Open letter from Transport for the North follows decision to downgrade Liverpool to Leeds route

Northern transport leaders have written to the government asking to explore funding options that would allow the Northern Powerhouse rail scheme to be built in full.

The offer came in an open letter from Transport for the North (TfN) interim chair Louise Gittins in which she expressed the group鈥檚 鈥渄isappointment and dismay鈥� at the government鈥檚 decision to downgrade spending on the route from 拢31bn to 拢23bn.

The high speed line between Liverpool and Leeds via Manchester and Bradford was significantly scaled back last month as part of the delayed Integrated Rail Plan (IRP).

marsden

Source: Shutterstock

Instead of Leeds, the new high-speed line will finish at Marsden 鈥� more than 25 miles away

The new line will now stop at Marsden, a Pennine village to the west of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, with the rest of the route being replaced by upgrades to existing lines.

TfN said there was unanimous support from its board to work with the government to 鈥渆xplore ways in which the long-term ambition underpinning its preferred Northern Powerhouse Rail network might be realised鈥�.

In the letter, which was addressed to transport secretary Grant Shapps, Gittins said funding options could include local contributions.

She also said TfN鈥檚 board were calling for the technical work which was used by the government to justify the decisions made in the IRP to be published 鈥渁s a matter of urgency鈥�.

Gittins said the work needed to be made public so that there was 鈥渃larity about the basis on which decisions have been taken鈥�.

She added that the 鈥渋nadequate鈥� IRP was 鈥渦nacceptable for the North鈥�.

The government鈥檚 revised plans would see eight fast trains per hour between Manchester and Leeds instead of 12 in the full NPR line.

The route would also skip Bradford, which is one of the UK鈥檚 worst connected cities with no direct rail access to Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle, Hull or Manchester Airport.

The IRP also confirmed that the 拢40bn eastern leg of HS2 from the West Midlands to Leeds would be scrapped and replaced by upgrades to existing lines.

The plan outlined 拢96bn of spending to upgrade railways across the UK, although 拢40bn has already been committed as part of HS2鈥檚 first phase between London and Crewe.

New schemes include track improvements to the East Coast Main Line, a new mass transit system in Leeds and upgrades to the Midland Main Line between London St Pancras, the East Midlands, and Sheffield.

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