Northern Powerhouse transport pledge gives West Midlands a taste of what might be
THE fledgling West Midlands Combined Authority has been given a glimpse of what could be on the horizon so far as transport policy is concerned – provided the seven councils so far committed to the collaboration can get their act together.
As part of his pledge to strengthen transport infrastructure for the Northern Powerhouse the Chancellor has committed to strengthening the Transport for the North (TfN) organisation. The body is responsible for administering transport policy across the powerhouse area.
The government is establishing TfN as a statutory body with statutory duties, underpinned by £30m of additional funding over three years.
In addition, it will appoint an interim chief executive and executive team by the autumn and a chair by the end of the year in order to accelerate TfN’s work programme.
The government will work with TfN to advance the introduction of an Oyster-style smartcard and integrated ticketing across bus, tram, metro and rail services throughout the region.
It will also help TfN push forward plans to transform east-west rail and road connections via TransNorth and options for a new TransPennine Tunnel, with a prioritised list of scheme options to be produced by Budget 2016, and an interim report in time for the Spending Review later this year.
The scheme is a massive incentive for the West Midlands to follow the example of its friends in the north.
As a flavour, the government has pledged to provide £5m of funding to Midlands Connect – the combined East and West Midlands public transport organisation – to help develop a transport strategy for the Midlands.
The government has also committed to work with the various Midlands Local Enterprise Partnerships to support a regional approach to skills as set out in the Long Term Economic Plan (LTEP) for the Midlands. A delivery plan will be set out in autumn 2015.
In the meantime it has had to be satisfied with £1.5m for improvements to the A4123 Birmingham New Road/Shaw Road Junction in Wolverhampton, to help unlock the development of housing on six sites, together with funding to support the redevelopment of Wolverhampton railway station.
