Northern Powerhouse Rail
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Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) is a major strategic rail programme, specifically designed to support the transformation of the North’s economy by providing effective and efficient rail connectivity between the North’s major economic centres, offering a faster and more reliable service across the entire region. Connecting the people, communities and businesses of the North.
Northern Powerhouse Rail is a new rail network for the North of England aimed at increasing the rail capacity for the 21st century.
Featuring new and significantly upgraded railway lines, it will be the region’s single biggest transport investment since the Industrial Revolution. It will improve journey times and boost the number of trains per hour, allowing the northern economy to operate on a better level.
It will transform rail services making it easier to move between the region’s towns and cities.
It is much more than an infrastructure project – it has the potential to be a social and economic catalyst for the region and the people and businesses of the North. It is an investment in infrastructure that will deliver benefits to the economy, quality of life, education and the environment.
Leaders from across the North have agreed on a blueprint for a transformational upgrade to the region’s rail network that will help to unlock its huge potential – Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR).
Taken together this mix of new and upgraded rail lines and stations will be the biggest investment in the North’s railways since the Industrial Revolution. We believe it will help Northern people to improve their access to jobs, to training, to leisure, and help businesses to find new customers and employees.
We will be submitting our plans to government soon and we hope then to get on and deliver NPR for the North.
Please have a look at how NPR will benefit you, your family and your business, helping to bring a better quality of life for everyone in the North.
Northern Powerhouse Rail | Connecting the people, communities and businesses of the NorthLooking at a rail map of the UK, the main lines run south to north. The connections east to west are much poorer – they’re often branch lines which means capacity isn’t as good, and the rolling stock is poorer.
Coast to coast in the North can take longer than travelling from the North of England to Paris. These slow connections are what needs addressing as a matter of urgency to help deliver on the levelling-up agenda across the region.
Northern Powerhouse Rail will improve the transport connections for the North to make the North more competitive and cohesive.
Northern Powerhouse Rail will make it easier to travel to several northern cities for its workforce. Over 25 per cent of workers in the North will be within 90 minutes of four or more northern cities. That’s 15 per cent more than with the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) and HS2 alone.
NPR will have a major impact on the transformation and development of the regional jobs market, giving businesses access to a highly skilled workforce and supporting flexibility to an individual’s career development, opening new opportunities, and offering new challenges.
The Potential of Northern Powerhouse Rail
“This transformational Northern Powerhouse Rail project will connect our towns and cities like never before, giving confidence to investors, as well as being at the heart of our Decarbonisation Strategy.”
Transport for the North (TfN) and Department for Transport (DfT), working with delivery partners Network Rail and HS2 Ltd, has carried out substantial work to develop options in each NPR corridor.
New lines and significant improvements to existing lines would free up capacity and reduce disruption, enabling more services on local lines, increasing opportunities for both workers and consumers.
Manchester Airport is an integral part of the NPR network, serving more than 200 destinations and the connectivity it provides is key to ensuring all parts of the North are as productive and internationally competitive as possible. The integrated NPR/HS2 station will mean people and businesses across the Northern Powerhouse have the access to the global opportunities they need to thrive, creating jobs and economic value in the process. We will transform journey times to Manchester Airport, shortening supply chains and creating stronger trading routes.
HS2 with Northern Powerhouse Rail will bring Manchester airport within 90 minutes of 4.3 million people – a quarter of the North’s population.
Connecting the people, communities and businesses of the NorthBoth Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 are integral to the North’s future rail network. The Integrated Rail Plan released in November 2021 outlined how the Government’s £96bn investment in major rail schemes can be delivered faster and more efficiently.
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NPR and HS2 are being designed to complement each other and trains will run between the two networks and onto the wider railway system. These two flagships projects will transform the British railway network and allow for a huge increase in capacity across our major towns and cities.
Read moreKey publications outlining the strategic vision of Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Leaders of the North have agreed on a preferred network for Northern Powerhouse Rail – a huge upgrade to the North’s railways which will unlock the prosperity of the regio
Northern Powerhouse Rail offers the opportunity to unleash productivity and growth and power up the North’s economic potential. The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC)
Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) is a programme to deliver a transformed rail network in the North of England and bring new opportunities to millions of people and businesses
A transformed North could see a 4% increase in productivity, equating to an increase GVA of almost £100 billion, and create up to 850,000 new jobs.
The first time the North has come together to outline the robust case for transformational transport investment across all of the North, to rebalance the UK economy
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