The West Yorkshire\nCombined Authority has called on the Government to break the cycle of broken\npromises to the region and give certainty over future rail investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a letter to Transport Secretary\nGrant Shapps, the Combined Authority asks the Government to use its forthcoming\nIntegrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands to make good its commitment to\ndelivering the eastern leg of HS2 in full and on the same timescale as the\nwestern leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Plan should also commit to delivering\nimproved capacity around Leeds Station, the Transpennine line upgrade, Northern\nPowerhouse Rail in full including a new line between Leeds, Bradford City\nCentre and Manchester along with a programme of electrification of existing\nlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter rejects the findings of\nthe National Infrastructure Commission\u2019s recent Rail Needs Assessment as based\non an \u201cinconsistent and fundamentally flawed\u201d approach and warns that following\nits recommendations could have serious economic consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It says the National Infrastructure\nCommission\u2019s approach creates an artificial choice between HS2 and Northern\nPowerhouse Rail, ignores the role HS2 will play in improving connections\nbetween Yorkshire\u2019s cities, fails to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail in full\nand does not address the capacity bottlenecks around Leeds Station which cause\ndelays across the national rail network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter further warns that\ncontinued uncertainty on HS2 will damage business confidence and blight\ndevelopment while doing nothing to accelerate delivery of other schemes which\nwill take up to a decade to reach the same point. A clear decision would allow\nenabling works for the eastern leg of HS2 to begin in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter says: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Government has a choice to make, it can make a choice to tackle climate change, to unlock economic growth, to bridge the productivity gaps and to level up. Or the Government can once again leave our region and other authorities in the North behind.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Letter\ndemands end to broken promises on transport investment – Combined Authority |\nUnlocking potential, accelerating growth (westyorks-ca.gov.uk)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority has called on the Government to break the cycle of broken promises to the region and give certainty over future rail investment. In a letter to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, the Combined Authority asks the … Continue reading