{"id":208535,"date":"2025-06-23T20:21:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T20:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/208535\/"},"modified":"2025-06-23T20:21:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T20:21:11","slug":"we-need-northern-powerhouse-rail-to-become-a-reality-and-now-is-the-time-to-make-it-happen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/208535\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We need Northern Powerhouse Rail to become a reality and now is the time to make it happen’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transport for the North’s board met in Liverpool todayDan Haygarth<\/strong><\/a> Liverpool Daily Post Editor and Regeneration Reporter<\/p>\n

20:36, 23 Jun 2025<\/p>\n

\"LiverpoolLiverpool Lime Street station(Image: Transport for the North)<\/p>\n

Northern leaders have restated their ambition for investment in transport infrastructure in order to unlock economic growth. Transport for the North Board members met today in Liverpool for their board meeting, which brought together Mayors and council leaders from around the region.<\/p>\n

The meeting responded to the government’s spending review and ten year infrastructure strategy. The board welcomed the investment in city regions<\/a> and called for further investment to be far reaching across the North, including rural and coastal areas.<\/p>\n

They reiterated their belief in the need for Northern Powerhouse Rail, in full, including new lines via central Warrington<\/a>, Manchester Airport<\/a> and Bradford, major upgrades to routes linking Sheffield, Leeds and Hull and improvements to the East Coast Main Line, including reopening the Leamside Line.<\/p>\n

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to soon set out plans for a major new rail link between Liverpool and Manchester<\/a>, which Metro Mayors Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham<\/a> have long-argued could hugely boost the economic growth of their respective city regions – and the wider north of the country.<\/p>\n

Both mayors travelled to London last month to make the case for this investment, with the Liverpool ECHO and the Manchester Evening News joining forces to back those calls.<\/a><\/p>\n

In a speech on June 11, Ms Reeves didn’t go into the numbers, but having outlined a further \u00a33.5bn investment in the Transpennine route upgrade, she added: “My ambition, and the ambition of the people of the north is greater still. In the coming weeks I will set out this government’s plan to take forward our ambition for Northern Powerhouse Rail.”<\/p>\n

A number of projects in the Liverpool City Region will also benefit from transport funding announced by the Chancellor earlier this month and confirmed as part of the spending review on June 11<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ms Reeves delivered a speech in Rochdale on June 4<\/a>, in which she said the Labour government would invest \u00a315.6bn in public transport projects, largely across the Midlands and North of England.<\/p>\n

Within this investment, the Liverpool City Region’s five-year-settlement allocation from 2027\/28 to 2031\/32 will represent a total of \u00a31.6bn<\/a>. The Chancellor said this will include “the largest ever investment” in our region’s stations as she mentioned the construction of three new Merseyrail<\/a> stops – a key part of Mr Rotheram’s successful 2024 re-election manifesto<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The announcement also meant that \u00a3100m will be spent on three new dedicated rapid transport routes to and from the city centre. As well as the rapid transit investment, the Liverpool City Region cash will also be spent on a new fleet of buses<\/a> that will form part of the region’s soon-to-be franchised bus network.<\/p>\n

About the board’s meeting today, TfN chair Lord McLoughlin said: “The North\u2019s political leaders know that better connectivity can unlock sustainable and inclusive growth.<\/p>\n

“While welcoming the commitments in the recent Spending Review, we also need to see Northern Powerhouse Rail become a reality for our communities and businesses and now is the time for a clear plan to make it happen.<\/p>\n

“We need to be able to give our industries and our young people the certainty to look ahead and see transformational infrastructure happening to help build a better future for the North.<\/p>\n

“We want to see decisions made by the North, for the North, in the North.\u201d<\/p>\n

The meeting also heard that work on the TransPennine Rail Upgrade was progressing well with electrification between Manchester and Leeds well underway. Political leaders said it was exciting to see work being delivered and how it engages with the communities along the route.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Transport for the North’s board met in Liverpool todayDan Haygarth Liverpool Daily Post Editor and Regeneration Reporter 20:36,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,179,29937,1263,183,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-208535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-liverpool","12":"tag-rail-travel","13":"tag-transport","14":"tag-travel","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114734543028572838","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}