Experts believe unblocking Manchester’s congested heavy rail network will unlock £16bn of economic benefits for the entire north of England region.
A report, by the Northern Way group of regional development agencies, which was launched last week, says the Manchester hub is ‘the most fundamental rail bottleneck in the north of England’.
Network Rail will now examine the report and produce costings by the end of the year – but its own funds are committed to other schemes until 2014, including London’s Crossrail project.
Professor David Begg, chairman of the Northern Transport Compact, said: ‘This is the most compelling railway scheme, not just in the North, but in the whole of the UK. ‘I don’t know why it didn’t happen a century ago, because the same congestion existed then.’ He added: ‘We have got to start to look at how to use the political clout of the North, and make this an election issue, to make it happen quicker.’
Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority vice chairman, Keith Whitmore, said his authority was to lobby all three party conferences this year for cash for the work to be done. But, he added: ‘The terminology of the Manchester hub does not really mean anything to people. In fact, this bottleneck is preventing all the North’s city regions from growing economically.’
The Northern Way – the RDA’s of the Northwest, the Northeast, and Yorkshire – is now trying to come up with a new name before the election campaign starts.
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