Transport Insights

The government’s framing of more dither and delay over so-called Northern Powerhouse Rail as an end to dither and delay, alongside a spending cap instead of new money, is breathtaking.

So far this morning, the Department for Transport (DfT) has issued separate press releases for the North West and for Yorkshire and the North East, with the former (eventually) getting a brand new rail line between Liverpool and Manchester and the latter getting (first) upgrades and electrification between Leeds-Sheffield, Leeds-York and Leeds-Bradford.

A third phase will focus on improved connections between Manchester and Sheffield, Manchester and Leeds, and explore options for Manchester to Bradford.   

In an act of ineptitude that seems par for the course for the DfT just now, the press release about Yorkshire and the North East includes the wholly uninspiring image of “Manchester Picadlily Station” replicated here.

With the Yorkshire part “set to be delivered in the 2030s” and delivery of the second part “starting in the 2030s”, transport secretary Heidi Alexander seems to believe she has Jedi-level powers of misdirection:

For too long, the North has been held back by underinvestment and years of dither and delay – but that ends now.

On the funding front:

A funding cap of £45 billion will be set for the programme, including £1.1 billion over the Spending Review period allocated from existing budgets first.

So, far from announcing a multi-billion pound investment as it claims, the government is merely promising a cap on whatever might be spent at some unspecified point in the future.

Since coming to power, Labour has repeatedly criticised the last (Tory) government for making big ticket spending announcements for transport schemes without putting the money into actual budgets. They are now doing exactly the same.

Let’s give the last word to Labour peer and former Sheffield MP Lord (David) Blunkett:

It is essential that following the initial investment, the Spending Review in 2028 accelerates the development of a rail system to be proud of…

Translation: show me the money.