Structural changes from April 1 2018

With the Statutory Instrument having gained Parliamentary approval on January 10 2018, on April 1 Transport for the North became a statutory body with duties and responsibilities.

As England’s first sub-national transport body, this means that the Transport Secretary must take into account the North’s priorities (as developed by TfN) when making transport infrastructure spending decisions.

From April 1, TfN - a partnership of 19 local authorities, key business leaders and 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships across the North - gained powers including:

To produce a statutory transport strategy for the North which the Government must formally consider when taking funding decisions.

To fund organisations to deliver transport projects.

To be consulted on rail franchises which serve the North.

To take forward smart ticketing across the rail network.

Rail North, which became part of TfN on April 1, was established mainly to help deliver and then manage the current Northern and TransPennine Express franchises in partnership with the Department for Transport. That arrangement for the management of the franchises, known as the Rail North Partnership and based in Leeds, continues unchanged.

However, Rail North’s other activities - such as developing and implementing the Long-Term Rail Strategy ( RAIL 848), consulting on other franchises which affect the North, and implementing smart ticketing across the rail network - are being fully integrated with TfN’s existing rail activities, such as developing Northern Powerhouse Rail and working with HS2 Ltd and other bodies on the development of that project.

David Hoggarth, who has been closely involved with Rail North since its inception in 2012, says that this is the “natural next step, which gives us more clout and allows us to speak, as part of TFN, with a single voice. Full integration is something I have always advocated.”

Based in Manchester and Leeds, TfN now has a single Board of management including representatives of all the local authorities across the North, as well as the “important voice” of the LEPs. Hoggarth says the move also means there will be integration under the TfN banner of track and train (infrastructure and services development), and of multimodal work.

“Fundamentally, there is now one clear voice from the North back to Government as to what the priorities are, and what the future priorities should be.”