Manchester to Leeds journey times to be slashed as upgrade budget trebles – but government still won't listen to local leaders
A long-awaited upgrade for trains between Manchester and York via Leeds and Huddersfield will have its budget tripled, the government has announced. The Transpennine Route Upgrade, which will slash journey times and fully electrify lines, will be worth up to £11.5bn when it is done in the next 15 years.
But local leaders are still calling for more railway investment in the North of England, including an underground high-speed rail train station at Piccadilly. They claim the current plans for trains to travel on concrete viaducts across East Manchester would rob the region's economy of £333m a year by 2050.Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, transport secretary Grant Shapps conceded the extra cash for the upgrades - at least £6.
The budget for the Transpennine Route Upgrade, for which plans were first floated in 2011, will be increased from £2.9bn to between £9bn and £11.5bn. The extra cash will be spent on digital signalling technology, full electrification of the Manchester to York route, and more tracks, allowing for another two passenger trains every hour and additional hourly slots for freight services.
The upgrade will also set the foundations for Northern Powerhouse Rail which had promised new lines from Liverpool to Leeds via Bradford, but will now only see new tracks laid down between Manchester and Marsden where the high-speed route will join an upgraded existing line to Leeds via Huddersfield.
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