The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced £84m of rail spend for the North West - although the announcement ran into its own signalling problems.
No one seemed exactly sure just how transformational the package of works would be, with opinions ranging from 'extensive' (DfT press office), short-term (transport secretary) to 'won't come close' to being enough (Andy Burnham).
Whether the works had even started yet or were due to begin in the summer also posed something of a mystery based on initial statements.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said the £84m would ‘cut delays and improve the reliability of trains across the region’.
It described the work as part of the Manchester Recovery Task Force’s plans to boost service reliability and put the passenger at the heart of the journey adding: ‘This substantial investment will see an extensive transformation of Manchester's railways.'
However, transport secretary Grant Shapps told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the £84m was for the 'shorter-term stuff'.
Mr Shapps added the cash 'kicks off a decade’s worth of improvements across the region’, emphasising that the Transpennine Route Upgrade, the Integrated Rail Plan and Northern Powerhouse Rail will be the work that would really 'transform the lives of passengers across the region for generations to come’.
A train at Manchester Piccadilly. Image:shutterstock.com
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham weighed in by saying the cash ‘won’t come close to solving the capacity bottleneck in our city centre, nor will it bring our stations up to a modern standard’.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: ‘Make no mistake - investment on a much bigger scale is needed if Greater Manchester and the North is ever to have the rail services we deserve. If you look at the five rail stations serving our city centre - Victoria, Salford Central, Deansgate, Oxford Road and Piccadilly - they are all suffering from a lack of investment.
‘If we are ever to see the rail system of Greater Manchester levelled up with London, it will require a lot more than this.’
Details of the timing and extent of the £84m package of works also became confused.
The DfT seemed to suggest that the works were both underway and starting in the summer, to be completed by December. It did not respond to a request for clarification.
Network Rail clarified for Transport Network that upgrades to track-side equipment between Manchester and Liverpool will take place in April and involve the installation of train sensors built into the track. These ensure that the train is positioned correctly before the doors open and assist in auto-selective door opening at platforms where all the doors may not operate.
Platform extensions on the Cumbrian route will start in August:
- platform extensions at Oxenholme and Staveley to allow six-car trains to operate between Windermere and Manchester Airport via Bolton corridor
- raising the platform height at Dalton and Kents Bank to allow six-car trains to operate between Barrow in Furness and Manchester Airport via Bolton corridor
- re-energising Manchester International Depot to allow Northern to stable electric rolling stock (Northern is also upgrading some depot assets)
- Northern is also enhancing the service road at Barrow in Furness Carriage sidings to allow the six-car trains to operate.
The DfT said the cash will also allow development work to continue schemes across Greater Manchester, including improved passenger facilities at Manchester Piccadilly, Victoria, and Manchester International Airport stations and re-signalling along the Castlefield Corridor and remodelling of Manchester Oxford Road station.
It gave the following breakdown of the £84m:
- £16.8m of the investment will go into a two-phase programme of infrastructure works to enhance the performance and reliability benefits of the new December 2022 timetable, including track improvements on the Manchester-Liverpool route and platform extensions at four stations on the Cumbrian route, which will start this summer and be complete by December.
- £41.5m will go into depot improvements and 17 platform extensions on the Chat Moss, Bolton, Styal and Leeds NW lines. This will support the already-planned roll-out of refurbished Class 323 electric trains by Northern, with work beginning this summer and to be completed by Summer 2023, meaning that passengers can enjoy better reliability and capacity across routes, including the Bolton Corridor.
- £26m will go towards design and development work on three planned tranches of upgrades to improve passenger facilities at Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria, as well as plans for re-signalling works on the Castlefield Corridor and a remodelling of Oxford Road station, all to be completed by the mid-2030s.
Officials said further works next year will see additional platform extensions to some of the busiest routes across the North West and West Yorkshire, supporting the roll-out of longer electric trains by Northern.
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