Business leaders in North East hit out at Government rail plans

The Integrated Rail Plan has attracted widespread criticism for going back on previous Government promises

A view of Newcastle Central Station from the Castle Keep (Image: Handout)

Business and political leaders across the North East have queued up to condemn the Government’s £96bn rail plan after it watered down much-hoped for transport improvements.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps sparked anger after he confirmed that the eastern leg of HS2 was being scrapped while the planned Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) was being curtailed.

The North East England Chamber of Commerce described it as “a huge missed opportunity” and said that “the Government’s entire levelling up credibility is at stake here”.

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North East Labour MPs hit out at the broken promises on rail improvement in the North, and were joined by North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll, the leader of the North East Joint Transport Committee and a number of campaign groups.

The unveiling of the Integrated Rail Plan also saw North East MPs from both sides of the House push Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to commit to re-opening the Leamside Line, a key demand from the region that would increase capacity of the rail network.

But despite questions on Leamside from both Labour’s Ian Mearns and Conservative Paul Howell, Mr Shapps did not directly address the issue.

On a visit to a Network Rail logistics hub in Yorkshire after the release of the plan, Prime Minister Boris Johnson dismissed the charges of broken promises as “total rubbish”, insisting the Government would deliver on them “eventually”.

But John McCabe, chief executive of the North East England Chamber of Commerce, said: “The Government’s integrated rail plan fails to deliver on the levelling up agenda and give much-need commitment to transformational projects for the North.

"Without the full delivery of Northern Powerhouse Rail, the eastern leg of HS2 and improved capacity on the East Coast Main Line our region’s potential will continue to be held back by out-dated rail infrastructure.

“This is especially disappointing after Cop26 and the need to shift travel from road to rail to meet net zero targets. Media reports have said that there could now be more than 12,000 extra car journeys a day in the North of England due to the poor rail connections in the North causing congestion and harming air quality.

"Rail connections are key for the North East’s businesses helping to encourage more trade between northern cities, as well as giving people a wider choice of employment opportunities, encouraging people to stay and work in the region. The Government had previously committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail and set up bodies like Transport for the North to advise on rail connectivity. Failing to listen to them and Northern leaders on the need to invest demonstrates that there is a lag between rhetoric and action on levelling up.

“I am urgently requesting a meeting with the relevant ministers to raise our members’ concerns directly and begin discussions on how we might salvage something from any future transport policy. The Government’s entire levelling up credibility is at stake here.”

In the Commons, Mr Shapps said the Government was investing £96bn in 110 miles of new high-speed line, “slashing” journey times across the region.

He said that under the original proposals HS2 would not have reached the region until the 2040s, while the revised plan would bring forward the benefits to passengers by “at least a decade”.

But Gateshead MP Ian Mearns said the Government’s plan showed that “HS2 was affordable for the South but not for the North” while Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell said that “they are asking northerners to put up with ‘make do and mend’ rather than giving us the infrastructure we were promised.”

Louise Gittins, interim chair of Transport for the North, which advises the Government on the region’s transport needs, said the plan was “woefully inadequate”.

She said: “Leaders from across the North and from across the party political divide came together to ask for a network that would upgrade the North for this century and in line with the rest of the country.

“Our statutory advice asked for an over £40bn network, but the Government has decided to provide even less than half of that.”