Transport for the North had its inaugural meeting this week, bringing together an alliance of key authorities to help design a better transport network for the region and make the Government’s Northern Powerhouse rhetoric a reality.
Charged with producing an interim report by March, Transport for North is considering key issues such as improving the quality and frequency of passenger and freight rail services, a possible High Speed 3 route running East to West and improved links to Manchester Airport and Liverpool’s planned super-port.
Established in October, the new body is led by Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle together with Hull and Humber and is working in partnership with the Department for Transport, Highways Agency, Network Rail and HS2 Ltd.
Building in sustainable connections with other proposed schemes such as HS2 and the Northern hub was also on the agenda as well as providing additional capacity on the North’s roads.
A spokesman for the body told Transport Network the first meeting mainly involved initial agenda setting as the authority begins to develop a list of transport schemes and a delivery programme covering the next 15 years.
He added that many of the final plans are likely to be selected from those unveiled in August in the One North report - developed by many of the key stakeholders in Transport for the North - and that the new transport body meant the region could speak with 'one voice' in transport.
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: ‘It is crucial we work together to deliver a world-class, integrated transport network for the North that reduces journey times, increases capacity and connectivity and enables growth.
‘We have already made great strides and the creation of Transport for the North is an excellent next step. I want Transport for the North to speak with one voice to Government on the big decisions to benefit the region as a whole.’
While regional issues are to the fore, local councils and transport authorities did raise their own concerns in advance of the meeting in Leeds yesterday.
Transport for Greater Manchester raised the prospect of greater devolution of regional rail, particularly the Northern franchise, highlighting the opportunity presented by its historic devolution deal that will bring new powers and funding to the city in exchange for a directly elected mayor.
Cllr Andrew Fender, chair of the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee, said: ‘The majority of Greater Manchester’s 97 rail stations are old – over 80% are more than 100 years old – and many of them have remained fundamentally unchanged in that time, with 52 of them currently classed as inaccessible.
‘We believe that by handing control of stations to Greater Manchester we can address the issue of under-investment and place them at the heart of an integrated network, providing transport hubs where buses, trains and, in some places, trams all connect and make journeys easier and more comfortable. ‘What we are proposing is local management on a long-term lease so we can develop a long-term funding model. Instead of only distractedly looking seven years ahead, as is currently the case, we would be able to look 30 years ahead – longer, even.’
Liverpool and Newcastle joined forces to push for the importance of East to West connections, building on the One North report and calling for a 15-year plan for connectivity improvements across Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield - including a 125mph trans-Pennine rail-link.
Newcastle leader Cllr Nick Forbes, said: ‘The One North proposals are hugely important to the economic resurgence of the North of England. The plans will join up the North from the Mersey to the Tyne – reducing journey times from Newcastle to Liverpool from three to two hours.’
Joe Anderson, mayor of Liverpool, said: ‘If we want to rebalance the economy, we also have to rebalance transport spending. Government has invested billions on Crossrail in London and continues to spend significantly more per capita in London than it does in the entire North.’
