while the operators of the two main franchises within the North tend to receive more subsidy – the total spent by government on rail in the North is far lower and is being cut by more, while London’s expenditure rises.

A new study following new figures from railways regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), by IPPR North shows the scale of underinvestment in the North’s rail network.

A comprehensive study of the figures reveals that Northerners are actually losing out and investment in transport infrastructure is being swallowed up by London. 

In 2013-14, rail spending per head across the North was £84, compared to London’s £298 and the UK average of £105. Despite 23.5 per cent of the UK’s population living in the North in 2013, it received only 18.8 per cent of the UK’s expenditure on railways in 2013/14. In turn London, with only 13.1 per cent of the UK’s population, received 36.8 per cent of the spending.

Total spending on railways actually rose between 2012-13 and 2013-14, but this was due entirely to increases in expenditure in London and Scotland, while the North was cut by £47m, spending in London rose by £224m; the North West was hit disproportionately badly by the cuts, making £30 million contribution to the railway expenditure savings.

Between 2012-13 and 2013-14, national expenditure on rail per head rose by 1.2 per cent with rises in expenditure in London (by 8.4 per cent) and Scotland (by 3.4 per cent); the North on the other hand had its per capita expenditure cut by 3.9 per cent, while other areas saw even sharper reductions.

If, over the past five years, the North’s per head expenditure on rail had equalled the average across all UK regions, it would have risen by £1.9b (27.9 per cent) from £6.8b, to £8.7b.

The figures come as key projects in the Northern Powerhouse and Northern Hub are paused, delayed or shelved and says Luke Raikes, IPPR North Research Fellow,

“In isolation these ORR figures might appear to show that the south is ‘subsidising’ the rail services of people in the North. But this is just a small part of a bigger picture on rail spending – more comprehensive government figures show that that spending per capita on rail is far higher and increasing in London, while in the North spending is lower than average and has been cut.
“Due to a long history of underinvestment, Northern passengers still travel to work on overcrowded Pacer trains and face sluggish journey times and connections between major towns and cities. If the North is to grow and prosper then it needs the investment in a modern, efficient rail network. But despite the rhetoric, the government’s infrastructure pipeline and recent announcements indicate that that the historic investment gap looks set to get worse, not improve.
“This highlights the need for some of these responsibilities to be devolved – as is common in other countries. If the North is to truly fulfil its economic potential then it can’t be entirely dependent on central government, and more decisions about the North’s transport infrastructure should be made in the North by the new Transport for the North organisation.”

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