Mayor welcomes Northern Powerhouse Rail announcement

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire said: 

"For too long, unreliable rail links have caused misery for people living and working in the North, while holding back our ambitious plans for growth.

"Today we have a solid commitment from government to invest in connecting our towns and cities including taking forward plans for Bradford Station, capacity upgrades in and out of Leeds, and electrification across the network to allow more frequent and faster trains.

“We made the case as Yorkshire mayors that we needed better connectivity between our biggest cities, and we are working with the government to deliver better transport across Yorkshire and the north.

“This will help us boost capacity, reliability and journey times between our biggest cities, driving jobs and growth across Yorkshire."

Responding to the Government’s Northern Powerhouse Rail announcement, the Mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard; Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire; and Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith said:

"As the mayors for the White Rose Region of South, West and York and North Yorkshire, we welcome the government’s once in a generation commitment to improving transport across the North through Northern Powerhouse Rail. The long-term commitment to investing £45 billion in northern transport will transform Yorkshire’s transport network and deliver improved links across our region and on to Manchester, Liverpool, and Newcastle. It’ll mean we can deliver quicker, more reliable journeys, opening up more choice around work, skills and opportunity for everyone across Yorkshire.

"Decades of underinvestment have left Yorkshire’s transport network overcrowded and outdated.  The first phase of Northern Powerhouse Rail will tackle this head on, with a clear national focus on connecting Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford and York with a frequent, electrified service. As set out in Yorkshire’s Plan for Rail, we will work to deliver up to four fast trains an hour between Sheffield and Leeds, with a 30 minute connection which will help unlock over a million extra journeys a year and boost the economy. A commitment to upgrade the infrastructure at Leeds, York and Sheffield stations, as well as the vital new station for Bradford and onward connection to Manchester, will be crucial to realising this vision, enabling more direct services and longer trains to run across the region.

"But today’s announcement is just the beginning. Alongside Northern Powerhouse Rail, we will keep working with the government to push for the delivery of all the schemes included in Yorkshire’s Plan for Rail to make sure all our cities and towns benefit from this unparalleled investment. Mass transit in West Yorkshire and tram-train expansion in South Yorkshire; two trains an hour between Sheffield, Barnsley and Huddersfield, and from York to Scarborough; fixing the bottlenecks on the East Coast mainline at York and Doncaster; and more – these are the ambitions of our communities and they remain our priorities. 

"The government recognises that all too many in our communities remain deeply sceptical: too many promises have been made and then swiftly broken by national governments of the past. We’re clear eyed about the work that is required to ensure these projects are delivered, and we are very pleased that government is working closely with mayors to see this through."

Lord Blunkett, author of the Yorkshire Plan for Rail, said:

"I am very pleased that as a consequence of the White Rose Agreement, signed last March, and the Rail Plan for Yorkshire - which I was pleased to chair - an essential first step is now to be taken to recognise the critical importance of the cities and towns East of the Pennines.

"It is essential that following the initial investment, the Spending Review in 2028 accelerates the development of a rail system to be proud of, and the connectivity of cities across the North to unlock the talent and the growth fundamental to future success.

"Yorkshire, with a population greater than Scotland, has long been neglected and this announcement starts the process of putting right years of neglect."

The government's announcement is available here: Multi-billion-pound drive to transform rail and growth across Yorkshire and North East