Member Article

Northern rail hub plans go on public display

Network Rail is set to open its plans to the public for a Northern Rail hub on Monday, with options for Manchester Piccadilly and Oxford Road to be put on display.

Plans were unveiled to stakeholders over the last week before going to public consultation as part of an investment programme that hopes to offer faster and more frequent rail services across the North of England.

Dyan Crowther, Network Rail’s route managing director, said: “The Northern Hub is an important investment programme for the North of England.

“It will create space for up for 700 more trains every day and help provide over £4bn worth of wider economic benefits for the region.

“The plans for Manchester Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations are a key part of the Hub and we look forward to working with stakeholders and the local community to develop the proposals.”

The scheme includes a two new potential platforms at Manchester Piccadilly and a wider railway corridor for Oxford Road, which would allow more trains to go through central Manchester.

Between 10 and 14 more passenger trains an hour could pass through the city in each direction as a result of the changes, while an extra path would be created for freight trains, with an extra 1 or 2 each hour, and trains traveling at an average speed of 30 mph through Manchester.

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, commented: “The Northern Hub will bring massive improvements to rail services across the North West and support the economy of the city, the wider region and indeed the whole of northern England with an estimated 20,000 - 30,000 new jobs and £4bn of additional benefits.

“However, due to the sheer scale of this project, it will inevitably have some impact on the city centre, and we are working closely with Network Rail, as well as with residents and businesses, to make sure that any disturbance will be kept to a minimum.

“While the Northern Hub project is a vital piece of infrastructure bringing many benefits, it’s also vital that the city centre continues to function during its construction.”

The public will be asked for their feedback on alignment options set out for new sections of railway, and Network Rail will assess consultation comments before plans progress.

Emma Antrobus, policy manager at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce said: “We are delighted to see the specific projects within the Northern Hub scheme being consulted on more quickly than expected, after we have campaigned so hard for the scheme to be delivered.

“The improvements on the Hub will provide a boost to the economy of the whole of the North of England and particularly for Manchester, offer more trains and faster services into and out of the centre, connecting people and jobs.”

A second round of consultation will be launched later in 2013 and, if the scheme is approved, work will begin in 2016 and trains will run from 2018.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .