HM Treasury
The Government today backed transport improvements across the Northern Powerhouse with 400 million of extra funding.
More than 100m will go towards local road schemes to bust congestion pinch-points and speed up journeys, while an extra 300m will help push forward plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail to bolster links between Northern towns and cities with more frequent and faster services.
Ministers are already investing record amounts to strengthen transport links in the North. This local road funding, from the 23 billion National Productivity and Investment Fund (NPIF), will go towards 13 priority schemes in the North West, 10 in Yorkshire and the Humber and 10 across the North East. These have been proposed by local leaders who know their areas best and illustrated how this investment will be of the greatest benefit to local people to improve journeys and help support jobs.
The extra 300 million will go towards ensuring HS2 infrastructure can accommodate future Northern Powerhouse Rail and Midlands Connect services. Future-proofing will make it easier and less disruptive to build Northern Powerhouse Rail in the future. This will enable faster services between the Northern cities of Liverpool and Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds and York, as well as on towards the East Midlands and London. It will also enable services between Liverpool and Leeds to pass via Manchester Piccadilly station.
Further Information
The Government has already backed the North with record investment in transport. By 2020 it will have spent more than 13 billion on improving and modernising transport links across the Northern Powerhouse. It has also spent more than 3.3 billion for local investment priorities through the Local Growth Fund.
In addition, Ministers have agreed historic devolution deals with four areas across the North (Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, Tees Valley, and Sheffield City Region). This May, the people of Greater Manchester, Tees Valley and Liverpool City Region elected powerful mayors for the first time who will receive a combined 2.25 billion of additional government funding for local priorities.