Completion of the Northern Hub rail project will create 30,000 new jobs, say Greater Manchester’s transport leaders.
Yesterday’s announcement of a £9 billion investment in the railways in the coming years follows commitments to elements of the Hub scheme and wider electrification projects, totalling £477m.
The finished project will create the capacity for up to 700 more trains per day with space for 44 million more passengers each year.
Councillor Andrew Fender, chair of the Transport for Greater Manchester committee, said: “Taken together, these investments will change the face of rail services in the North of England in a manner that has not been seen for several generations.
“The Northern Hub and electrification programmes will be a catalyst to help drive economic growth across the north, so today’s announcement is fantastic news and testament to the hard work done behind the scenes by all our partners to make our voice heard by the government.
“They will also significantly improve rail services through Victoria, Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations.
“Stations will also see improvements in passenger facilities, including in particular a new roof and much-improved concourse for Victoria.”
The way things have been going with the delayed order for Thameslink rolling stock, both the Northern Hub and electrification schemes will be completed long before cascaded Class 319s become available. We will see 30 year-old diesel trains will be running around the region for many years yet to come.