North on track to emulate Transport for London model
TRANSPORT for the North (TfN) was created a year ago as a critical part of the Northern Powerhouse agenda, with the former chief executive of Merseytravel David Brown taking the helm at the end of last year.
It recognises that cities with robust and efficient transport connections are more attractive places to do business, and are better positioned to access and attract the skilled workers and investment required for growth.
The plan is that the UK’s northern cities will benefit from the same kind of connectivity offered by Transport for London – which has played a strong role in the economic prosperity of London and surrounding cities in recent years.
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The collective endeavour of government, local authorities and LEPs in the north of England, TfN brings these stakeholders together so that they can work collaboratively on this shared agenda.
Whilst devolution will enable cities to improve their locality – TfN will work on those strategic connections.
Martin Capstick has taken the newly created role of director of northern transport strategy for the Department for Transport.
He said: “TfN has statutory powers so it is a permanent force. If you put it in the law it is difficult to remove and that gives it certainty.
“Its agenda deals with the strategic issues that the north needs [to address] to enable its economy to grow. [It addresses] the way that northern authorities in particular can collaborate.”
The Department for Transport is working with TfN on projects such as developing long term rail links and road links, as well as developing smart ticketing.
“Smart ticketing is an area where we can see that if the north comes together we can produce great outcomes,” said Capstick.
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The Manchester and Leeds rail connection in particular has been long overdue for an upgrade: linking the two most highly skilled labour markets in the north.
There are plans to improve journey times: Manchester to Leeds is currently around 50 minutes – the target time is 30 minutes; Liverpool to Manchester would go down to 20 minutes from 35/40 minutes at the moment.
Andrew Carter of the Centre for Cities said at the time of TfN’s creation that it would necessitate the cities of the north working together in new ways for a common goal.
Carter said: “Improving the connectivity of these two cities alone would provide greater opportunities for firms to collaborate and expand, and give more choice to residents on where they choose to live and work.”
