News

Chancellor pledges £461m to help kickstart HS3, Crossrail 2 and trans-pennine tunnel

The chancellor split his loyalties between the north and the south today with a  funding pledge to kickstart better connectivity in the North and £160m of funding for  Crossrail 2 in London in tomorrow's budget. 

Better connections between northern cities, including work on the longest road tunnel in Europe, and high-speed trains between Manchester and Leeds account for £300 million of the spending to be announced in the budget tomorrow. In a £300 million Budget package to boost transport links in his cherished "Northern Powerhouse", Mr Osborne is expected to award the £60 funding to HS3 to cut journey times to 30 minutes from their current 49minutes. Another major pieces of the transport bonanza will be cash to explore further the  proposed Trans-Pennine tunnel, an 18-mile road bored through the Peak District to cut journey times between Sheffield and Manchester. The government will spend £75 million “exploring options” for the tunnel, which would cost about £6 billion. He will also award £161m to accelerate upgrades to the M62 road outside Manchester.

The funding comes in the wake of a new report from the National Infrastructure Commission which called today for major investment in the North to be made immediately.

Ed Cox head of think tank IPPR for the North welcomed the focus on the North, but speaking at the ACE National conference in London he said that the project of building the economy on the region was not an exclusively transport issue but about improving skills and innovation: "There has to be a comprehensive strategy". 

Meanwhile the NIC's report, High Speed North, published today says that  the North needs immediate and very significant transport investment and a plan for longer term transformation to reduce journey times, increase capacity and improve reliability. 

Launching the report, NIC chairman Lord Adonis said that work on better connecting the North needed to start now and not be delayed. For rail, that meant kick-starting HS3, integrating it with HS2 and planning for the redevelopment of the North’s gateway stations. 

On roads, Adonis said investment should be brought forward for an early boost in capacity on the M62, the North’s most important east-west link, alongside funding to identify and assess proposals for tackling a range of other strategic challenges. 

High Speed North makes a number of practical recommendations.

 

Transforming Rail

Kick-starting ‘HS3’ to create a higher speed, higher capacity, higher frequency network from Liverpool in the west to Hull and Newcastle in the east, incorporating key northern sections of HS2, upgraded lines, and sections of new track where necessary.

The development of the network should begin between Manchester and Leeds, the two largest economies of the North. 

Phase one should reduce journey times from 49 to 40 minutes and increase capacity by 2022. 

Phase two could cut times to just 30 minutes. An integrated plan covering both phases should be drawn up before the end of 2017.

Route decisions on the northern sections of HS2 to be announced later this year should support enhanced high-speed connections within the North, including between Leeds-Sheffield, Liverpool-Manchester, and Sheffield-Newcastle.

Redevelop Manchester Piccadilly

A long-term transformation of the station, combined with shorter-term delivery of additional east-west platforms, would unlock this hub and stimulate significant regeneration across 140 acres in central Manchester. 

Better roads

Highways England should accelerate enhancements to the M62 between Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds, which could cut journey times by up to 20% and increasing capacity by up to a third.

Development funding should be provided to accelerate the design of further enhancements to the road network, and better connections to Manchester International Airport should be prioritised.

NIC chairman Lord Adonis said: “If the North is to become a powerhouse it has to be better connected. Leeds and Manchester are just 40 miles apart but there is no quick and easy way to travel between the two. In rush hour it can take more than two hours by car, by train it can be almost an hour.

“So we should kick start HS3 across the Pennines and slash journey times to just 30 minutes. But we must not wait decades for change - journey times should be cut to 40 minutes by 2022. A transformed northern rail network should include high speed connections to HS2 and the dramatic redevelopment of Manchester Piccadilly to deliver jobs and investment across the centre of the city.

“By road, major improvements should be brought forward to transform the M62 between Liverpool and Leeds, cutting journey times by up to 20% and increasing capacity by a third, alongside the development of a major strategy to enhance the entire motorway network including access to Britain’s third busiest airport - Manchester Airport.

“A better connected north will be better for jobs, better for families and better for Britain. The work should begin as quickly as possible.”

Commenting on the report, Marc Davies, chair of the ACE Northern Region, said: "The focus on the Leeds-Manchester corridor is right but it's not the only piece in the jigsaw. It's also important to look at connectivity between Liverpool, Hull and especially Cumbria with it's strategic importance for energy.

"The Energy Coast is often forgotten in all the discussions around the Northern Powerhouse but it's a big employer and the workforce has transferable skills in what is a centre of excellence for the nuclear sector. Of course there are geographical challenges in connecting up Cumbria with the rest of the region but in all the focus on east-west links we should not forget the vital role of connecting the north and south of our region," Davies said.

"It's good to see the report stressing the need for pace and urgent investment but we also need government backing from the top. Tens of billions of pounds will be needed to improve transport infrastructure in the north and we need the chancellor's backing for that," said Davies.

Jason Millet, COO of Major Programmes & Infrastructure, said:

“The new report from the National Infrastructure Commission outlines some great examples of what can be done to help improve our Northern infrastructure. HS3, a Trans-Pennine tunnel between Sheffield and Manchester as well as M60 and M62 improvements would make a monumental difference to peoples’ lives in the North of England. This is exactly what needs to happen – targeting roads, rail and housing together, to make us better connected, more productive and increase opportunity.

 

 

Download the High Speed North report here.

If you would like to contact Andy Walker about this, or any other story, please email awalker@infrastructure-intelligence.com.