Secretary of State visits the region for transport talks

Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary and, Jake Berry, Northern Powerhouse Minister, met with members of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority this morning.

Responding to today’s written statement on Northern, Cllr Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Lead, said:

“For too long, passengers have borne the brunt of Northern’s problems and today’s statement confirms the uncertain financial state of the franchise.

“Today we reiterated to the Secretary of State our view that moving from Northern to the Operator of Last Resort would secure the best outcome for passengers in the short term. We welcomed his proposal for greater local involvement in future decisions and also made clear dramatic improvements are needed on Transpennine Express services.

“The North will only have the modern reliable rail service we need and deserve with fundamental reform and investment to address the capacity crisis on the network. We need the Government to urgently publish the Williams Review and commit to devolution of powers and money that create meaningful local accountability.”

Commenting on the meeting with Ministers, Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leader of Bradford Council, said:

“These were positive discussions where we took the opportunity to stress the importance of the Government committing to HS2 phase 2b and Northern Powerhouse Rail with a city centre station in Bradford alongside action to address the historic underinvestment in the existing rail network.

“We highlighted our ambitious plans for local transport contained in our Transforming Cities Fund bid including the need for Government’s commitment to a mass transit system for the Leeds City Region to be delivered, for which we have asked £20m to support development of our proposals.”

Roger Marsh, chair of NP11 and the Leeds City Region LEP, said: “The visit of The Secretary of State for Transport the Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP to Leeds and his comments around the future of rail franchises in the North should be welcomed as a commitment to renewed focus on integrated, reliable and effective rail transport serving the whole of the North of England.

“It is only by working together that we can realise the North’s potential as an economic driver for the UK.

“The North’s 11 LEPs, represented by the NP11, will be vociferously making the case to government that commitment to HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail should be viewed as vital, in tandem, to achieve economic prosperity and continue to encourage investment in Northern businesses.

“Our Manifesto for the North, revealed in November 2019, called for a transport budget for the North, enabling full delivery of the Transport for the North plan and supporting the devolution of control and shared accountability for the region’s rail network.

“Any future decisions on franchises and policy decisions relating to rail, should be made with this front of mind.”