“I am proud to present the Integrated Rail Plan.” So wrote Boris Johnson at the start of a document that heralded a bright future for travellers by train in the Midlands and north of England.
The last prime minister but two promised: “The biggest ever government investment in our rail network, in redressing decades of underspending in the Midlands and North, and in levelling up our country. It builds three new high-speed lines, totalling around 110 miles of route and transforming connections to, from and between the East and West Midlands.”
