Extra ?3.9bn announced today for the Transpennine Route Upgrade

Rail Minister Huw Merriman has today, Monday, 4 December, announced a £3.9 billion funding boost for the [1] which is designed to reduce carbon emissions and deliver significantly better services between [2], [3], [4] and [5].

Work is already well underway to electrify the route, and today's announcement brings the current total investment in the upgrade to £6.9 billion. Further funding will be provided as the project progresses towards the total overall cost of up to £11.5 billion, which is similar to the Government's funding for Crossrail.

Work on the Transpennine Route Upgrade Work on the Transpennine Route Upgrade // Credit: Transpennine Route Upgrade

The Transpennine Route Upgrade also underpins delivery of Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) for which the Government has recently announced another £12 billion, and with savings from the cancellation of the [6] extension, [7] and [8] have been brough into into the NPR scheme.

Transpennine Route Upgrade's first electric wires now in place to power greener journeys Transpennine Route Upgrade's first electric wires now in place to power greener journeys // Credit: Network Rail

A new station at Bradford will support regeneration of the city and provide a new rail connection to Manchester via Huddersfield which will almost halve journey times and double the frequency of services to provide an extra 1,000 seats per hour.

Today in Manchester, the Rail Minister is hosting a roundtable event to listen to stakeholders and businesses seeking to ensure the transport schemes in the Midlands and North will provide a benefit to the communities they serve.

Transpennine Route Upgrade launches campaign to raise awareness of major railway improvements Transpennine Route Upgrade launches campaign to raise awareness of major railway improvements // Credit: Transpennine Express

Rail Minister Huw Merriman said: “The Transpennine Route Upgrade represents the first major step in delivering transformed east-west connectivity in the north and I'm delighted to announce this multi-billion-pound funding boost to move to the next stage of delivery.

“Today's announcement demonstrates this Government's commitment to delivering its Network North plan which will improve journeys, help to level up regions and grow the economy.”

Neil Holm, Managing Director for the TransPennine Route Upgrade, said: “Transpennine Route Upgrade is well underway with building the infrastructure that bring passengers more frequent, faster, greener trains, that run on a better, cleaner and more reliable railway for generations to come.”

“This commitment by the government to our programme allows us to move two of our largest projects from design into construction and delivery. It brings us one big step closer to delivering the future of rail travel in the North of England.”

Darren [9], [10]'s Director of Rail and Road said: “This is a major milestone for the TRU project as it upgrades a key rail corridor across the North, bringing improvements for passengers and extra capacity for freight. TfN has been working with partners for some years to bring forward these benefits, which will lay the foundations for further transformational development from Northern Powerhouse Rail.

“We fully welcome the investment in this corridor as it will improve journey times, reliability, capability and capacity between Manchester and York via Huddersfield and Leeds. It will also reduce the pressure on the road network, particularly the M62 between West [11] and Manchester.”

References

  1. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  2. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  3. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  4. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  5. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  6. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  7. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  8. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  9. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  10. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  11. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)

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