Labor has promised to improve railways across the north of England – but the party has refused to commit to concrete plans.
This was announced by Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh Manchester Evening News that the party has not ruled anything out – including the construction of new platforms at Piccadilly, which were promised more than a decade ago but canceled last year. However, the party has not committed to building a new high-speed rail line from Manchester to Liverpool, which is currently on the table.
Ms Haigh also said there were “many options” on the table when it came to improving the rail link between Manchester and Birmingham. This includes plans for a new line brought forward by Mayor Andy Burnham after the northern section of HS2 was scrapped last year.
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But Ms Haigh said Labor would not “take the HS2 plans back off the shelf” because the cost of it was “completely out of control”. It comes at a time when the party is awaiting the conclusions of an independent expert assessment of the railway and urban transport infrastructure.
Ahead of the publication of the review, which was commissioned after the Tories scrapped Phase 2 of HS2 last year, Labor said it would aim to deliver new projects 25 per cent faster and 20 per cent cheaper than existing ones. Labour’s manifesto, published last week, promises to prioritize improving rail links across the North – but does not outline specific schemes.
The MEN asked Ms Haigh, who was visiting Manchester Airport on Thursday (June 20), what voters can expect in the first five years of a Labor government if the party wins the general election. She said: “What people in Greater Manchester can expect from hopefully the incoming Labor government is that we will be honest about the scale of the challenge but also about our ambitions.
“We’re not going into this election promising anything we can’t deliver on. We want to take a long-term approach that will encourage the private sector to invest and ensure that every penny we spend of taxpayers’ money gets the best return and delivers the best results for passengers throughout the north.
“But the northern rail link and transport infrastructure will absolutely be a priority for the next Labor government.”
talk to MEN last month Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer pledged to work with the mayors of Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Region to make the new line between their cities a reality. But the Labor manifesto makes no mention of the scheme.
Asked about plans for a new line between Manchester and Liverpool, which the Tories have promised, Ms Haigh said the two cities would be at the “core” of plans to tackle northern connectivity, which also includes links to Hull and the North East. But she said if elected Labor would have to “take a good look at the books” before committing to building a new rail line.
She said: “These plans were formulated on the basis that HS2 was coming to both Manchester and Leeds and those lines were scrapped by the Tories and the money has since been redistributed. That’s why we need to take them back to square one and develop a plan that delivers the same results as the original Northern Powerhouse Rail concept to improve connectivity and capacity across the North.”
The Labor frontbencher, who is standing for re-election as MP in Sheffield, also said her party would look at reviving plans for two new platforms at Piccadilly. Plans for platforms 15 and 16 were drawn up in 2015, but the major upgrade was scrapped last May.
When asked, Ms Haigh said: “Absolutely it will be considered as an option because it is one of the biggest barriers to growth.
“We need to step back and look at the needs of the country as a whole, look at the needs of the North and make sure we integrate our railways and our airports into our industrial strategy. We think this is a massive reset for the country.
“We haven’t had that access for 14 years. So it allows us to step back and make these investment decisions.”
Juergen Maier, former CEO of Siemens UK, is conducting an independent review of rail and urban transport infrastructure for the Labor Party. Joining Ms Haigh on her visit to Manchester Airport, he agreed the party should not make commitments yet.
He said: “I think that’s absolutely right. As a businessman and as someone who is looking for confidence right now, actually the worst thing that could happen is that we actually get another 20 promises that we doubt will be fulfilled .” be delivered.
“We’d rather take some time, work collaboratively, we work in partnership and then figure out together what we need to deliver and then stick to the plan, deliver on time. a little faster, maybe even a little cheaper.”