More investment needed in the North's railways

15th February 2010

Welcoming the Transport Committee's Report on Priorities for Investment in the Railways Professor David Begg, Chairman of the Northern Way Transport Group said:

"Our evidence to the House of Commons Transport Committee made a clear case for more rail investment in the North. We are delighted the Committee has now recommended that there needs to be a realignment of investment across the country."

"We are especially pleased to see that the Committee has recommended that the Manchester Hub has to be a clear priority for investment when the Government announces its transport investment plans for the 2014-2019 period."

"The Committee clearly appreciates that sorting out the main rail bottleneck in the North isn't just a transport problem. It is also fundamental to the North's future economic growth. We have been working hard with Network Rail on finding the solution and we are eagerly awaiting their Manchester Hub Study which will be published very soon."

"We are also delighted to see the Committee recommend more electrification and that electrification of the Midland Main Line between Sheffield and London should be a top priority beyond 2014, and also that investment needs to be maintained to get more freight onto rail."

"The Committee has also backed what we said about more carriages being the most pressing sort term issue so we can relieve passenger overcrowding on our railways"

"Looking long term, we agree with the Committee that the Government has to provide clarity on its vision for a high speed rail network for Britain and that, alongside this, there also needs to be an appropriate investment strategy for the existing main lines."

Notes for editors

The Northern Way provided evidence to the House of Commons Transport Committee's Priorities for Investment in the Railways Inquiry.

The Northern Way's Transport Priorities are set out the Northern Way's Strategic Direction for Transport and Short Medium and Long Term Priorities reports.

The Northern Way published the Manchester Hub Conditional Output Statement in April 2009.

The Northern Way published Transforming Our Economy and our Connectivity: High Speed Rail in the North in September 2009.