Northern Transport Strategy Spring Report marks major progress

Monday 7th March 2016

The Northern Transport Strategy Spring 2016 Report has been launched by Transport for the North and the Department for Transport today, Monday 7 March 2016, in Gateshead.

• The Northern Transport Strategy Spring 2016 Report updates on joint work from Transport for the North (TfN) and the Department for Transport, including TfN’s emerging views of the options for Northern Powerhouse Rail, a proposed high quality rail network to better connect the great cities of the north.
• The report details progress on major government investment in transport across road and rail to support better journeys for passengers and economic growth across the region.
• The report also outlines progress on roads studies which look at dramatically improving the Strategic Road Network in the region, including east-west trans-Pennine connections – one of the biggest challenges in the north.

The report sets out plans for transformative projects such as Northern Powerhouse Rail and Smart North – a system to help passengers switch easily between buses, trains and trams across the region while ensuring value for money. It also updates on some of the key improvements made over the last year across the region, with billions of pounds already guaranteed across rail, road and smart ticketing to deliver better journeys for passengers and support economic growth across the region.

Chancellor George Osborne said:

“Improving transport links between the North’s major cities is at the heart of our plans to build a Northern Powerhouse. We created Transport for the North to help identify the priorities to connect up the great cities and towns of the north and to set out a vision to help us transform journeys for hardworking people.
John Cridland and his team have made enormous progress in the last year and this is a welcome report which shows both the improvements we have already made across the Northern Powerhouse as well as highlighting the potential to go much further.”

Transport Minister Andrew Jones MP said:

“This report and our huge investment in transport in the north demonstrate this government’s commitment to the Northern Powerhouse.”
“From smart motorways and rail franchising to potentially revolutionary future projects including Smart North and Northern Powerhouse Rail, our work is delivering easier and swifter journeys for passengers, and supporting jobs and growth across the region.”

John Cridland, Chair of Transport for the North (TfN) said:

“I’m delighted with the progress of our ambitious plans to transform infrastructure in the north of England. Our vision to rebalance the economy will greatly benefit residents of the north and the United Kingdom as a whole. Looking to the future we’ll build on our research, which is underpinned by the first Independent Economic Review for the North, to devise a prioritised investment programme.”

The government is investing £13billion on transport projects across the north. Progress over the past year includes:

• a £2.9 billion commitment to road improvements for the 5 year period to 2020. Construction has already begun on improving access to the Port of Immingham, improving the A1 in Yorkshire and Newcastle, and upgrading key sections of the M60, M1 and M6 to smart motorways;
• government securing investments of over £1 billion to upgrade rail infrastructure – including the electrification programme and track, station and signalling improvements – which will allow faster and more frequent services across the north;
• TfN and the government are working together on the introduction of the new Northern and TransPennine Express franchises, to begin in April 2016, which will deliver new-build trains, more than 500 brand-new carriages, room for 40,000 more passengers and 2,000 extra services a week. TfN will look to build on these improvements and ensure that these transformative links are delivered.

The Spring 2016 report shows that TfN and the government are building on this investment to create long term plans on projects to transform travel in the north. The emerging Northern Powerhouse Rail network – an ambitious plan to link the north from west to east with a network of high quality rail connections – will slash journey times and increase the frequency of services. Work continues to identify where upgrades to the existing network are possible and new lines may be desirable.

Initial reports on 2 studies have been published which look at dramatically improving the Strategic Road Network in the north; one study is looking improving east-west road connections across the northern Pennines and another considering how improvements to the transport network around Manchester can alleviate congestion on the M60, supporting growth in the region.
The report also outlines TfN’s implementation plan for Smart North, a smart ticketing system to simplify fares, slash queuing times and help passengers switch easily between buses, trains and trams. TfN intends to roll this out step-by-step across the region.

The Spring 2016 report is underpinned by initial findings from the Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review. This research, commissioned by TfN, is the first of its kind in the UK and ensures that proposals for short, medium and long-term investment are supported by a robust economic case.

TfN now represents all Local Enterprise Partnerships and all Combined Authorities and Local Transport Authorities in the north, and with £50 million confirmed funding over this Parliament, TfN is continuing to grow its capability and capacity towards statutory status by early 2017. This means that delivering the Northern Powerhouse is done by the local people who know their economies best.

For further information on TfN, please see www.transportforthenorth.com.

NOTES

• Transport for the North (TfN) was created in 2014 to allow the north to identify how best to drive economic growth through strategic investment in transport and allows the north to speak with one voice on key infrastructure decisions which benefit the region as a whole.
• TfN is a unique partnership between local transport authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and combined authorities across the north of England, working with government and national transport agencies.
• The Department for Transport, Transport for the North (TfN), Network Rail, Rail North, Highways England, Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and HS2 Ltd are working together to drive forward and deliver an integrated transport system across the north.
• This Spring 2016 report was a commitment made in the March 2015 report, ‘The Northern Powerhouse: One Agenda, One Economy, One North’ and updates work undertaken since the Northern Transport Strategy Autumn Report was released in November 2015.
• The Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review (NPIER) evidences need for strategic investment in transport to create a radical repositioning of the northern economy. This research, commissioned by TfN, is the first of its kind in the UK and ensures that proposals for short, medium and long-term investment are supported by a robust economic case. The NPIER’s complete findings will be published later this year.
• Plans are in place to develop TfN into a statutory body by early 2017, supported by Government’s commitment to put regional transport bodies – like Transport for the North – on a statutory footing.
• £50 million has been pledged over the course of this Parliament to allow TfN to build on existing momentum and provide the long-term certainty it needs to develop as an organisation.
• In addition to funding for TfN, the Chancellor has also pledged £150m towards the development of a pan-northern smart ticketing system and £300m to create a national Transport Development Fund to support development work for transformative transport infrastructure projects across the country.

Click here to read the Northern Transport Strategy Spring 2016 Spring Report