The strongest reaction to Transport for the North's (TfN's) 30-year draft strategy came from an unlikely quarter - former deputy prime minister John Prescott.
Mr Prescott stormed out of a launch event for the strategy calling TfN a 'fraud'.
He later explained to the BBC: 'It was promised to have statutory powers. Now we know, and it's been confirmed by government, it will have no powers.
Spoiling for a fight?
'It can talk to the treasury along with the strategic bodies but it can't make a decision and it doesn't get any money. It's a bloody fraud.'
TfN is due to become a statutory body in April but its role is largely an advisory one, with responsibility for co-ordinating strategy and delivery.
However with the planned integration of Rail North in April it will take on responsibility for co-managing the Northern and Trans Pennine Express franchises with the Department for Transport (DfT).
It will also have a significant role to play in the allocation of cash for the planned Major Road Network in the region. Under Government plans sub-national transport bodies (STBs) will develop the regional evidence bases from which the DfT will select transformative schemes.
Sources at TfN also pointed out that it has already succeeded in securing the agreement of a record 56 local authorities over the draft plan and that the DfT in all recent announcements have stressed the importance of STBs in its plans.
Outside of the surprising intervention, the sector was very supportive of the draft strategy.
Institution of Civil Engineering director general Nick Baveystock said: 'We are pleased that the plan goes beyond the here and now to consider the impact and benefits of future technologies, such as autonomous and connected vehicles. It is critically important to ensure that the North’s transport networks are future proofed, signalling that the region is ready and waiting to exploit this and other similar opportunities.'
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, West Yorkshire Combined Authority chair and Bradford Council leader, said: 'We are particularly pleased to see the plan accepts the case for a Northern Powerhouse line from Manchester to Leeds and York via a stop in Bradford and look forward to working with TfN to develop those proposals further.'
Cllr Keith Wakefield, West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee chair, added: 'Given the longstanding gulf in the level of transport investment between the North of England and other areas, the estimated annual £150-per-head cost of funding these proposals represents a modest sum which could unlock huge economic benefits.'
Director of external affairs for the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) Marie-Claude Hemming said: 'CECA is a keen advocate of rebalancing the economy, as we set out in our recent report Rebalancing the economy: The North.
'This strategic plan is a blueprint for creating jobs, boosting connectivity, and delivering long-term economic growth.'
'We look forward to working with Transport for the North, Government, and other stakeholders, to ensure that the supply chain is primed to deliver on this vision.'
Stephen Joseph, chief executive of sustainable transport charity, Campaign for Better Transport, celebrated the emphasis on rail.
'We now need to see the inter-urban investment in the plan matched by investment in local transport across the region, both in rural as well as urban areas, so that no community is left behind.'
Jonathan Bray, director of the Urban Transport Group - which brings together public sector local transport bodies across - sounded a slight note of caution: 'There is a long way to go yet though both in terms of the planning work but also crucially on how these ambitions can be funded, including the potential to capture more of the land value uplift that new transport schemes can bring.'
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