Direct line from Sheffield to Manchester Airport could be part of Northern Powerhouse Rail
Clive Betts described the Hope Valley line as “a joke”, before saying: “Powerhouse? Trains will go at less than 60mph on the improved line. This is not an ambition is it?”
Direct services between South Yorkshire and Manchester Airport could return as part of Northern Powerhouse Rail, senior officials have said.
The route between Sheffield and the airport was axed in 2021, with travellers now having to change at Manchester Piccadilly.
However, a direct line from the Steel City to the North’s largest airport is being considered as part of the project, Department for Transport officials told the Public Accounts Committee yesterday.
Senior civil servants were giving evidence to MPs about the long-awaited rail network designed to connect cities on both sides of the Pennines.
In January, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the latest version of this decades-long project, which will see £45bn of Treasury money spent on a “turn up and go” railway across the North that mirrors London’s transport network.
By the 2040s, she pledged there would be a new line from Liverpool to Manchester and into West and South Yorkshire, with simpler upgrades across the region being completed in the early 2030s.
Sheffield South East MP Clive Betts impressed on the mandarins the importance of connecting South Yorkshire with Manchester Airport.
“We used to have a link between the east of the Pennines - Doncaster, Sheffield, Rotherham - to Manchester Airport,” he explained.
“It doesn’t exist anymore so we’ve actually gone backwards in the last few years in terms of connectivity.
“Manchester Airport is the major airport in the North of England, it’s absolutely key for growth, we all get that.
“Connectivity to that is really important for whole areas of the North.”
Nick Bisson, director of Northern Powerhouse Rail since 2018, assured Mr Betts that a direct route from Sheffield to Manchester Airport was being considered.
“The precise service map is to be confirmed in the light of the development work that is to be done, but the possibility of direct services between Sheffield and the airport is something we’re looking at as part of that,” he said.
He explained that in the third phase of NPR work will be carried out on the Hope Valley line between Manchester and Sheffield.
“We are yet to conclude the work with Network Rail whether some or all of those trains continue straight onto the airport,” Mr Bisson added.
“But that is definitely within the range of options that we’ll be looking at because we recognise the importance of economic connections there.”
However, Mr Betts described the Hope Valley line as “a joke”, before saying: “Powerhouse? Trains will go at less than 60mph on the improved line. This is not an ambition is it?”
He added: “Sometimes it seems to those of us who represent northern areas that if you want action, you look at what happens in London and the South East, and it happens.
"If you want action in the North, you get lots of people talking about it for a long time.”
Jo Shanmugalingam, DfT permanent secretary, responded: “Different administrations have taken a series of decisions over the last decade, which have changed the scope and therefore delivery of the programme.”
"We are really pleased though with the work we were able to announce in January,” she said.