Rail connectivity between Leeds and Sheffield 'not fit for purpose', warns Tracy Brabin
West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin has said that the public will not believe Government promises on Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) unless they “see something happen” in the short term, as she said that rail connectivity between some of the region’s major cities was “not fit for purpose”.
Speaking at the Great Northern Conference, Ms Brabin also called on business leaders to demand action from Ministers on the NPR scheme.
First proposed by the Conservatives, the NPR scheme was designed to connect major cities in the North of England. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson scrapped the Leeds leg of the scheme in 2021, with Rishi Sunak later axing the Manchester segment in 2023.
Speaking on the scheme at this month’s conference, Ms Brabin said: “We’ve had 60 on NPR, and we haven’t had anything delivered. So whether that’s electrification between Leeds and Sheffield, this is not a difficult thing to sign off on as a Government, but the impact will be spectacular.
“When you’ve got a £160m investment zone in Leeds, and the same in Sheffield attached by a train line that takes you an hour, if you’re lucky. This is not fit for purpose. I really hope the Government understands that we want to work in collaboration with them, but the public have to see something happen in the short term, or they just won’t believe it, I’m afraid, because they’ve been promised so much for so long.”
Ms Brabin also called on businesses to help in the call for greater rail connectivity. She said: “I’m in meetings with businesses who say ‘I can’t recruit because I can’t get people from where they live to my business’. We need you as leaders to be advocates as well for this. In your meetings with ministers, say ‘you’ve got to sort out Northern Powerhouse Rail. You’ve got to give the North the investment it needs’.”
It comes after earlier this year, Ms Brabin, along with South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard and Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, signed the White Rose Agreement, in part focussed on advocating for improved rail connectivity.
Speaking at the Great Northern Conference, Mr Coppard also called for definitive action to be taken on the NPR scheme. He said: “I’ve said for a while now, I’m prepared to accept some delay to the announcements around NPR, as long as that is because what essentially is happening is that the work has been done behind closed doors to get us to a better position.
“Because from my perspective, and I think everybody would recognise this, there’s a huge amount of cynicism when it comes to the big projects in this country, given the history that we’ve been through over the last decade plus.
“So when the Government does announce NPR, we need to know it is going to happen, and that we are going to see spades in the ground.”