[from the Yorkshire Post, 23rd July 2020]
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has revealed plans for trains between York, Leeds and Manchester to run on a “first-class, fully-electrified railway” as he announced nearly £600m to pay for upgrades to the vital route.
Writing in The Yorkshire Post today, Mr Shapps said £589m will be used to speed up trains and boost reliability on the 76-mile Transpennine route by electrifying much of the line and doubling the number of tracks from two to four on congested stretches.
And in a change of approach to his predecessor Chris Grayling, who imposed a £2.9bn budget on the scheme which meant only two-thirds of the route could be electrified, he said the Government’s ambition was to go further and introduce full electrification.
As well as offering a marginal increase in speed, full electrification will mean trains across the Pennines perform better and more reliably but also produce less pollution.
Mr Shapps also confirmed reports that a new Northern Transport Acceleration Council, dedicated to getting vital infrastructure projects delivered more quickly, would be set up.
The establishment of the new body, which will be chaired by the Transport Secretary and will give northern leaders a “direct line” to Ministers, throws into doubt the future of existing strategic body Transport for the North.
Mr Shapps writes today that the “sheer scale” of the high speed Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 projects connecting the major cities of the North mean they will not be finished until the late 2030s.
He said:
“Passengers need change sooner than that. One of the most glaring examples of inadequate transport links in this part of the country is the Transpennine railway connecting Leeds with Manchester.
“For too long, this vital artery, joining two great cities and the other cities of the North that connect with them, has been plagued by delays. Inadequate capacity – twin track where it should be four-track – results in choke points which force express and local stopping trains to jumble up, slowing everything down.”
He said the funding announced today, which will create more space for fast trains to overtake slower vehicles, was
“just the beginning of our plans for the TRU, and only a taste of the funding to come”.
He said: “I want it to be a first-class, fully-electrified railway with more four-tracking and room for freight, not an also-ran in comparison with the East and West Coast Mainlines. Travelling from Liverpool to Newcastle via Yorkshire should be a smooth, seamless journey, not an obstacle course – and passengers will start to see the benefits in four years.
“TRU will allow the economic heart of Yorkshire to beat more powerfully. People, commerce and ideas will flow more freely. This is the payback for investment that will climb into the billions.”
The Government says that as part of its ‘integrated rail plan’, due to be published in December, full electrification, digital signalling, more multi-tracking and improved freight capacity are now “under consideration”.
Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Jim McMahon said the Government had
“flip-flopped on electrifying and upgrading the TransPennine route”.
He said: “It was a 2015 Tory manifesto commitment that they then scrapped later that year. It was subsequently unscrapped and then mooted for another cancellation in 2018. Finally it’s been reannounced every six months since with limited progress made. It’s been an absolute mess.
“Northern Powerhouse rail was first announced six years ago and is still yet to be formally approved by the Government. In June 2014, then Chancellor George Osborne announced plans for a high-speed rail link between Manchester and Leeds.
“In April 2020, it was revealed that the Government still hasn’t approved the plans yet. They must get on and get it built.”
Greater Manchester metro mayor Andy Burnham, said the news
“feels like a gear change from the government in the delivery of transport improvements in the North of England and I welcome the new drive that the Transport Secretary is bringing to this”.
“People here deserve a modern, reliable public transport system and it is my hope that the Northern Transport Acceleration Council will bring forward the day when that is a reality.
“It is crucial that the council listens to the voice of the north and is accountable to people here through their elected politicians and bodies such as Transport for the North.
“The additional funding for the Transpennine Route Upgrade is a welcome sign of intent from the government.
“But it is important to be clear that upgrading the existing railway between Manchester and Leeds does not diminish the need for a new line in Northern Powerhouse Rail nor does it solve the capacity issues in central Manchester which require a separate solution.
“As we look to recover from Covid-19 and build back better, I am ready to work in constructive partnership with the government to get visible transport improvements as quickly as possible.
“My top priority is to build a London-style, integrated public transport system in Greater Manchester and I look forward to working with the Secretary of State on making this vision a reality.”
Judith Blake, leader of Leeds city council and transport lead for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, welcomed the announcement but asked government to set out what the full benefits for passengers will be.
[additional quotes from Andy Burnham from Manchester Evening News, 23rd July 2020]
[and a further article from the Yorkshire Post, 23rd July 2020]
My vision for fully-electrified Transpennine rail will cost more than £2.9bn budget set by Chris Grayling, says Grant Shapps
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says a bigger budget than the £2.9bn set by his predecessor Chris Grayling will be needed for the Transpennine route to become a “first-class, fully-electrified” railway.
The Cabinet Minister said the benefits of £589m in new funding for the 76-mile route connecting Leeds with Manchester, Huddersfield and York will be felt by passengers before the next scheduled General Election in 2024.
The funding announced today will be used to speed up trains and boost reliability on the vital route by electrifying much of the line and doubling the number of tracks from two to four on congested stretches.
But Mr Shapps says his ambition is for the line to be a “first-class, fully-electrified railway with more four-tracking and room for freight, not an also-ran in comparison with the East and West Coast Mainlines”.
This is a stark contrast to the position of his predecessor as Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, who set a Budget of £2.9bn for the long-awaited upgrade of the route which meant full electrification was not possible.
In 2017 Mr Grayling insisted that there may be insufficient benefits to justify the cost of electrification, despite senior Tories David Cameron and George Osborne repeatedly pointing to their promise to electrify the Transpennine route as evidence of their commitment to the North.
Though the benefits in terms of journey times may be marginal due to the nature of the route, electric trains are thought to be better performing and more reliable as well as better for the environment than diesel trains.
But electrifying the entire route across the Pennines, given what a Network Rail boss described as its “inherently challenging topography”, is likely to be costly.
Asked about the budget for the scheme, Mr Shapps told The Yorkshire Post:
“It’s great to actually finally be getting on with it so the £589 million today for phase one actually delivers stuff and it does it within this Parliament by 2024.
“So that’s very important but if we’re going to go for full electrification, we’re going to have three or four tracks all the way through, if we’re really going to speed up that journey, then clearly it will need more money.
“And so I think it’s a clear direction of travel, that we’re determined to do it properly.”
He said more details would be released as part of the Integrated Rail Plan to be published this year, which sets out how HS2 will integrate with other major rail projects.
He said:
“We’ll say more about that at the end of the year. But yes you’ve spotted the obvious point which is of course we’ll need to raise our ambitions as far as the money is concerned too.
“Our plan is, and the reason for getting on with this, is that by 2024, people are seeing improvements. In fact I think they may well see improvements earlier but I’d rather not over promise and under deliver on that.
“This phase one actually enables us to get on with stuff now and deliver now so people should see in rail terms reasonably rapid improvements as part of a much bigger plan, not just on TRU but on transport across the North.”
Kim Groves, chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, said she would be
“seeking reassurance that the plans are still based upon the full electrification of the line, which will provide the optimum improvements in terms of journey times for people travelling between Huddersfield, Leeds, York, Manchester and beyond and support our carbon reduction plans”.
She added: “Our priorities for the region remain for both Northern Powerhouse Rail and a fully electrified Transpennine route to boost our economic growth and to improve the lives of millions of people. We will continue to call for these projects to be delivered as soon as possible.”
Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of the Tees Valley, said the upgrades to the Transpennine route
“are desperately needed to bring about transformational change across the network”.
He said: “This will help increase capacity, reliability and connectivity between Redcar and Middlesbrough to York, Leeds and Manchester, giving our passengers, businesses and, ultimately, freight services the links they deserve.”