Politicians in the North are to draw up their plan for how the North’s rail services can be transformed as part of the national rail reform agenda.
A meeting of Transport for the North’s Rail North Committee (Tuesday 10 June) in Bradford heard that government plans for rail reform offered a huge chance to align the railway to local plan for housing and growth, and enable greater integration with other transport modes such as bus and active travel.
The move comes following Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcement last week of more funding to improve transport infrastructure and services in the North’s city regions. Political leaders hope Wednesday’s Spending Review will build this announcement of billions of pounds of investment to benefit the North’s rail network.
RNC Chair Mayor Andy Burnham said: “This shows that we are serious about taking greater control over our own rail services. For too long decisions have been taken about services and investment by people who don’t live in the North and don’t use its transport system.
“Devolution is about correcting that, and making sure that Northerners are at the heart of crucial decision making, so together we can create an accessible, reliable and modern railway.”
The meeting also heard how hundreds of new trains are to be bought for the North’s rail network to update the aging fleets currently being used. Northern is to buy up to 450 trains, which could replace two thirds of its existing fleet over the next ten years, while TransPennine Trains (TPT) will buy a further 29 for services across the Pennines linked to the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU).
Alongside, the Committee reflected on TPT’s performance in recent times; cancellations in March dropped to just 2% and TPT has seen 12% year-on-year passenger growth. The train operating company was brought into public control two years ago due to its poor performance.