Burnham delivers Crossrail2 broadside

Andy Burnham

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has described Government backing for a new London rail line at the expense of projects in Wales and the North as “frankly outrageous”.

Burnham predicted there would be “widespread anger” at support for the new line running through London following Friday’s announcement the new rail link between Manchester nad Newcastle may not be fully electrified.

Burnham said: “We can’t wait forever, we need improvements now, that’s why the electrification is important, and it’s also why we need more capacity at Manchester Piccadilly.

“People travelling [to Manchester] across the northern cities who will have a long commute home, I think, will be furious… that the government has cut back on rail investment in the north on the day that it’s green light to Crossrail 2. They’re not governing for the whole country.”

He continued: “People here have had to put up with sub-standard rail services for decades and will simply not accept that spending billions more on London is the country’s highest priority for transport investment.”.

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said that while he did not “begrudge” the investment in London and the South East, there needed to be balanced spending to “support growth in the North as well”.

Steve Gillingham, director of the North for Mace, one of the founding partners of the Northern Powerhouse, said: “Nobody begrudges the extra investment into London but what we want this Government to do is to also honour its commitment to the great cities of the north of England. In its new industrial strategy the Government officially acknowledged the historic underinvestment in northern infrastructure and pledged to tackle it.

“For too long the UK has been one of the most centralised countries in the world with almost all of the country’s decision-making made in Westminster. A study published this week by IPPR North said that the north of England would have received £59 billion more over the past decade if it had been funded at the same levels of London.

“If our Government is really serious about creating an industrial strategy to boost economic growth and enable the entire country to thrive then we must look to address this issue of centralisation. The north has the potential to become a global economic powerhouse, but it is fighting with its hands tied behind its back.

“This £30bn investment into Crossrail 2 highlights once again that it is essential that the Government grants statutory powers to Transport for the North sooner rather than later as without these the powers the case for infrastructure investment in the North remains under-represented in the corridors of power.

“It is imperative that Whitehall honours these pledges so that we can move forward with our plans to better connect the great cities of the north through schemes like Northern Powerhouse Rail.”

Crossrail 2, a North East to South West railway, which will run through tunnel beneath central London, could be operational by 2033 at an estimated cost of £30bn with construction starting within the next few years.

It would link Hertfordshire and Surrey, passing through Tottenham Hale, Euston-St Pancras, Tottenham Court Road, Victoria and Clapham Junction.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announcing the decision said they had agreed there was “no doubt London needs new infrastructure to support its growth and ensure it continues as the UK’s economic powerhouse”.

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