Northern leaders will seek to pay part of the cost of the Northern Factory Railway, to their chagrin at the “deeply flawed” amendments to the project announced by Westminster on last week.
Mayors, council leaders and transport bosses from the north have expressed anger over the Integrated Rail Plan, which plans to suspend a new motorway from Manchester to Leeds via Bradford, and a stretch from Liverpool to Warrington. The east leg of HS2, from the West Midlands to Leeds, also malfunctioned.
Andy Burnham, Labor mayor of Greater Manchester, said the rail plan was “very flawed”. At the Transport for the North meeting in Leeds, Burnham said that contributions to renovation costs, including the completion of the Northern Factory Rail network, could be collected from the value of the land. is increasing.
“To change the nature of the conversation, I would gladly consider local contributions or ways of unlocking [them] to improve on what has been proposed,” he said. “Recommend asking for that mediation process to see if there is another solution, especially financially, that would allow the new line through Bradford to return to the table. I don’t believe we can concede defeat in that regard. To do so would have set generations of failures in the north of England. We will accept a smaller economy for the north for the rest of our lives.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced the Integrated Rail Plan last week and laid out a £17.2 billion investment plan in Northern Powerhouse Rail. The pledge has fallen far short of the £42.1 billion needed for the plans, put in place by Transport for the North, in full.
Under the new scheme, several new high-speed tracks will be built, including between Manchester and Huddersfield. A line from Warrington to Manchester will also be built. The Transpennine route from York to Manchester will be electrified by 2030-32.
Burnham emphasized that the construction of Crossrail in the south included local contributions. In London, property developers pay into the mayor’s community infrastructure fees to help finance the project on the basis that those properties will increase in value.
Burnham says, “When you commit to a line, you raise [the] the value of some land across the street. If you take Bradford, land values go up downtown and other countries around the world empower at the local level to capture that value to help pay for infrastructure. ”
The plans are supported by Don Mackenzie, a North Yorkshire councilor for the Conservative Party, who has previously criticized Labor politicians for making “ever more negative statements” about Integrated Railway Plan.
Hans Mundry, a councilor in Warrington, called the plans a “mess” and said the construction of the high-speed rail should have started up north. “None of this delivers what we promised, it delivers the little pieces. You’ve had your meal in the south and we might have what’s left on the table. “
Dan Jarvis, the mayor of South Yorkshire, said: “We still want the government to deliver on what it initially promised.”
Yesterday, Dame Diana Johnson, Labor MP for Kingston upon Hull North, said in the Commons that the regeneration of cities like Hull and Bradford “will be held back for another 20 years, with poor connections, small speeds and not enough capacity for passengers and cargo. “.
Transport for the North was stripped of funding by ministers last week. Labor described the move as a “Whitehall grab for power” following its angry response to plans to downgrade Northern Railway Company.
Johnson said: “By eliminating Transportation, give the North the responsibility for development [Northern Powerhouse Rail], the ministers reduced oversight and accountability and were not interested in cooperating with the North. So, when challenged, ministers decided to stave off criticism by severing Northern Transport’s powers and giving Whitehall responsibility for rebranding the Transpennine route upgrade. ”
Andrew Stephenson, railways minister, said: “Transport for the North is not a delivery agency nor has it ever been. Their statutory function is purely to develop a strategic transport plan for the north in the same way that Midlands Connect does for the Midlands. ”
