Budget trebled for North rail improvements

The entire line between Manchester and York will be electrified , alongside modern signalling

The government has committed to trebling the money being pumped into upgrading rail links between Manchester, Leeds and York.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced between £9bn and £11.5bn for the Transpennine Route Upgrades, which had been a £2.9bn project.

He said the extra cash would enable the full route to be electrified, cutting journey times to just over an hour.

Mr Shapps said it would "revolutionise" the journey across the Pennines.

He added: "This is the single biggest investment any government has ever made in Britain's railways."

Critics said the promise had come too late and demanded more action to bring down "rip-off" ticket prices.

The improvements, expect to take between 10-15 years, would see a journey from Manchester to Leeds take just over 30 minutes, instead of up to an hour, the government said.

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The line, connecting two of the UK's largest and busiest cities, has long been criticised for its slow speeds and propensity for delays and other problems, in contrast to many key services in the south.

Mr Shapps said the fresh plans would also see the route fitted with digital signalling as well as extra track, and would "address this historic lack of balance" between spending in the north and south.

Journeys between Manchester and Leeds could take just over 30 minutes after the revamp

The minister said the upgrades could be delivered faster than previous plans to build a new line, and more cheaply.

He said services had not "kept pace with the times" but the upgrades, set to begin next year, would make them more reliable, less crowded, better for the environment and more like commuting in and around London.

He said the north would receive more investment per head than the Midlands or the south, which was "all part of our plan to level up the whole country".

Almost £1bn will be spent on the remaining electrification of the railway between Stalybridge and Manchester.

The funding is the first detailed expenditure from the £96bn Integrated Rail Plan investment, Mr Shapps said.

'Welcome funding'

Tony Miles, from Modern Railways magazine, said: "It's good news the government has formally committed the money needed to complete the project.

"Network Rail now needs to keep a tight control on costs to make sure the project can be delivered."

However, Manuel Cortes, general secretary of transport union TSSA, said it was "yet another re-announcement of existing funding from a headline-seeking Transport Secretary".

He continued: "The funding is of course welcome, but if this government was serious about backing our railways, then it needs to do much more to tackle rip-off ticket prices and improve reliability and end-to-end journeys."

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said the northern economy had been held back by a "decade of broken promises" and plans to upgrade the line had already come too late.

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