The Prime Minister has announced the Government will support a series of transport schemes after cutting HS2 north of Birmingham.
Rishi Sunak pledged to “reinvest every single penny, £36 billion, in hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, across the country”.
This includes the creation of what he named Network North, which involves improvements to road, rail and bus schemes.
A further £12 billion will be set aside to improve rail journeys between Manchester and Liverpool, which was a project previously announced as part of Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Labour claimed that “almost all” of the schemes announced by the Prime Minister “had already been part of Government plans so cannot be described as new investments nor reinvestments”.
The Prime Minister’s press secretary said funding would be spent in the same 2029-40 period as planned for HS2.
A Department for Transport document stated that individual projects “will be subject to the approval of business cases”.
Downing Street said transport improvements will include £19.8 billion invested in the North on schemes such as:
– £2 billion for a new station at Bradford and a new connection to Manchester.
– £2.5 billion to deliver a new tram system in Leeds.
– £3 billion for upgraded and electrified lines between Manchester and Sheffield; Sheffield and Leeds; Sheffield and Hull; and Hull and Leeds.
– Nearly £4 billion more funding for local transport in city regions.
– A new £2.5 billion fund for local transport across all areas in the North outside those city regions.
– A new £3.3 billion fund for road resurfacing.
– Fund the proposed Shipley Bypass in Bradford and the Blyth Relief Road in Northumberland.
– Reopen the Don Valley railway line between Sheffield and Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire.
– Upgrade the Energy Coast railway line between Carlisle, Workington and Barrow, Cumbria.
The Midlands will see £9.6 billion “reinvested” in projects such as:
– Funding the Midlands Rail Hub in full with £1.75 billion to connect 50 stations.
– More than £1.5 billion guaranteed local transport funding for the new East Midlands mayor who will be elected in May 2024.
– More than £1 billion extra local transport funding for West Midlands City Region.
– A new £2.2 billion fund for local transport across all areas in the West and East Midlands outside the city regions.
– Reopened train lines and new stations such as the Ivanhoe Line in the East Midlands.
– The development of road schemes in the Midlands to benefit businesses and their employees at Rolls Royce, Toyota and Magna Park.
Schemes in other parts of the UK will receive £6.5 billion, Downing Street said.
This includes:
– Rail improvements in the South West.
– Keeping the £2 cap on bus fares in England until the end of December 2024.
– Transforming the rail junction at Ely, Cambridgeshire.
– Providing “billions” of pounds to fix potholes.
– Upgrading the A75 between Gretna and Stranraer to boost links with Northern Ireland via ferries.
– £1 billion to fund the electrification of the North Wales Main Line.
