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In areas starved of the kind of investment taken for granted in the south-east, the miserable state of northern England’s railways has long been a source of anger and indignation. One analysis of Treasury figures found that the equivalent of seven Elizabeth lines could have been built in the north, if levels of funding devoted to London’s transport needs had been replicated there. Instead, an estimated £140bn shortfall means that the 35-mile trip from Liverpool to Manchester can take more than twice as long as the 42-mile journey from London to Reading.
Plans to resuscitate the Northern Powerhouse Rail project (NPR), unveiled on Tuesday by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, are therefore welcome and overdue. The government has committed to developing a three-stage plan to upgrade rail connections from the west coast to the north-east. No doubt mindful of the political threat posed to Labour by Reform in “red wall” seats, Sir Keir Starmer hailed the moment as a turning point, observing that northerners had “been let down by broken promises” in the past.
That is something of an understatement. Since George Osborne first mooted a high-speed rail connection across the Pennines in 2014, the NPR train has barely left the station. HS2 ignominiously ground to a halt at Birmingham instead of continuing to Manchester and Leeds. HS3, conceived as a means of unlocking economic potential in the north by bringing cities and towns closer together, proved to be an unfunded pipe dream. As politicians have repeatedly talked of creating a brave new world, outdated and unreliable rolling stock has continued to take its time traversing crumbling Victorian infrastructure.
Will it be any different this time? After protracted negotiations, Labour’s northern mayors have rallied behind the government’s proposals, which include a new station for Bradford – the country’s worst-connected big city. But a discernible undercurrent of cynicism is understandable.
The headline figure of £45bn to reverse the years of underinvestment is substantial. But only £1.1bn of government money has initially been allocated to develop the modernisation project, and much of the major work will only take place in the 2030s and 40s. Construction on a new Birmingham-to-Manchester line – vital to ease congestion on the west coast mainline route – is only expected to begin 20 years from now. A dearth of detail over delivery raises fears that, once again, the north will be taken for a ride, as future administrations shift priorities and local authorities are left to pick up the pieces.
That cannot not be allowed to happen. The economic case for improving the transport infrastructure of the north is inarguable. Future productivity gains resulting from easier mobility could eventually dwarf the cost of upgrading. Just as importantly, in a country where deepening regional inequalities have fuelled understandable resentment, giving northern England a respectable rail network can help unify a divided and increasingly polarised nation.
During the 1980s, British Rail launched an upbeat advertising campaign based on the slogan “We are getting there”. Given the length of its timelines, the government could scarcely be said to be fast-tracking its NPR relaunch. Nevertheless, the direction of travel is the right one. This time, though, the journey needs to be completed rather than aborted en route. Long-suffering passengers and commuters will not be holding their breath.
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