Downing Street also announced local leaders would be given more than £1bn to boost regional transport, such as West Yorkshire’s mass transit system
The prime minister has committed to improving rail services across the north of England, whose potential, he said, had been “held to ransom by a Victorian-era transport system”. Speaking on a visit to Huddersfield, in West Yorkshire, after his own train was delayed, Keir Starmer announced £415m of funding to improve rail links between Huddersfield, Manchester, Leeds and York.
The PM said the funding was “new money” on top of previous investment that has already been committed to the Transpennine Route upgrade and electrification.
Downing Street also announced local leaders would be given more than £1bn to boost regional transport, such as West Yorkshire’s mass transit system. The additional money is also expected to help fund a new railway station in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle area and the redevelopment of Bury Interchange.
Speaking to staff at a fabric manufacturing site, Starmer praised Huddersfield Station and the beautiful countryside on the train route between Huddersfield and Leeds. But he added: “The downside was, if you can believe it, the train was late. That is, I’m sure for you, a pretty frequent experience. The North is home to a wealth of talent and ingenuity. But for too long, it has been held to ransom by a Victorian-era transport system which has stifled its potential.”
The prime minister said the Transpennine upgrade was a project that could “massively improve” people’s lives. “The impact is a human one – because there’s not just the getting to work late and the irritation of that, but there’s also the important NHS appointments, the family engagements and the funerals that people are trying to get to. All these things are hugely impactful on a human level that you can’t get in the statistics.”
Improving rail connections would ensure “people can get around, businesses can thrive and people can enjoy their lives, in a way they can’t if public transport isn’t working properly”, he added.
Later, Starmer reiterated the £415m was new money, to be invested in addition to the cash already pledged to the upgrade.
He said: “Obviously it’s a big project – up to £10bn. But this is a material, and important, step forward.”
Work to electrify railway lines running across the Pennines was given the go-ahead in 2022, more than 10 years after the scheme was first mooted by the then-chancellor, George Osborne.
It’s part of a major package of investment to improve transport across the North, with the government now saying it is to spend more than double the money per head on local transport in the North than the South, including London.
However, the project, which will ultimately speed up journey times for passengers, is not expected to be completed until the mid-2030s.
West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin welcomed the PM’s backing for a mass transit system for the region as a “game-changer” that would “see trams back on the streets of Leeds and Bradford for the first time in 75 years”.
She added: “We have heard the prime minster’s challenge to speed up delivery of key projects and we will rise to that with full confidence.”
Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, welcomed the cash as “good news”, but urged the government to go further. He called for the Transpennine line to be electrified “all the way to Hull”, and for a new station to be built in Bradford – a scheme that was cancelled by the previous government in 2022.
Murison said: “I think the government will allocate us more money for transport projects over the coming years. I just want to hear Keir Starmer give us a sign that he and his chancellor are as committed to supporting the Northern Powerhouse and generating a more prosperous north of England as they were when they were in Opposition.”
The plans to modernise the Transpennine railway line had suffered “years of delays, false starts and redesigns” before they were approved three years ago. “When the work is finished, trains should be able to travel between Leeds and Manchester in 41 minutes, with six services every hour,” he said.
“The current operator of the route – Transpennine Express – was taken over by the government in May 2023 due to its poor performance. “Since then the number of cancellations and delays has been reduced, after a deal was reached with trade unions to train more drivers to operate trains.”
