100 North projects may be speeded up

The new “acceleration council” set up by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to speed up the delivery of major projects has identified more than 100 schemes across the North it hopes to progress.

The Department for Transport’s has been working with local leaders and metro mayors in the region.

THE new “acceleration council” established by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to speed up the delivery of major projects has identified more than 100 schemes across the north of England that it hopes to progress.

Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said the Department for Transport’s civil servants have been working with local leaders and metro mayors in the region to identify the projects and were now “trying to get money out of the Treasury”.

He cited the upgrade to the Hope Valley rail line between Sheffield and Manchester, which the Government announced earlier this month would be receiving £137m of investment, as an example of how the new body would work.

But he insisted that despite the creation of a new Northern transport body, there was still an important role for Transport for the North (TfN), which has had its budget slashed amid fears that it is being sidelined by the Government.

The North Transport Acceleration Council (NTAC) was announced last summer by Mr Shapps, who has previously described TfN as “by definition a talking shop”.

Mr Shapps, who is also the Northern Powerhouse Minister, is the chairman of the NTAC and said it gives leaders in the region a “direct line” to Ministers to speed up the delivery of projects.

TfN, which relies on the Government for funding, is jointly responsible with the Department for Transport for delivering the flagship Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme, but it does not have the power to instruct other agencies on projects.

It was confirmed last week that the Department for Transport is set to create a “Northern hub” for its operations, with hundreds of civil servants due to be based in Leeds.

However, Rail Minister Mr Heaton-Harris rejected the idea that this meant the Department for Transport would be taking over some of the functions currently held by TfN.

He said: “TfN provides quite an important link for me, Grant and officials in proper structured dialogue with local authorities, combined authorities, mayors.

“There is a distinct purpose to the acceleration council because we do want to get on with the delivery of these schemes.

“A very good example of this is that we have identified over 100 schemes that we know that working together we can speed up. We’re trying to get money out of the Treasury to make sure we can do these sorts of things.

“There was an example of that only last week, where over £130m got released for the Hope Valley engineering works which really will be a game changer for reliability of services as you head across to Manchester.

“So there is absolutely purpose to it.

“I’d like to think maybe those conversations could be more enriching, and possibly done postpandemic over coffee and in person rather than via calls and online, but I don’t see there being any replacement.”

The Department for Transport said it is committed to ensuring transport links across the country are given adequate funding and resources.

A spokesperson said: “We are investing billions to level up infrastructure across the North, and the Northern Transport Acceleration Council will be crucial to ensuring improvements are made as quickly as possible.

“We continue to work closely with Northern leaders to identify local priorities and will be holding the next NTAC meeting this month.”

We do want to get on with the delivery of these schemes. Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris.