Jim McMahon responds to reports of a 'rethink' by the Transport Secretary on HS2

Jim McMahon MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, responding to reports of a ‘rethink’ by the Transport Secretary on HS2, said:

"You cannot trust a word the Tories say. Expecting people to accept endless rebadging of promises made years ago is insulting.

"Poor transport connectivity continues to hold back the North, Midlands and beyond and the Conservatives' record is one of total failure to deliver. Communities that stand to lose out once again – thanks to the Government’s incompetence and inability to keep projects on track - will rightly feel betrayed by yet another broken promise dressed up as a new announcement."

Ends

Notes to editors

• Grant Shapps signals government rethink on HS2 with eastern leg at risk: https://www.ft.com/content/48839c02-f66d-422d-b784-921a7655a08a

• Analysis by Labour earlier this year showed the Tories re-announced or re-committed to major rail projects in the North more than 60 times in the previous seven years – with zero spades in the ground.

• Up to February 2021, when the analysis was carried out, dozens of Government press releases had referenced variations of Northern Powerhouse Rail, Crossrail for the North or HS3 since former Chancellor George Osborne proposed a new high speed link between Leeds and Manchester in June 2014.

1. Abridged timeline of ‘Northern Powerhouse Rail’

June 2014 - In a speech in Manchester, then-Chancellor George Osborne proposes a new high-speed link between Leeds and Manchester.

August 2014 – An alliance of six city councils unveiled the first route plan for a new trans-Pennine high speed rail link, backed on the day by Osborne.

March 2015 – DfT publishes plans for transport infrastructure in the North of England, including proposals for a new line linking Liverpool to Hull.

General Election 2015 – The Tory Manifesto pledges to ‘develop High Speed 3 to join up the North’

March 2016 - At the Budget 2016, Osborne backs the NIC’s report calling for High Speed North. The report noted that ‘it takes longer to get from Liverpool to Hull by train than to travel twice the distance from London to Paris.’

General Election 2017 – The Tory Manifesto promises to ‘continue our programme of strategic national investments, including High Speed 2, Northern Powerhouse Rail and the expansion of Heathrow airport’.

October 2017 – Then-Chancellor Philip Hammond recommits to Northern Powerhouse Rail (as it then came to be more regularly called) and allocated £300m to future-proof junctions between Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2.

March 2019 – A new Government commission is set up to plan a new £6bn city centre station in Liverpool to accommodate HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail

July 2019 – Boris Johnson pledges to fund the Leeds to Manchester section as proposed by Transport for the North, as a first stage.

September 2019 – The Government rows back on committing to the exact route plan.

General Election 2019 – The Tory Manifesto states ‘now is the time to invest in Northern Powerhouse Rail’.

February 2020 – Andrew Stephenson is named ‘Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 Minister’ splitting the role from the brief of Rail Minister, and is tasked with ‘keeping a firm grip on these vital projects’

October 2020 – Grant Shapps recommits to Northern Powerhouse Rail in his speech to the Great Northern Conference.

Feb 2021 – The Government tells Transport for the North to hold off on submitting its plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/transport/grant-shapps-orders-leaders-delay-business-case-northern-powerhouse-rail-amid-fears-parts-scheme-could-be-downgraded-3137125

Aug 2021 – Reports suggest the eastern leg of HS2 could be scrapped https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/22/hs2-eastern-leg-to-leeds-may-be-scrapped-new-leak-claims

1. Labour has consistently called for Northern Powerhouse Rail to be built and for HS2 to be delivered in full.

Rail fares rises

• The average commuter will now be paying £3,144, for their season ticket, £950 or 43% more than in 2010 – with rail fares expected to raise by 4.8% next year.

5 example commuter routes in the North

Network Rail cut

• The Government revealed in a written Parliamentary Question to Labour’s Jim McMahon that they were cutting Network Rail’s enhancement budget by £1 billion over the next three years.

• The Department for Transport’s Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline lists the projects that that this fund would be spent on. It’s split into three stages, from those furthest along the pipeline and closest to being built to those in the earlier development and design phase.

• As a result of the £1bn cut, the Government must publish an updated pipeline as soon as possible. For those places and passengers waiting for much needed improvements, and for the workers and firms relying on this pipeline of work, ministers have to provide certainty without delay.

• Assuming that those projects in the final stage are likely to get built along with any firm Conservative party manifesto commitments, there remains at least 20 projects in the other two stages that are under threat.

Pacer trains

• The Government said they would scrap pacer trains in 2015. Yet they were still in use on the network until late 2020.

Transport spending per head

• While the capital will receive £3,636 per person in transport, the North will receive just £1,247 per person

• Within the North, Yorkshire and the Humber will see just £511; the North East £519; and the North West £2,062 per person.

• The so-called ‘Northern Powerhouse’ has seen its share of spending fall by nearly 10 per cent. In 2016/17 the North represented over a quarter of ‘in construction’ investment (25.69 per cent) however, this year that figure has fallen to 17.66 per cent.

• If the North had seen the same per-person investment as London over the last decade, it would have received £66bn more.