£400m boost for road and rail in the north

Rail and road projects in the North are expected to receive a £400m boost under plans to be announced by the Chancellor later today.

Philip Hammond is expected to put forward proposals to provide £300m to improve connections between the HS2 rail route and cities that are not on the high speed rail link. It is hoped that this will improve journey times across the north – including Leeds, York, Manchester and Liverpool.

The remaining £100m will for a package of 33 new road schemes – ten of which will be in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The funding comes after the Government was criticised for abandoning plans to electrify the railways across the North, at the same time announcements in Crossrail 2 were made.

Hammond will tell the party conference in Manchester later: “This investment will go towards ensuring HS2 infrastructure can link up with future Northern Powerhouse and Midlands rail projects – helping the towns and cities of the North reach their full potential”