27th February 2018  “High-speed rail linking the North of England’s biggest cities should be delivered at the same time as HS2, politicians and business leaders have urged today. The Northern Powerhouse Partnership’s vice-chairman Lord Jim O’Neill said: “The financial investment justification for central government would vastly exceed the usual cautious value-for-money criteria, and be one of the most exciting things for post-Brexit Britain, notably for an area that has many disillusioned voters.”

The Northern Powerhouse All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) meeting this afternoon will hear from Andy Burnham, the elected mayor of Greater Manchester, and Bradford Council’s leader, Coun Susan Hinchcliffe, about the transformational effects the proposed high-speed networks will have on their cities by connecting them to rest of the North. It calculates that NPR would reduce journey times between Manchester and Bradford to just 20 minutes and would create 20,000 new jobs in Liverpool alone. Crucial to this improvement is the proposed tunnel to accommodate NPR in an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly, ensuring that HS2 trains can seamlessly link with NPR trains and link with Manchester Airport.”

… Coun Hinchcliffe added: “Supporters of the Next Stop Bradford campaign have made the case for why a new line between Manchester and Leeds will have the greatest benefit if it includes a city-centre stop in Bradford. It is right that Bradford is now on the preferred route and that this route should be built sooner, rather than later. At least £1.3bn of additional economic benefits will come from a Bradford city-centre station and will be unlocked through the direct connections to Manchester in 20 minutes and Leeds in seven minutes.”

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