'Yada yada' Rachel Reeves says better rail connections will happen but YEP readers sceptical (and sarcastic)

You may have been already in bed last night when the 10.30pm embargo was lifted on a new of a multi-billion pound plan to revamps railway connections in the north ahead of even bigger plans to build new rail routes. You can see original story here.

The Chancellor, Leeds West and Pudsey MP Rachel Reeves, said the announcement to build Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) in three stages will “improve your train links”.

To explain the news in a nutshell, NPR was first proposed in 2014, and was originally envisioned as a new line between Liverpool and Hull.

The Treasury said on Wednesday that the first phase of the programme will open in the 2030s, involving improved connections on existing lines on these routes: between Sheffield and Leeds; between Leeds and York; and between Leeds and Bradford.

A second phase of NPR would involve a new route between Liverpool and Manchester via Manchester airport and Warrington, using a combination of new and existing lines. The third and final phase involves better connections eastwards from Manchester to Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and York.

Regular services would run on to Newcastle via Darlington and Durham, and Chester for north Wales connections. Development work would also be taken forward on reopening the Leamside Line, a 21-mile route between Pelaw, Gateshead, and Tursdale, County Durham, which was closed in 1964.

The news was, understandably, received with some criticism (and a lot of Yorkshire sarcasm) from Yorkshire Evening Post readers on social media.

• Axle said: “ Coming in 2070 (smiley face emoji)”
• Erica said: “ At some point it might happen.”
• Mark said: “Here we go again.”
• Simon: “ Aye in four years time when this disastrous government is voted out, then there will be other priorities. What happened to the H2S money we were meant to get, probably go to London like it always does.”
• Deborah said: “Oooh good I’ll be able to hop off a shiny new train and straight onto the tram we’ve already been promised on multiple occasions. Oh, hang on a minute.”
• Marvin said: “Another money pit for friends and friends of politicians, just like the supertram con.”
• Paul: “Great till it snows gets too warm cold windy floods or someone nicks the plug and maybe even a break down wonder how they manage everywhere else. “
• David: “Promise 120b, kick the can down the road.”
• Peter: “Sod the railways what about the tram we were promised?”
• Simon: “Aye in four years time when this disastrous government is voted out, then there will be other priorities. What happened to the H2S money we were meant to get, probably go to London like it always does.”
• And Andrew: “ Yada yada yada.”

READ MORE: ‘Yorkshire has long been neglected’ Leeds will be focus of billion pound plans to upgrade railway lines

But Rachel Reeves insists improvements to train journeys in northern England are “actually going to happen”. Ms Reeves said rail passengers in the North “have been let down” and “I totally get the cynicism”.

She told BBC Breakfast: “We’re doing this properly, doing this right. Because I want to give confidence to people that this is actually going to happen. It’s going to improve your train links, whether you live in Pudsey or Rotherham, or Newcastle or Darlington, or in the centres of Manchester and Liverpool, and Bradford and Sheffield.

“You’re going to see benefits from this. This is a project for the whole north of England to better connect us and to bring in those better jobs, paying decent wages.”

The Treasury said a “funding cap” of £45 billion would be set for NPR, although this could be topped up by local contributions, such as through increased revenue from business rates. An initial £1.1 billion for development and design work would be available to enable the creation of a “detailed delivery plan which will include timings”, the Treasury said.

The Government also announced its intention to build a new railway line between Birmingham and Manchester. A previous plan to extend HS2 between the cities was scrapped by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government in October 2023 to save money.

The Treasury said it wants a new Birmingham-Manchester rail line, but that it would not be “a reinstatement of HS2”. No timescale was provided on when it would open, but it will not be until after the completion of NPR.

NPR is the focus of the Government’s wider Northern Growth Strategy, which will be published in the spring and aims to provide better jobs, more homes and increased investment in the region.