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Clegg: fix railways in north of England Clegg: fix railways in north of England
(35 minutes later)
Commuters in the north of England are forced to use “decrepit” trains that would be deemed unacceptable for workers in the south, Nick Clegg complained as he pledged to push the Treasury to invest more in rail and road links. Road and rail investments across across the north of England, including the promise of a fully upgraded and electrified network between Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield by 2025, are likely to be central vote-winning features of the December autumn statement, the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, will suggest on Thursday.
The deputy prime minister and Lib Dem MP for Sheffield Hallam called on the chancellor, George Osborne, to announce funding in December’s Autumn Statement to pay for immediate improvements. Extra capital spending in the next parliament is one of the few spending commitments the coalition parties are equipped to make, and his speech suggests solid announcements will be made in the autumn statement after months of speculation, lobbying by council leaders and hints by cabinet ministers.
Northern cities still lacked basic transport infrastructure while billions were spent on projects in London and the south-east, he said ahead of a gathering in Leeds to discuss the region’s priorities. Clegg backs HS1 and HS2 but feels they are long-term commitments most likely to benefit the south-east, and would like to see these rail investment commitments matched by shorter-term commitments focused on the north.
Transport was the most common theme of more than 500 economy-boosting ideas submitted by local people, businesses and academics – of which 32 are due to be discussed at the Northern Futures summit. He will argue: “London and the south-east has had billions of transport investment over recent years from HS1 to Crossrail to the Northern Line extension. The perfectly reasonable requests I have been hearing from the north are basics that are needed if we are to create a true economic hub in the north of England.”
Clegg said he was specifically seeking “a fully upgraded and electrified network between Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield by 2025” and improved rolling stock on non-electrified commuter lines by 2025. An electrified Pennine train line would shorten journey times to 40 minutes at most between any two of Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield, Clegg will claim, speaking at a Northern Futures summit with Centre for Cities in Leeds. Council leaders have claimed a 20-minute cut in journey times between Leeds and Manchester would be worth £6.7bn and create nearly 30,000 jobs across the north of England.
By the same date the whole of the rest of the M62 should be made into an eight-lane motorway by using the hard shoulder as a traffic lane and improvements made to the Woodhead Pass between Manchester and Sheffield, he said. In his speech, Clegg will condemn “ancient rolling stock and lines that have not been upgraded in 30 years and are not fit for a 21st century metropolis. Decrepit trains such as the Pacers, which are literally ancient buses on rails, are not a fair way for people in the north to get to and from work. They would not be deemed acceptable on London commuter lines, and they are not acceptable in the north.”
Clegg said: “Ancient rolling stock and lines that have not been upgraded in 30 years are not fit for a 21st century metropolis. Pointing out that 64% of journeys in the north are by car, he will say the government wants to go beyond the existing commitments to improve the M62, by extending the full stretch of the M62 between Manchester and Leeds to eight lanes using the “smart” motorway model ( based on turning the hard shoulder into a fourth lane in each direction).
“Decrepit trains such as the Pacers, which are literally ancient buses on rails, are not a fair way for people in the north to get to and from work. They would not be deemed acceptable on London commuter lines and they are not acceptable in the north. He also said he wanted a programme of improvements for the Woodhead Pass (A618/A626) between Manchester and Sheffield. “I will push to see these in the upcoming Roads Investment Strategy for completion by 2025.”
“London and the south-east has had billions of transport investment over recent years from HS1 to Crossrail to the Northern Line extension. The perfectly reasonable requests I have been hearing … are basics that are needed if we are to create a true economic hub in the north of England.”
The upgrades are hoped to ensure Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield are no more than 40 minutes apart by train and ease overcrowding on routes where a third of passengers have to stand during their commute.