‘Time is running out for HS2 in the North’

The future of our railways in the North still hangs in the balance, with less than 60 sitting days for Parliament to extend legal powers to purchase land for Phase 2a of HS2 between Birmingham and Crewe.

If they are allowed to expire, the loss of compulsory purchase orders will make investment in railway infrastructure across those areas much more difficult. Future developments could run into both temporal and financial problems to access the land required.

As we await plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail to be announced in the New Year, the government must set out a broader strategy for linking North/South connections as well as East/West.

READ MORE: ‘The legacy of Barbara Castle should still drive Labour’s approach to transport policy’

At the local level, Labour leaders in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands are making full use of delegated powers, achieving growth rates far beyond the UK as a whole. With a slew of regions expected to receive further devolved powers, including my constituency through the Cheshire & Warrington Combined Authority, hopefully we can replicate similar results after the 2027 elections.

However, if we are serious about making the most of devolution and generating economic growth regionally, we need a railway network to reflect that.

Improved transport connectivity has a strong upward impact on growth, particularly at the local level. A report from Frontier Economics, commissioned by the Department for Transport, found that transport interventions have a positive impact on employment growth, as well as both labour and firm productivity.

Similarly, the Local Government Association calculated that a 1% improvement in public transport journey times could support a 0.91% reduction in employment deprivation (the share of people who are either looking for work or would look for work with the right support or offer) greater even than the effect of providing households with access to a car (0.77%). 

Aside from the growth case, the need for capacity relief is clear. Historic underinvestment in regional infrastructure is best summarised through the West Coast Mainline, running 400 miles from Edinburgh and Glasgow all the way to London. 

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It serves more than 75 million passengers a year and over 40% of the UK’s rail freight. It is also the least reliable railway in Britain, with fewer than 50% of trains running on time due to increased footfall.

In fact, the Office for Rail and Road was on the brink of running a sleeper commuter train (with no passengers) on this route just to ease congestion, which was only stopped due to a public outcry.

So, if not to improve the economic prosperity of towns across the North, many of which were left behind under the previous government, investment in our railway infrastructure is crucial to stop trains literally running on empty. 

We cannot allow the root cause of this issue to become lost – namely lack of capacity on the West Coast Mainline north of Birmingham.

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This key part of our rail network is clogged up today, with passenger numbers expected to almost double by 2050. Without intervention by government, contradictory measures like running empty trains to ease congestion will become the norm.

With the compulsory purchase powers for Phase 2a are due to expire in February and a pending announcement on Northern Powerhouse Rail, the clock really is ticking.

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