Rail route upgrade ‘shot in arm’ for Yorkshire

Work will start next year on electrifying the Transpennine Express route which will cut journeys between Leeds and Manchester to less than 45 minutes, boosting the economy by up to £6.7bn, the Chancellor will announce in his Autumn Statement today as he fast-tracks a series of big infrastructure schemes.

In a second victory for the Yorkshire Post’s Give us a Fair Deal campaign, Mr Osborne will also announce a deal to cut the Humber Bridge debt in order to halve tolls – cutting the cost of a car trip from £3 to £1.50 from next year.

The boundaries of a second Enterprise Zone in the Humber, including the BAe Systems site where 899 workers are facing redundancy, are set to be confirmed and the Humber is expected to be identified as a centre for offshore renewable engineering.

The number of two-year-olds entitled to free childcare is to be doubled so 260,000 now benefit and there will be a package of support for businesses including an extension of small business rate relief, £50m to invest in small firms with good growth potential in parts of Yorkshire worst affected by spending cuts, and tax breaks for investment in firms with fewer than 25 employees.

The moves are part of a drive to revive the flagging economy but are likely to be accompanied by a gloomy downgrading of growth forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility. The international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development predicted yesterday that the UK would slip back into recession next year, while Bank of England Governor Mervyn King predicted six months of flat growth.

Prime Minister David Cameron was in Manchester yesterday to announce electrification of the trans-Pennine line to Leeds, which has been a priority for business leaders in the region but which was only being given “consideration” by Network Rail so would not have happened until 2014 at the earliest.

The Government was last night not confirming how much it would cost or when it would be completed, but journeys – which take a minimum of 53 minutes with some over one hour – are expected to be cut to below 45 minutes.

The scheme will be one of those highlighted in a £30bn Infrastructure Plan, with £5bn coming from underspent Whitehall budgets or further spending cuts, and up to £20bn hoping to be drawn in from private investors such as pension firms and China. Up to 500 schemes will be highlighted in the plan, with 40 including the roll-out of superfast broadband given highest priority.

Mr Cameron said the Government has a “real focus” on improving infrastructure across the North as part of the Government’s drive to rebalance the economy.”

James Lewis, chairman of West Yorkshire’s Metro, said: “Research has shown that the result of bringing journey times between Leeds and Manchester down to under 45 minutes would be a £6.7bn boost in productivity. Electrifying the route would make it an attractive alternative to the M62 reducing congestion on the often overcrowded motorway.”

Neil McLean, chairman of the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership Board, said: “We have known for a number of years that better connectivity between Leeds and Manchester would give a much needed transformational shot in the arm to the economic fortunes of the North.”

On Saturday, the Yorkshire Post called on the Chancellor to introduce six Fair Deal measures to boost the region’s economy.