Five cities in the north of England have joined forces to ‘urge the government’ to fund the Northern Hub rail programme.
The major rail improvement scheme ‘could generate £4 billion in economic benefits’.
The leaders of Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield City Councils have written jointly to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to ‘stress how important it will be’ for the Treasury to commit to the £560 million scheme, in full, for delivery between 2014 and 2019.
The Northern Hub proposals, developed by Network Rail, would ‘unlock the capacity constraints of the north’s rail network – currently a significant obstacle to economic growth – and would enable 700 more trains to run every day across the region’.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is working with council leaders, MPs and business communities across the north to push for the Northern Hub to be funded as a complete package, rather than on a piecemeal basis, in order for the economic potential of the scheme to be fulfilled.
Councillor Andrew Fender, Chair of the TfGM Committee, said:
“The Northern Hub scheme has clear and significant benefits for Greater Manchester and the whole of the north of England.”
