Ministers are poised to set out plans to boost rail links between cities across the North in the coming days after months of delays in what the Government hopes will deliver a major economic boost to the region.
Regional mayors and business leaders across the North are poised to give a guarded welcome to the east-west rail plans.
Rachel Reeves and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander are expected to lay out the details of the so-called Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) at an event in Leeds on Wednesday that will promise new rail lines to and from Manchester and major upgrades to rail infrastructure in West Yorkshire.
But there remain concerns about how some rail improvements wanted by northern leaders will be paid for. While several schemes will be announced this week with Government backing, others are expected to be at least part-funded by regional authorities.
It follows months of delays from the Labour Government. Rail improvements were due to be announced by Reeves in June after the Spending Review, only for it to be pushed back to the autumn and then kicked into the new year.
According to sources close to the plans, the project will include a new rail link between Manchester and Manchester airport, and a new station at the airport.
A new station will also be built in Bradford, with a new rail line linking it with Huddersfield and on to Manchester.
The hope is that the measures will dramatically increase global connectivity for the region in a way that the Elizabeth Line has boosted it for London Heathrow and the South East.
Leeds is also expected to see some major upgrades, including electrification of the line to Sheffield and to Bradford. There will be a new rail line between Liverpool and Manchester, but the focus on delivering improved connectivity in Manchester and West Yorkshire will get priority.
The i Paper understands that the delivery of the scheme will be phased, with the new station at Bradford and the electrification of lines expected to be delivered first.
But business and political leaders, particularly Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, are understood to hold reservations about certain aspects of the plans when it comes to how the scheme will be financed.
Burnham is believed to be demanding further details as to how devolved administrations will be expected to contribute financially to particular projects that will not be fully financed by central government.
Among the issues yet to be ironed out is around a new underground station at Manchester Piccadilly station, which Burnham has insisted is essential for the city’s future development. The Manchester mayor has been told that he will have to help fund the scheme, but it is unclear what mechanisms the Greater Manchester Authority would be able to raise cash to deliver it.
ITV News reported that the northern mayors held a meeting on Friday to discuss the Government’s offer and try to come to an agreed position.
One source said that as of Friday, Burnham, who has emerged as a potential leadership rival to Sir Keir Starmer, had not agreed to what had been offered, but this has been denied by others with knowledge of the meeting.
An insider said that Burnham was seeking answers from the Treasury on specific details around funding, but insisted the discussions were constructive.
Negotiations between Burnham and the Government over NPR are continuing, it is understood.
A new line to Manchester airport and an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly remain key asks, with Burnham’s team arguing that there is little point making improvements in West Yorkshire if trains then hit “Victorian infrastructure” in the North West.
NPR was originally put forward by former Tory chancellor George Osborne in 2014, in which he wanted to deliver high-speed rail links between the major cities across the North.
The plans have since suffered from the turmoil in the wake of the Brexit vote and the in-fighting that paralysed the latter years of the Conservative government, and were dealt a significant blow by the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 by Rishi Sunak.
A North West MP said there is a sense of “apprehension” in Labour around the NPR announcement, describing it as “high risk” and one “we’ve got to get right”.
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Key questions for the Government, the MP said, are around whether or not Labour’s Northern mayors are satisfied and if NPR can “credibly tell a story about rebalancing regional inequality”.
There are eight mayors in the North with a vested interest in NPR – six Labour, one Tory, one Reform – and keeping them all happy will be “tricky”, the MP said.
The Department for Transport has been contacted for comment.
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