By Chris Young, local democracy reporter
The North needs to be “backed to the hilt” rather than just receiving “lip service” – the Prime Minister has claimed.
The Government has today re-affirmed its support for Northern Powerhouse Rail – a new rail link between the biggest cities in the North of England, including improvements to lines running through West Leeds.
The decision confirms Bradford will be a central part of the Government’s overall £45bn Northern Powerhouse Rail programme – with a commitment to press forward and reach a decision on a new rail station in the city by Summer 2026.
The project has been hailed as “the biggest transformation to travel in the North in a Generation” and Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to soon announce more details of the project.
Bradford is included in the first phase of the programme with confirmation of the immediate plans to deliver “quick wins” via the electrification and upgrades to accelerate journey times between Bradford and Leeds.
Funding was also announced to progress the next phases of work to enable the Bradford new station development including an initial assessment of the options and timing for Bradford to Manchester improvements via Huddersfield.
The Labour Government says previous Government’s failure to offer better transport links to cities like Bradford, Leeds and Manchester were “an economic dereliction of duty, with communities across the region repeatedly sold false promises of growth and better connectivity, and many people choosing to leave their hometowns to find jobs, security and opportunity elsewhere as a result.”
A statement from Government said: “The new growth drive will strengthen connections between some of the fastest growing city regions in the country – connecting Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Huddersfield, Warrington, York and improved services to Newcastle and Hull – to drive productivity and create tens of thousands of jobs.
“Up to £40 billion a year could be injected into the British economy if productivity in the North was lifted just to the national average.
“Northern Powerhouse Rail – the backbone of the plan – will see a major new rail service across the North that is faster and more frequent, transforming commutes for Liverpool, Manchester, Warrington, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and York, with services running onto Newcastle and Hull.
“From boosted connectivity between these fast-growing city regions will come more jobs, new homes and a greater number of opportunities for businesses to invest and expand.
“This is the latest action being taken by the Government to deliver economic growth in parts of the country previously overlooked. This landmark upgrade to rail travel is one of the central building blocks of a northern growth corridor from Liverpool to York – which has the potential to rival some of the most successful growth corridors in Europe, like the Rhine-Ruhr region in Germany and the Randstad in the Netherlands.
Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said: “A reliable commute, a secure job, a thriving town centre – these are all things that everyone should expect. But over and over again people in Northern communities, from Liverpool and Manchester to York and Newcastle have been let down by broken promises.
“This cycle has to end. No more paying lip service to the potential of the North, but backing it to the hilt.
“That’s why this government is rolling up its sleeves to deliver real, lasting change for millions of people through Northern Powerhouse Rail: a major new rail network across the North that will deliver faster, more frequent services.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leeds West and Pudsey MP Rachel Reeves said: “If economic growth is the challenge, investment and renewal is the solution. That’s why we’re reversing years of chronic underinvestment in the North.
“Our transformative plans will create jobs, build homes and unlock opportunities for businesses to invest. That’s how we deliver economic growth, a renewed Britain and more money in working people’s pockets.”
The Chancellor says she will back Northern Powerhouse Rail with £1.1 billion over the Spending Review period. Government says this will “allow progress on planning, development, and design work to be made which will unlock benefits for the people of the North from the 2030s.
“NPR will build on the Transpennine Upgrade scheme, which is proceeding on time and on budget.
“The first phase of the programme will deliver improved connections between Sheffield and Leeds, Leeds and York, and Leeds and Bradford.
“In the North East, development work on the Leamside Line will also be taken forward alongside Northern Powerhouse Rail. This will be followed by a new route between Liverpool and Manchester, running via Manchester Airport and Warrington, and finally by improved connections across the Pennines between Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and York.
“Regular services will run onward to Newcastle via Darlington and Durham; Hull; and Chester for North Wales connections.
This will unlock new benefits for the people of the North supporting new, skilled jobs for the planning, development, design and construction of the project.”
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire said: “For too long, unreliable rail links have caused misery for people living and working in the North, while holding back our ambitious plans for growth.
“Today we have a solid commitment from government to invest in connecting our towns and cities including taking forward plans for Bradford station, capacity upgrades in and out of Leeds, and electrification across the network to allow more frequent and faster trains.
“We made the case as Yorkshire mayors that we needed better connectivity between our biggest cities, and we are working with the government to deliver better transport across Yorkshire and the north.
“This will help us boost capacity, reliability and journey times between our biggest cities, driving jobs and growth across Yorkshire.”
The Government’s announcement today adds: “Northern Powerhouse Rail will be kept within a fair funding envelope over its entire construction period to ensure it remains good value for taxpayers both now and in the future, avoiding a repeat of past mistakes where major projects like HS2 have gone significantly over budget.
“A funding cap of £45 billion will be set for the programme. £1.1 billion over the Spending Review period is the first stage of this, allowing development and design work to progress and enabling the creation of a detailed delivery plan which will include timings.
“Alongside this, to support and build on the strategic ambition for the project, the Government has set out its intention in the long term to build a new rail line between Birmingham and Manchester. This is not a reinstatement of HS2, further work is required to establish how it can best support our rail ambitions for across the North, and its delivery would happen after the completion of Northern Powerhouse Rail. The government is learning the lessons of HS2 to ensure that the programme does not repeat its failures.
“This comes as the Government is progressing the Transpennine Route Upgrade, and we have already made a £15 billion investment into local transport in city regions and added 60,000 extra seats each week on the East Coast Mainline, with new services to Bradford and reduced journey times between London, Leeds and Newcastle.”
A Bradford Council spokesperson said: “The announcement is a significant breakthrough in securing Bradford’s overall ambition for a new city centre through-station which is fully integrated with Mass Transit and the new bus station. It will also serve to provide further confidence to those looking to invest in Bradford as part of its continued successful regeneration.”
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Well they were originally going to Electrify the line via Pudsey but the very influential Tory MPs for Shipley and Skipton “pulled strings” to go to Forster Square instead of the Interchange. Concern over the loss of London trains from Pudsey was assuaged by concrete promise of new station at Rodley…how’s that going?
One good outcome from this is it dooms Brabins bonkers tram to Bradford via Holme Wood.
Footnote… the artists impression
We already have a regular service between Leeds and Bradford Interchange, which takes around 20 minutes. I can’t see these timings being cut much more unless stops are taken out, depriving Bramley and New Pudsey of services.
As for a new station in Bradford, it’s no improvement if the station is moved further from the city centre. The ideal time to have a new through station was when the land in front of the old Exchange station was cleared and there was a clear way to join Bradfofd Interchange and Bradford Forster Square stations up without demolition of buildings. Unfortunately, that isn’t possible now with the shopping centre since built on the site.