Northern Labour mayors are demanding ministers revisit the region’s original plans for high-speed rail so a full assessment of its potential ‘levelling up’ benefits can be carried out.
They have written to the Prime Minister, as well as the ‘levelling up’ secretary, Michael Gove, and transport secretary Grant Shapps, after it emerged no such economic analysis was done when ministers decided to scale the proposal back.
The Integrated Rail Plan, published in November, shaved £18bn off the plans for new east-west links put forward by the North - missing out Bradford and significantly reducing the size of the proposed high-speed network.
