Transport future

ONE of the key problems the UK faces is the imbalance in the economy between the south east and the rest of the country.

This has been exacerbated by the growth since the 1980s of the City of London but has been further fuelled in the last decade or so by the Channel Tunnel rail link, terminal five at Heathrow, Crossrail, the Olympics and various other upgrades of Underground and other rail routes in an unprecedented frenzy of spending on key infrastructure projects around the capital.

Backers of the schemes always claim the benefits will be felt around the country but there remains little evidence for this in particular while the rest of the country is starved of investment.

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Now business leaders in London are calling for yet another rail link across the capital even before the £15 billion east-west Crossrail scheme is even open.

The Yorkshire Post has given unequivocal backing to investment in the region through our Give us a Fair Deal campaign. There can be no further investment in London without first giving the North its own Crossrail namely by electrifying the trans-Pennine rail route linking Leeds and York with Newcastle, Manchester and Liverpool, which could link up with the proposed high speed rail line which is so vital to the future of the North – and the rest of the country.

London first has been too often the default position of successive governments and it is no wonder the rest of the country is coming second. Compared to Europe, the British economy has been hampered for too long by an inadequate infrastructure both within towns and cities and between them.

The new transport secretary Justine Greening, who is a London MP, should signal her commitment to investment outside the capital by giving her support for schemes in Yorkshire which have been delayed for too long.