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Northern Way calls for high-speed rail links

The North deserves better rail links, according to a report published yesterday. The Northern Way, the collaboration led by the three northern Regional Development Agencies released new evidence on the economic impact of investment in better and faster rail links between the North’s cities, London and the rest of the UK.

The Northern Way called on the Government to act now on its Rail White Paper commitment to consider the case for new rail lines between the North’s cities and London. The group has valued the wider economic benefit of investment in North-South and East-West rail links at over £10billion, while also contributing to a more environmentally sustainable economy.

Professor David Begg, Chair of the Northern Way’s Transport Compact, said: “These wider economic benefits come about through reducing travel times in city-to-city and business-to-business access. They appear not to have been taken into account in the Rail White Paper and are additional to those previously calculated for high-speed rail. “The economic benefits would arise not just in the North. Around £3.5billion would be in the North, £3.5billion in Greater London and £3billion in the rest of the country. As a proportion of the North’s economy, however, the impact would be over twice what it would be in the South.”

Tom Riordan, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Forward, said: “It is roughly the same distance from one end of the Central Line in London to the other as it is between Leeds and Manchester city centres. This proposal for a Northern Crossrail connecting all of the North’s cities as well as faster links to London would not only add significant value to the North’s economy but could change the perception of investors, businesses and graduates about the North’s potential as a career and investment destination.”

Andrew Lewis, Director of the Northern Way, said: “Without these prioritised investments and accompanying measures to manage demand, congestion bottlenecks across the North will prevent us meeting our targets for sustainable economic growth.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .