Boris Johnson will this week unveil a £100 billion package of investment in Northern rail networks in an attempt to accelerate his flagship ‘levelling up’ agenda.
Long-awaited Integrated Rail Plan, which will bring forward planned upgrades for a decade, is being hailed as one of the biggest investments in rail infrastructure by Government.
According to sources, the new line and improvement would decrease journey times as well increase the services in the Midlands. It will merge several schemes including HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail, and Midlands Engine Rail into a single network.
The package, which has been costed at more than £96 billion, will cut journey times between the North and London and between the major conurbations – the time from Manchester to Leeds on the Transpennine Route is expected to be cut by 20 minutes.
The TransPennie Express trains cross the viaduct at Brownhill and Saddleworth in Oldham. Long-awaited Integrated Rail Plan, which will bring forward planned upgrades of a decade and make trains more affordable for the Government, is anticipated to be hailed.
The Bolton to Wigan route will also be electrified at a cost of £78 m, while routes lost to the Beeching cuts of the 1960s and 1970s, including the Don Valley line between Sheffield and Stockbridge in Yorkshire, and the Stockport to Ashton line in the North West, will be restored.
Investing in transport links is a key part of the Prime Minister’s promise to ‘level up’ the regional variations in prosperity, which helped to secure the Red Wall former Labour seats which proved critical to his 2019 General Election victory.
Mr Johnson has vowed to ‘reverse decades of underinvestment in the North’s transport network’, arguing that better transport links are one of the most effective catalysts of economic growth.
The announcement – which was delayed while Mr Johnson tried to squeeze more money out of Chancellor Rishi Sunak to fund it – could also help to defuse the anger among the Red Wall MPs over the Owen Paterson sleaze row.
The Mail on Sunday last week reported that Ministers will likely scrap the eastern section of 250 mph HS2 Line between Leeds and Birmingham. Leeds, however, will receive its own tram network in consolation.
Instead, HS2 trains will be directed onto existing tracks for most of their journey to Yorkshire.
Mr Johnson, pictured in his Uxbridge constituency on November 12, has vowed to ‘reverse decades of underinvestment in the North’s transport network’, arguing that better transport links are one of the most effective catalysts of economic growth.=
A total of £360 million of investment will also be given ‘to modernise ticketing and retail systems’, with the rolling out of contactless systems to replace traditional paper tickets.
A source said: ‘This new plan will ensure that we have a truly integrated transport network. The journey times for trains will begin running ten year earlier than they did in the Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 plans.
‘Under the previous plans, HS2 and Northern Powerhouse would not have reached the East Midlands, Manchester, Yorkshire, and the North East until the 2040s.
‘While the plan will help some of our largest cities, it will also strengthen ties between smaller towns.’