As we have seen promises being made, then quietly abandoned, then re-announced several times over the years, we have become just a little bit cynical about whether the government intends to deliver on its past commitments.
The Transpennine Route Upgrade, announced in 2011 (and re-announced in 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 & 2020) is the classic example of this.
Nearly 10 years after it was first announced, and two years after it was supposed to be complete and operational, most of it is still awaiting approval.
We are yet to see the accelerated decision-making.
Words are great (the late great Albus Dumbledore described them as our greatest source of magic), but it is actions that are needed.
Part of article in the Yorkshire Post, 11th January 2021, by Grant Shapps, follows.
Grant Shapps is the Transport Secretary and Northern Powerhouse Minister.
As Cabinet Minister with responsibility for the Northern Powerhouse, I want to reassure readers that our commitment to levelling up the North remains undimmed. It is front and centre of our infrastructure plans.
In December, for example, I chaired the second full meeting of the Northern Transport Acceleration Council (NTAC).
The council has been created to unblock barriers and speed up delivery of transport projects.
Indeed, the list of transport schemes NTAC will consider is now clear, so the next task is to select the projects it will accelerate first.
A new platform has been unveiled at Leeds station after final work was completed over the festive period. Hundreds of workers gave up Christmas to work on overhead lines, tracks and signalling, and finish the project for the New Year.
The £161m Platform 0 will allow trains to enter and leave Leeds station much more easily, boosting capacity and punctuality.
While it won’t come into full use until May – when the new timetable is introduced – it will be available for trains to use during times of disruption, minimising delays for passengers.
We’ll soon be announcing a new bus strategy to improve journeys across the North, and provide communities with services that meet their specific needs.
We’ll be moving forward with major infrastructure schemes like the Trans-Pennine rail upgrade and HS2, and with our long-term £4.2bn Intracity Fund, which will deliver huge benefits for urban transport in the North.
We’ll be working to restore passenger services on the Northumberland Line for the first time since 1964, when they fell victim to the Beeching cuts.
And we’ll continue pressing ahead with an ambitious Northern roads programme, tackling congestion and transforming capacity on key routes like the A19 and A66.
That means delivering on one of the fundamental pledges in our manifesto: making the Northern Powerhouse an industrious, inventive and vibrant reality.