Trans-Pennine rail upgrade back on track

THE Government has “unpaused” the electrification work on the TransPennine and Midland Mainline railways after receiving a new plan for the work from Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy.

The revised plan has promised to deliver “faster journey times and significantly more capacity between Manchester, Leeds and York”.

The upgrade is expected to provide capacity for six fast or semi-fast trains per hour, take up to 15 minutes off today’s journey time between Manchester and York and be complete by 2022.

When the work is finished, the intercity route from Liverpool to Newcastle, which takes in Manchester, Leeds and York, will be fully electrified.

Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin was forced to announce a “pause” in the scheme in June, which led to political rows about the Government’s commitment to the Northern Powerhouse and whether it knew before the general election that it would be stopping work.

Mr McLoughlin said: “When I had to put it on pause it was an embarrassment and I didn’t much care for it, but it is far better when you are doing a job like this to make sure you do it properly.”

The revised plan has been designed to deliver “key passenger benefits as quickly as possible”, and is broader in its scope than changing the power supply of the trains.

Network Rail will also restart work to electrify the Midland Mainline route north of Bedford to Kettering and Corby by 2019 and the line north of Kettering to Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield by 2023.

Sir Peter Hendy added: “The temporary pause in the programme has given us the space to develop a better plan for passengers.

“People can expect more services and faster journeys. We face some difficult challenges, and there is more work still to do, but the Secretary of State’s decision means we can now move forward with our plans to electrify TransPennine and Midland Mainline”.

The news was given a warm reception from the region’s business community.

A spokesman for Manchester Airports Group said: “It is vital that Government commits to improving rail journeys across the North, pushes ahead with high speed rail and treats the TransPennine improvements as a key first step in a longer term programme to accelerate growth across the region.

“By reducing journey times and providing more capacity between Manchester, Leeds and York, TransPennine electrification will significantly improve connectively across the region, open up airport capacity and benefit the UK as a whole.”

Damian Waters, CBI North West’s regional director said  the announcement “will give a real boost to local businesses”.

“However, it’s essential we see further detail in term of the timing and knock-on consequences for other projects in the pipeline,” he added.

Simon Allport,  senior partner at EY said: “This is welcome news for commuters, businesses and the Northern economy, and helps to return some momentum to the infrastructure plans behind the Northern Powerhouse vision.

“It’s important that these revised plans – which go beyond just changing trains’ power supply – are integrated with the wider strategy for Northern transport to ensure our future network is as efficient as it can be to deliver for our economy. It’s encouraging that the latest plans give additional passenger benefits around capacity and journey times.”

Chris Hearld, KPMG’s North region chairman  added: “Of course, electrification is a component of the package of transport investment required to build a Northern Powerhouse rather than an end in itself but this news certainly holds out the prospect that the Powerhouse could be back on track.”