Transport Insights

Labour has once again got cold feet over Northern Powerhouse Rail, the BBC’s Faisal Islam reports.

Plans to extend high-speed rail across the north of England have been delayed further and will not now be announced by the prime minister at the Labour Party conference next week.

The BBC understands concerns over the long-term costs of the line earmarked between Liverpool and Manchester have pushed back the revival of Northern Powerhouse Rail.

The Northern Powerhouse was invented a decade ago by the Tories

Islam adds that “an announcement had been expected on multiple occasions in recent months”.

Indeed it had; only last month a Guardian “exclusive” told us that:

Keir Starmer is to formally revive Northern Powerhouse Rail this autumn with an announcement expected before the Labour conference, as a major demonstration of Labour’s commitment to northern infrastructure.

Unfortunately, Islam’s story soon degenerates into spin, telling us that despite the spin doctors repeatedly promising a new dawn, the same spin doctors, sorry “insiders”

said an extended review process of the project was under way in a bid to avoid mistakes made with HS2, which has been dogged by problems and costly delays.

A government source said it remains “fully committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail”.

The fact that the government only seems prepared to stress its commitment through an anonymous quote from a source does make you wonder how strong that commitment really is.

King of the North Andy Burnham seems to think the “tyre kicking exercise” could be terminal:

It feels always that projects in the southern half the country are green lighted but often red lighted up here.