Hand-me-down trains point to battle ahead

THE Great North Rail Project is a grandsounding project to improve railways in the North of England.

It has fine intentions – but appears to being undermined by central government.

Improving railways in the north is apparently a priority for government – but transport secretary Chris Grayling has shelved plans to put electric lines on the main transpennine routes, which would have been better for the environment, and improved services dramatically. So far, so bad. But there has been electrification of the line between Manchester and Blackpool – great news.

This weekend, the GNRP celebrated the new electric trains running on that route.

Only it didn’t take long for people to point out the trains aren’t new – they are the hand-me-downs from train operators in and around London, where new trains are actually being brought into use.

Commuters in the south point to the fact the trains they were pleased to wave goodbye to had no air conditioning, and very little legroom between seats.

It’s not exactly the sort of show of support our local MP Jake Berry needs as the Northern Powerhouse minister when he tries to convince the region that the government cares about the area.

And I can’t help but think it also gives an indication to just how hard this area will have to battle if it wants to stand any chance of getting a viable public transport alternative to buses along the M66 when trying to connect to Manchester.

Without that public transport access – or improvements to the roads network – there’s a real danger the investment promised by the Northern Powerhouse could pass our area by.