By Richard Johnstone | 5 August 2014
Five cities in the north of England have set out a £15bn plan to upgrade transport connections across the region to create an interconnected ‘economic powerhouse’.
Today’s One North plan, which was presented to Chancellor George Osborne in Manchester, said the key issue to improving the growth of northern cities was better links between the major conurbations and on to ports and airports.
It sets out a number of key upgrades needed to improve the economic potential of Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield and their surrounding areas.
These include improvements to the M62/M60 motorway running east-west in the region, and the north-south M1 and M6 routes.
Rail routes should also be improved, with the city leaders calling for both a quickening of the delivery of the High Speed 2 rail line as well as a new trans-Pennine route. This comes after Osborne said in June that a new high-speed rail connection east-west from Manchester to Leeds should be considered as part of what he called a ‘Northern Powerhouse'.
Setting out the plans today, the city leaders said: ‘With this, the north will be better placed to take advantage of the lower barriers to trade with the south that HS2 will bring, multiplying the benefits of investment in high-speed rail to the benefit of the country as a whole.
‘One North sets out our proposition for transport in the North and the principles we have adopted in developing it. It provides a platform for consideration by the LEPs and both private and public sector organisations across the north. Our next steps will be to work with these organisations to develop a prioritised set of economically driven investments to deliver our ambition.’
According to the report, an interconnected region of thriving cities and towns could provide a valuable counterweight and complement to London and help re-balance the national economy in the decades ahead.
‘The prize is considerable,’ the leaders concluded. ‘A transport network that supports a strong and vibrant and more productive North of England economy for the 21st century.’
