Labour criticises Government over a series of rail project announcements…but a lack of progress
Labour has accused the Government of either re-announcing or re-committing to major rail projects more than 60 times in the past seven years, without there having been any spades in the ground.
It claims there have been dozens of Government press releases on variations of Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), Crossrail for the
North or HS3 ever since former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne promised a new high-speed line between Leeds and Manchester in June 2014.
Shadow Transport Secretary Jim McMahon spoke of “empty words and broken promises” and called for an end to what he described as “trademark bluster and delaying tactics”.
Labour highlighted an abridged timeline of NPR - beginning with Osborne’s Manchester speech in June 2014, followed two months later by an alliance of six city councils unveiling the first route plan, which was backed by Osborne on the day.
In March 2015, the Department for Transport published transport infrastructure plans for northern England, including a new line linking Liverpool and Hull. In that year’s General Election, the manifesto pledged to develop HS3 to join up the North.
In March 2016’s Budget, Osborne backed a National Infrastructure Commission report calling for High Speed North. The following year’s General Election spoke of continuing a programme of strategic national investments including HS2 and NPR.
In October 2017, thenChancellor Philip Hammond recommitted to NPR and allocated £300 million to future-proof junctions between NPR and HS2.
The Government set up a commission in March 2019 to plan a new £6 billion city centre station for Liverpool to accommodate HS2 and NPR, while four months later
Boris Johnson pledged to fund the Leeds-Manchester section of NPR (as proposed by Transport for the North) as a first stage.
The General Election 2019 manifesto claimed it was time to invest in NPR, while in
October 2020 Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps recommitted to NPR in a speech at the Great Northern Conference.
In a statement, the DfT told RAIL: “This Government is absolutely committed to delivering the upgrades to level up the North. On top of investing billions of pounds to achieve this, we’ve set up Transport for the North and the Northern Transport Acceleration Council to ensure projects are delivered as quickly as possible in a way that best suits the region.
“Our Integrated Rail Plan will soon outline exactly how major rail projects, including HS2 and NPR, will work together to deliver the reliable train services that passengers need and deserve.”