Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram welcomes Government announcement of high speed Liverpool-Manchester rail link – but how firm is Whitehall’s commitment (not very) and is it another false dawn? Tony McDonough reports
A high speed rail line across the north of England linking Liverpool with Manchester and Yorkshire has taken a step closer to becoming a reality – or has it?
On Tuesday the Government picked up the baton on Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), a project first proposed by Conservative Chancellor George Osborne in 2014 but kicked into the long grass by Boris Johnson’s Government in 2021.
Under the latest proposals from Government NPR will be delivered in three phases. The first will see upgrades to lines between Leeds, York, Bradford and Sheffield with phase two a high-speed line linking Liverpool with Manchester and Manchester Airport.
A third phase would see improved connections between Manchester and cities in Yorkshire. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “For too long, the North has been held back by underinvestment and years of dither and delay.
“This new era of investment will not just speed up journeys, it will mean new jobs and homes for people, making a real difference to millions of lives.”
Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram was equally effusive, adding: “200 years ago we built the world’s first passenger railway between Liverpool and Manchester – and changed history.
“After more than a decade of dither and delay, today a new era begins for the North: a genuinely strategic approach, with a Government backing NPR in full.”
Mr Rotheram will also be hoping the Government will fund the associated plans to revamp Liverpool Lime Street and Liverpool Central stations, and the public realm between the two.
However, a look at the detail, or what little detail there is so far, reveals Government “backing” for NPR may not be as solid as it first appears. Whitehall has capped spending on the project at £45bn, with possible extra contribution coming from local government.
What is more concerning is that ministers have not announced a firm budget or committed funds beyond 2029. The only definite funding commitment so far is £1.1bn for “design and preparation”. There is no actually delivery until 2045.
Richard Bowker, former head of the now defunct Strategic Rail Authority, told the BBC that it would be “quite a long time before we see anything practical because it takes time to develop”, adding “it’s a very long delivery programme”.
Whether or not NPR actually goes ahead in the 2030s is, in reality, very much in the lap of the political gods. Labour might be in Government now but it is languishing in the polls. Despite some signs of wobbling, Reform retains a clear lead over other parties.
There is still around three years until the next General Election and perhaps Labour still has time to get its act together. But for as long as it continues to lurch from crisis to crisis the prospect of a Reform Government, or perhaps a hung parliament, is a real possibility.
And, as economic and industrial data expert Tom Forth said following the NPR announcement: “The British constitution does not allow one parliament to bind the next.”
As recently as September, Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice was adamant it would not back NPR if it were to win power in 2029. He said given the cost overruns and delays for HS2, backing NPR would be “insanity”.
For their part the Conservatives, who may or may not stage a revival under current leader Kemi Badenoch, accused the Government of “watering down” NPR.
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Shadow rail minister Jerome Mayhew said: “Labour lurch from review to review, deadline to deadline, with no grip on costs, no clarity on scope and no courage to make decisions.
“Northern Powerhouse Rail could have been transformational, empowering regional growth and regeneration. Under Labour it risks becoming a permanent mirage that is endlessly redesigned, downgraded and never delivered.”
Stephen Cowperthwaite, managing director, Liverpool and UK regions at property consultancy Avison Young, and a member of the Liverpool-Manchester Railway Partnership Board, said the project, if it goes ahead, has the potential to make a real difference.
He told LBN: “This announcement represents a genuinely significant moment for the North. Long-term, coordinated investment in connectivity is fundamental to unlocking productivity, attracting private capital and supporting sustainable growth across our city regions.
“Northern Powerhouse Rail has the potential to be transformational if it is delivered with pace, clarity and commitment.”
However, unless either this Government, or the next one, makes a cast-iron commitment to actually fund NPR then we may end up waiting on the platform in vain.