A MISSED CONNECTION
WITHIN days of beginning his premiership in July 2019, Boris Johnson promised to fund a Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) route between Manchester and Leeds.
“I want to be the PM who does with Northern Powerhouse Rail what we did with Crossrail in London,” he said. “It will be up to local people and us to come to an agreement on the exact proposal they want – but I have tasked officials to accelerate their work on these plans so that we are ready to do a deal in the autumn.”
NPR consisted of proposals for new lines and major improvements to existing ones across the North of England from Liverpool to Hull to create a modern high-speed network. In addition to a new line between Manchester and Leeds via central Bradford, the creation of a Liverpool-Manchester route via the centre of Warrington was planned, along with upgrades and journey time improvements for the Manchester-Sheffield Hope Valley line and a connection between Sheffield and HS2 and onto Leeds. Routes to Hull from Leeds and Sheffield would be upgraded and electrified. Significant investment in the existing Leeds-Newcastle corridor, including the East Coast Main Line via York and Darlington was anticipated, as well as the reopening of the Leamside line to relieve pressure on the ECML.
The proposals envisaged that around 80km (just under 50 miles) of HS2 track and links to stations would be shared with NPR, including parts of the Phase 2b western leg serving Manchester and Manchester Airport. HS2’s proposed eastern leg, diverging from Phase 1 north of Birmingham and running north via the East Midlands, was also to be shared into Leeds by NPR services from Sheffield.
Historic underinvestment
Having spoken
