Boris Johnson is facing a Red Wall backlash today as he unveils a £96billion rail package – but downgrades some key plans.
According to the government, the HS2 route between Leeds and Birmingham will be scrapped in favor of a Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway.
The HS3 link between Manchester and Leeds, also known as Northern Powerhouse Rail, is likely to be abandoned.
It is believed that the PM will insist on the preservation of the Tories’ 2019 manifesto’s ‘Levelling Up’ pledges.
In the Yorkshire Post, he stated that investments will still result in ‘faster travels, to greater places, and faster delivery’ for Yorkshire.
He claimed that while high-speed rail is a slow process to construct, most benefits can be realized more quickly. In a series of interviews, Dominic Raab, Deputy Prime Minister, stated that government must get the most for their money.
Johnson faces unrest from Red Wall MPs that were taken at the previous election. Labour is on the offensive.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hailed the £96billion package as the biggest transport investment programme in a century
In a series of interviews, Dominic Raab, Deputy Prime Minister, stated that government must get “bang for its money”
Britain’s Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is expected to confirm that the HS3 line linking Manchester and Leeds is being ditched
In his column, Mr Johnson wrote: ‘HS2 will come to Sheffield, meaning a trip to or from London will take just one hour 27 minutes – precisely the same as under the old HS2 plans.
“We will also look at the route from HS2 to Leeds, and present a study that reveals how best to do it.
“But high speed rail can be slow to construct. Yorkshire might not have seen any benefits from our investment if the blueprint was first created more than a decade back. This is why leveling up cannot be delayed. Trains being taken from existing lines would have had a negative impact on towns like Wakefield and Doncaster as well as Dewsbury, Huddersfield.
According to the 2019 Tory manifesto: “We will construct Northern Powerhouse Rail between Leeds & Manchester.”
Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary will give a Commons Statement and then publish the complete Integrated Rail Plan.
Package will see fast trains traveling on slower tracks from Sheffield to Sheffield. This would mean that the HS2 train would travel to Yorkshire while the line would stay in Sheffield.
Less than half of the total cost declared today – £40billion – will be new funding because the package includes most of the cost of HS2 from London to Crewe – money already announced.
It is much lower than the amount that would have been spent if Government went ahead with its original plan.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, who is also the MP for Leeds West, said it seemed promises made in four successive Conservative manifestoes to bring HS2 to Leeds and Yorkshire were being abandoned.
She said that she was tinkering at the edges of transportation in north England, rather than transforming it properly.
Yorkshire already has the lowest transport capital investment than any other place in the country.
“Capital investment for transport in England’s north is only half that of London and the east.
“We’ve been wronged for many years.”
Ms Reeves said: “The government has now announced Northern Powerhouse Rail 70x in the past few years, and not one spade in ground.
“The people of Yorkshire have become very skeptical about the government’s promises.”
Henri Murison of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership said: ‘We won’t be hoodwinked into believing we’re getting £96billion for a transport revolution in the North.
The remaining half of Phase 1 of the HS2 budget is for Birmingham. The eastern leg of HS2 has lost half its budget.
Raab insisted that rail plans by the government were a ‘win-win’ proposition and that changes to them would bring more value.
While he refused to reveal the details, he stated that BBC Breakfast would provide more information.
‘It’s never been done before, £96 billion, there’s never been an infrastructure project or series of projects on this scale.
“We are delivering actions to support the hopes and words around us.”
Revisions to the plans focus on improving existing lines in order to decrease journey times through the North and Midlands. Some new tracks will also be laid.
Last year, the National Infrastructure Commission proposed that HS2’s Eastern Leg be cut in favor of improving east-west connections.
A second report – the Oakervee Review –also raised questions about the best way to deliver improved rail connectivity.
Last night, the Government insisted that journey times will be ‘the exact same, similar or faster than’ original HS2/Northern Powerhouse Rail plans.
A tunnelling machine at the south portal of HS2 align compound. It is located in Rickmansworth. The Government has said journey times would be ‘the same, similar to or faster’ than the original HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail plans
According to the report, better east-west connectivity between major metropolitan areas in the North or Midlands could be realized up to ten year earlier.
Johnson stated: “If we wish to see an increase in our actions now, then we have to rapidly transform the most valuable services to our citizens.
‘That’s why the integrated rail plan will be the biggest transport investment programme in a century, delivering meaningful transport connections for more passengers across the country, more quickly – with both high-speed journeys and better local services, it will ensure no town or city is left behind.’
The journey time between Manchester and Leeds can still be reduced to approximately half an hour, from 50 minutes.
They would have been cut to 25 minutes under the original plan. Ministers say that travel time from Birmingham to Nottingham is going to be reduced from 72 to 27 minutes and Birmingham from Manchester to 90 minutes.
However, the National Infrastructure Commission has calculated that there will be less capacity.
Plans will allow for an additional 21,000 commuters into Leeds. This is in addition to up to 42,000 people originally planned. Bradford will experience a similar decrease in capacity.
Former Conservative minister Lord O’Neill and Vice Chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership said that Bradford was being expelled after it became clear that the HS2 Extension plans for Yorkshire were likely to be reduced.
It is likely that the HS2 Extension will not reach Leeds or Sheffield.
Lord O’Neill said: ‘It seems like a strange political and economic risk-reward calculation here because from what the team at the Powerhouse Partnership have figured out, all of this on that part of it would only save less than £4billion out of what was previously £39billion.
“So, 10% saving to disappoint millions in the north, and most importantly, redwall seat holders and their MPs.
Jim McMahon from Labour, the Labour transport spokesperson said that it is laughable that government expects North people to be thankful for half-baked or repackaged plans. This comes as the government tries to quiet back down on promises they made about the critical infrastructure projects these communities require so desperately.
‘Failure to deliver on HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail – schemes ministers have committed to dozens of times – is not only insulting, it is actively holding back investment and opportunity that could benefit millions.’