The Government looks set to water down its proposals for improving the North Of England’s rail infrastructure according to leaked reports ahead of Thursday’s announcement of its Integrated Rail Plan
According to sources eastern leg of the HS2 rail project between the Midlands and Leeds will now only go 42 miles from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway, near Nottingham.
While the building of a new Northern Powerhouse Rail line between Leeds and Manchester will be amended with upgrades to existing lines
According to reports the Leeds-Manchester route via Bradford will not be built and instead will be limited to upgrades with only a new line from Manchester to around Huddersfield.
Johnson when questioned yesterday that we should “wait and see” what will be announced on Thursday, promising it will be “fantastic.”
If the reports are correct then the Government stands accused of reneging on its 2019 Party manifesto which declared a “transport revolution” would be “a key part of our plan to level up the U.K.’s cities and regions.”
It vowed: “We will build Northern Powerhouse Rail between Leeds and Manchester and then focus on Liverpool, Tees Valley, Hull, Sheffield and Newcastle.” And it pledged to “work with the leaders of the Midlands and the North to decide the optimal outcome” for the HS2 project.
While Johnson during a visit to Manchester after taking over as Prime Minister back in July 2019 that he wanted to be “the prime minister who does with Northern Powerhouse Rail what we did with Crossrail in London. And today I am going to deliver on my commitment to that vision with a pledge to fund the Leeds to Manchester route.”
