Transport for the North’s new chair and chief executive have been told it is time to turn around 50 years of decline in services on the Humber.
Lord Patrick McLoughlin, who served for four years as Transport Secretary under David Cameron, was joined by Martin Tugwell at the invitation of Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce president Phil Jones.
The pair head up the statutory body tasked with aligning the northern agenda when it comes to road, rail, air and sea links.
Read more: Hull Trains brings back full time table earlier than scheduled as Omicron fears fall away
Hull North MP Dame Diana Johnson reflected on half a century of decline, and as she looked forward to the benefits of freeport status, highlighted that “we all know we need to upgrade rail infrastructure for the Humber”.
The Labour politician told the meeting: “We need to see full rail electrification of all rail routes to Hull – the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) failed here. I know funds and powers of TfN are to be further reduced.
"MPs are really worried about TfN’s funding for the future. We want to see a reversal of cuts made to Hull in the last decade. There was good news recently on the Liverpool route, but we still need a direct link to Manchester Airport. Improvements to one part of the North will always mean another part misses out, and that’s not Levelling Up.
“We also need to see improved passenger facilities at Hull Paragon Station – it is visitors’ first impression of the city and it’s not good enough.
“Road improvements for Hull are also an issue. Development of a waterway network for travel and tourism as part of a broader holistic approach to transport is needed.
“Despite our differences we have worked cross-party, cross-Humber, for the good of this region,” she added.
Emma Hardy, Labour MP for Hull West and Hessle, agreed: “The Integrated Rail Plan was a real disappointment for the city and the area. The move to hybrid working means a regular and effective train service is even more important than before. It would be great to have TfN’s full support - we’re not asking for anything unreasonable.”
Hull City Council leader Cllr Daren Hale, said: “We need electrification, track improvements with better track maintenance to improve resilience on rail which would help to solve issues in the North West too. The eastern side of the TfN area suffers more than the west.
"We have to keep banging that drum. We talk about passengers, but we also need to talk about freight, electrify to Hull, then you’re nearly to the docks – we’re the most carbon-polluting area other than the Ruhr, and better rail connectivity would help to address that.”
The only political representation from the South Bank came from the Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, Cllr Philip Jackson, who said: “If Hull thinks it’s sidelined by TfN, the South Bank feels ignored. The Port of Immingham, the largest port by volume in the country, the Port of Grimsby, the centre for offshore wind which is growing hugely, and Cleethorpes which is the East Coast’s premier resort, all need better connectivity.
“DFDS recently launched an investment in the port and we’re trying to improve the container services out of the port, and are told by ABP director Simon Bird that loading gauge issues are stopping them taking hundreds of lorries over the Pennine routes off the road.”
Cllr Jackson also aired his disappointment that the direct rail link between King’s Cross and Cleethorpes had been deferred for a further year, especially as the gauge issues had been resolved and overnight stabling for the trains in Cleethorpes was available.
“We’ve not had a through train to London since 1992 and reinstating that service would be a big boost for Cleethorpes and Grimsby.
“I would also ask for speed improvements on local lines – these are key South Bank asks,” he added.
DFDS Seaways managing director Andrew Byrne previously worked in freight rail, so knew both sides of the arguments. “The way the shipping and transport industry has developed in the Humber has been huge - we move through more units than anywhere else, other than Dover. The Humber doesn’t have a rail freight terminal. Bulk goes out of Immingham. I met with the Rail Freight Group this week, but we are still driving rail freight out of the Humber. Minis from a plant in Oxford are brought on car transporters. We really need to find a way to unlock this resource,” he said.
Albert Weatherill, chair of the Chamber’s Shipping, Transport and Renewables Committee, said: “We have the largest port in the UK, the fourth largest in Europe, 20 per cent of all rail freight originates out of the Humber. The world is investing in the Humber with wind, carbon capture, green aviation fuel, you don’t need an economic case, it’s already here, but how much bigger could this become?”
British Steel’s Craig Harvey said his company was a huge polluter and it had a huge journey ahead, but said it was encouraging to hear everything that had been said and his comment would be that “industry really needs this”.
Operators were also present.
Managing director of Trans-Pennine Express, Matthew Golton, said he was a firm believer in coalitions of the willing – he had moved back to the North for the first time in 30 years and had found the London-centric arguments very striking.
“It’s about how you make the right arguments to the right part of the machinery,” he said. “Hull to Liverpool was an opportunity and the Rail North board had agreed that this should happen and I am going to make it happen.
“Airport links should absolutely be part of the picture, as will new bi-mode trains.”
Mr Golton promised improvements to Hull stations, with ticket barriers and general cleanliness. “It’s a question of where you set your ambitions and how dogged you are. It’s all about cross-party co-operation and clarity of message,” he said.
David Gibson, managing director of Hull Trains, is now looking at a new electrification route should overhead lines not materialise on the last leg of the London route.
He told how the 2019 investment in a new fleet of Hitachi 802 trains and reduced carbon emissions by 60 per cent, adding: “We are talking to Hitachi about rechargeable batteries to do electrification without overhead lines.
“Hull Trains had recently celebrated 21 years out of Hull Paragon Station and now had its track access extended to 2032, so we really look forward to the future and we are seeing green shoots. We had 220 passengers on Thursday morning. In December, our board approved 94 services a week, our best offering ever with improved Sunday services and running 10 car trains on Fridays and we have an additional path on a Sunday. We have real ambition for this area.”
Ben Gilligan, of East Yorkshire Buses, noted that they were coming out of the pandemic but there were big challenges. We are facing about 75 per cent of pre-Covid passenger levels at the moment and there’s a real risk to rural services at the moment as funding will run out soon. It was a big worry and a big issue for the East Riding is that connectivity by bus will not be viable and the impact on communities can be pretty severe.
“The MPs will be writing to me if I cut services, but will have to make difficult decisions if no new funding is forthcoming.”
Rail consultant David Walford said it was “fact that TfN was favouring the North West, not just a perception”.
“The cost of rail also needs to be looked at,” he said. “We are paying a lot more per mile than other areas for a much worse service, we have gone backwards, while other areas have gone forwards. If you want to level up, level up East and West first, rather than North and South,” he urged.
Summing up, Chamber chief executive Dr Ian Kelly highlighted how his organisation had helped to get Hull Trains established. “What Hull Trains has done has been remarkable and a tremendous success story, what we’ve done on the back of good services has been astounding and giving us the services we’ve outlined opens up our economy and all we’re asking for is a basic catch-up,” he said.
Lord McLoughlin, a coal miner who became a Conservative MP in 1986, chairing the party during Theresa May's time as PM, promised to take all these things away and look at what can be done.
In listening mode, he said there was a fantastic job to do, reflecting on helping get the huge A63 Castle Street scheme implemented. He said he was committed to HS2 and said he agreed with the MPs’ points about the station, noting that St Pancras and King’s Cross are now destinations in their own right.
Mr Tugwell, who used the visit to take in Murdoch’s Connection footbridge over the A63, then the Mytongate Underpass site to view the plans and progress, also saw the R-evolution cycle hub at Trinity Market while also having Guildhall chats too around decarbonisation.
He said he was keen to get out and about and present TfN as representing the whole of the North. “What has come across to me is the passion and the opportunities in the Humber – we should see this as a global gateway at the heart of the national economy. We need to keep going for the longer term.
“The Integrated Rail Plan was a disappointment, but those needs haven’t gone away and we need to do more. We need to be shouting about the strength of the rail recovery, back to passenger numbers pre-Covid, freight paths are also back to pre-Covid levels.
“I am looking forward, maximising everything we can with Network Rail. Longer term we’re about to embark on the Independent Economic Review and it’s time to update that and review it.”
Reflecting on the session, he said: “We really need to crack these outcomes and hold ourselves to account. Decarbonisation is no longer an ambition, it’s now a legal requirement. We have to get smarter if we are to see this economic growth coming.
“The Humber is a UK global gateway and we need to be getting this message across. The freight and logistics strategy starts that process and we need to focus more on that.
“I am very keen to look at how we get the business voice even more strongly into the conversation. We need to decarbonise freight as it’s one of the most polluting sectors and we need to see how we can build on previous work to look at electrification into Hull. Coming back to the IRP, the TfN board is clear about realising savings and reinvesting the money elsewhere in the North.”
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