Disruption ‘will cause lasting damage to economy’

THE RAIL chaos sparked by the botched introduction of new timetables will do lasting damage to productivity in the North of England, the George Osborne-led Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) has said.

Director Henri Murison warned that the disruption, which cost the North’s economy at least £38m in May and June according to the NPP, would have a longer-term impact.

The delays and cancellations will also make it harder for Theresa May to achieve her goal of spreading growth around the country, he said.

“(It) isn’t just a flash in the pan, but actually will have a longerterm impact, sadly, on what is our aim really as the North of England, which is to try and rebalance the country with London,” he told BBC Breakfast.

“And when this investment which has caused this problem was supposed to have improved things, actually it will have made it worse in the end.”

Mr Murison called for future incidents to be avoided by devolving decision-making on big transport projects like the transPennine rail route upgrade to northern leaders in Transport for the North.

The demand formed a key part of the One North campaign spearheaded by The Yorkshire Post amid the timetabling chaos.

“If it’s left to the Department for Transport again to ensure that scheme’s delivered ... to be honest, after the way this has been managed, we want the North of England’s leaders and Transport for the North to take the lead in delivering that upgrade.

“Because if it’s left to the Government without the focus of what really matters in the North, our worry is that, despite the Treasury giving us the money, actually we won’t get the upgrade we’ve been promised.”