative Chancellor, George Osborne, who first proposed a new line across the Pennines. The current Chancellor, himself a Yorkshire MP, has been long-standing supporter of the project before he entered the Cabinet and since,” he said.

But he added: “The Department for Transport has questions to answer about why we still have not begun work on the new line, when the Treasury has been pushing for a fully costed scheme they can approve.

“The sooner they agree to build through Bradford in the Integrated Rail Plan, the sooner we can get started on building additional tracks there from Leeds, as well as a new station. That is the down payment we need on the full new line to Manchester and on to Liverpool.

“Business leaders from across the North will feel short-changed if we try to simply rely on the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade, which will only improve the existing line. An upgrade-only approach cannot give us six thousand seats an hour, nor can it give the Northern Powerhouse the transformative economic benefits it needs by linking Bradford to the North West, as well as to Leeds and beyond on the east of the Pennines.”

The DfT spokesman added: “Our Integrated Rail Plan will soon outline exactly how major rail projects, including HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, will work together to deliver the reliable train services that passengers need and deserve.”