Exclusive:Northern Powerhouse Rail announcement pushed back with Government 'working through the details'
The announcement on Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) - the long-promised high-speed line connecting Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield - has been delayed, with the Government still “working through” the funding detail.
It was widely expected more detail would follow in the 10-Year Industrial Strategy the following week, however no firm announcement came.
When asked about the delays by The Yorkshire Post on a visit to Leeds, Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary, said: “We’re committed to improving rail connectivity in the North of England, we will be saying more on our plans in the next couple of weeks and months.
“We’re working through some detail following the Spending Review allocations, but we know to get the country’s economy firing on all cylinders we need to support local economies in places like Manchester, Leeds and York and we will be saying more in due course.”
NPR has been in the pipeline for around a decade, and has been seen by regional leaders and businesses as key to solving the North’s connectivity issues and driving growth.
It was originally planned to connect Liverpool with Hull, via Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield, using part of the HS2 track. However, when the Northern leg was cancelled by Rishi Sunak it was pushed back.
The Yorkshire Post understands there is up to £1.5bn in transport funding set aside in the Spending Review, which set out departmental budgets and major infrastructure projects for the next four years, and this could be used for scoping work on NPR.
The Government has committed to the £11bn TRU project, which will significantly cut rail times between York, Leeds and Manchester.
The TRU is currently on time and on budget, and is expected to be completed in the early 2030s.
It means the North has a huge amount of engineering expertise that is ready to be used on other major infrastructure projects.
The Government is expected to build a plan for NPR around the newly electrified lines from Manchester to York via Leeds - with additional work to connect stations on both sides of the Pennines.
This could include electrifying the Leeds to Sheffield line, as well as connecting Bradford with other parts of West Yorkshire.
A source told this paper that much of the detail “has been finalised” but Labour was just waiting on the announcement, which could take place at the party’s conference in Liverpool at the end of September.
A through-station at Bradford has been part of NPR from the start, and West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin explained her team had been lobbying the Government on this.
“I feel pretty confident that government understands that this is quite a moment., that if you want growth within the UK you get growth in the North.
“We are poised with our plans ready to deliver huge infrastructure projects for you and with you.
“I feel the Government understands the importance of that through-station in Bradford, and we are working closely with the Department for Transport.”
She added: “It feels like there is good stuff coming, and they wanted to agglomerate the good stuff into a nice, big announcement.
“Of course, if we don’t get anything I will be the first to be knocking on No10 and No11’s doors.”