Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, has unveiled his plans for a 'Northern Arc' new railway line connecting Manchester and Liverpool. Speaking at MIPIM in Cannes, he argued that this line from Merseyside to the Pennines would contribute more to the 海角视频's economic growth than its southern counterpart from Oxford to Cambridge.
He identified the new railway line between Manchester and Liverpool, which he has been advocating for, as the North's 'missing link'. The previous Conservative government allocated £17bn towards the new railway line after scrapping the Northern leg of HS2.
However, the project was thrown into uncertainty when Labour came to power and stated that the funding was 'not practically available'. Alongside Steve Rotheram, the Mayor of Liverpool City Region, Mr Burnham has been lobbying the Labour government to support the plans.
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Despite their efforts, the project was not included in the list of schemes that Rachel Reeves endorsed in a major speech in January. Instead, the Chancellor announced plans for a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport and initiatives to stimulate growth in the Oxford and Cambridge corridor, including new rail links and road upgrades, which she suggested could become 'Europe's Silicon Valley'.
Addressing investors at MIPIM, Mr Burnham asserted that the 'Northern Arc' could deliver more to the 海角视频 economy than the 'southern version', reports .
He remarked: "Our city-regions have their own growth stories and opportunities, such as the Old Trafford regeneration project and Atom Valley in Greater Manchester.
"But our combined pipelines of investment opportunities – the Northern Arc – will create a powerful northern engine to fuel national growth, one greater than the sum of our parts.
"To achieve its full potential, we need a new Liverpool-Manchester railway – a crucial missing link that must be a priority for the 海角视频's infrastructure plan.
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"The sheer scale of untapped growth potential of the North means that, with the right government support, the size of the prize could match that of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.
"This is not about competing – we are already creating valuable partnerships with Cambridge – it's about recognising that this approach to creating superclusters can deliver the same, if not greater economic clout in the North West than anywhere else in the country."
When questioned on the recent discussions with the government regarding the new railway, Mr Rotheram indicated that the government had given a 'clear signal' that £17bn was on the table, but local leaders involved in the project 'never thought that would be enough' to fully realise the project's potential.
He suggested that the 'regeneration opportunity' around train stations along the new line could contribute to funding the initiative.
Mr Burnham also mentioned that the mayors are advocating for the increase in the value of land surrounding the project to be considered as a means to finance it.
He further commented: "In some ways, even if the government says we have to push it back a little because of other projects coming through, the certainty of doing it, say in the first half of the 2030s, would still bring the confidence, the certainty of where the north west is going."
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