Northern Powerhouse Rail has been given £300 million funding from the government.
The award is part of a wider £400 million package to improve transport across the Northern Powerhouse, which includes the core cities of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Hull and Newcastle.
The £300 million will go towards ensuring HS2 infrastructure can accommodate future Northern Powerhouse Rail and Midlands Connect services, to make it easier and less disruptive to build Northern Powerhouse Rail in the future.
In response, Railway Industry Association CEO Darren Caplan said, ‘This funding is very much needed in order to speed up journey times and provide better services for passengers and freight customers across the region, and also to improve countrywide connectivity.
‘As we heard from the Rail Minister at RIA’s Rail Interview event at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, and as has now been confirmed by the Chancellor, HS2 – alongside Northern Powerhouse Rail – will have a transformational effect on the UK.
‘It will bring jobs and economic growth, it will act as a spur to investment, and it will bring communities closer together. This is an exciting time for rail and we are pleased that the government is investing further in the sector.’
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