Pardon just a tiny bit of cynicism on our part.
The North Transpennine route was acknowledged as being full in 1999. Railtrack (as was) produced glossy brochures of what they would do to increase capacity, and handed out those brochures at a public meeting in Marsden. Nothing happened.
The government announced, in the Autumn Statement 2011, that the North Transpennine route Manchester-Leeds-York would be electrified, completion by 2018. Nothing happened.
Part of the route – Victoria-Stalybridge – was to be electrified as part of the North West Electrification Project. Nothing happened.
In the eleven years since the 2011 announcement, there have been numerous re-announcements and an almost complete absence of any action.
Last week, Network Rail and the DfT indulged in a bit of unwarranted self-congratulation on having finally got round to electrifying just 5 out of more than 60 route miles. If they carry on at the present rate, the entire route will be electrified by 2175.
Now, with this re-announcement, it’s been confirmed that the entire route will be electrified. The Secretary of State has told the Yorkshire Post that it will take 10 to 15 years from now until TRU is completed in full, so that will be 21 to 26 years since it was announced and 33 to 38 years since the first set of proposals.
So much time wasted, so little action.
We still don’t know much about how it will impact on communities like ours along the route.
This latest reannouncement came the day before a damning report from the National Audit Office, pointing out the money wasted so far on abortive work, and the time wasted in making a start on construction.
DfT self-congratulatory press release follows. When reading it, remember that the entire scheme was supposed to have been completed by 2018.
Today 19 July 2022, the government has made available £959 million of additional funding to continue to progress the delivery of the ambitious Transpennine route upgrade.
This funding is a significant milestone and another step towards upgrading the key east-west rail artery across the north of England, to further this government’s levelling up and decarbonisation objectives.
In addition to progressing the design of aspects of the upgrade, this funding will enable further on-the-ground delivery of electrification and journey time improvement works, mostly west of Leeds.
One of the first tangible benefits will be enabling electric trains to run between Manchester and Stalybridge by the middle of the decade. We are also developing scope that will enable the Transpennine route upgrade to become the first phase of Northern Powerhouse Rail, including plans to unlock freight flows and take thousands of lorries off our roads.
We are also more than trebling the investment in the Transpennine route upgrade from £2.9 billion to between £9.0 billion and £11.5 billion.
This additional investment will enable the roll out of digital signalling technology, electrification of the full route and the provision of additional tracks for commercial and freight services, giving rail users more reliable, more punctual, more comfortable and greener rail journeys.
To date, the government has approved over £2 billion of funding for the upgrade. The further £959 million of funding reiterates this government’s commitment to transforming rail connectivity across the north, as part of the Integrated Rail Plan.
Transport update: Transpennine route upgrade – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)