Greater Manchester leaders welcome transformational Northern Powerhouse Rail plans

• Joint work to start immediately with Government on detailed plans and business case for new Liverpool-Manchester railway – which will act as major catalyst for growth
• Options including a modern, underground station at Manchester Piccadilly to be developed to drive major regeneration and growth in Greater Manchester and across the North
• Railway key part of the Northern Growth Corridor that could add £90bn in additional GVA to the UK
• Greater Manchester’s economy is already outstripping the rest of the country and investment in Northern Powerhouse Rail will ensure it remains the growth capital of the UK

Greater Manchester’s leaders have welcomed the government’s major growth plan for the North and its firm commitment to delivering Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR).

NPR is at the heart of plans to deliver faster commutes, better jobs, more homes and increased investment, strengthening connections between Manchester, Manchester Airport, Liverpool, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Huddersfield, Warrington, York, Newcastle, Chester and North Wales. Careful design will ensure that the Manchester stations are integrated into the Bee Network to ensure that the benefits are felt across Greater Manchester.

The Chancellor has announced that £1.1 billion has been committed over this Spending Review period to support delivery of NPR, allowing progress on planning, development, and design work to begin.

The entirely new line between Liverpool and Manchester – via Warrington and Manchester Airport – will be delivered as part of the second NPR phase in the 2030s, and work will begin immediately to develop the project plans and business case in more detail.

As part of this, Greater Manchester and government will work together to explore how an underground solution at Manchester Piccadilly would be a catalyst and enabler for major regeneration and economic growth in Greater Manchester and across the North, by unlocking land for redevelopment.

The preferred underground option would see trains run through the station, providing better, more reliable and quicker services and connections to/from West Yorkshire and beyond, future-proofing the station to accommodate growing passenger numbers for decades to come, keeping people connected to jobs, homes and opportunity and ensuring that the city region remains the growth capital of the UK.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said:

“Finally, we have a government with an ambitious vision for the North, firm commitment to Northern Powerhouse Rail and an openness to an underground station in Manchester city centre. A modernised Manchester Piccadilly could become the Kings Cross of the North, acting as a catalyst for major growth in our city region and beyond.

“Over the past decade, we’ve become the UK’s fastest growing city region, but underinvestment in rail infrastructure has long acted as a brake on further growth. Today marks a significant step forward for Greater Manchester. We’ll now work at pace to prove the case for an underground station and work up detailed designs for the route between Liverpool and Manchester.”

 Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said:

“This is a massive moment for Manchester, and Greater Manchester as a whole. We have campaigned long and hard for much-needed investment in rail in the city across the North better linking the great cities and towns of the North – to create and support jobs, regeneration and other opportunities for our people. The previous Government failed us. But today’s announcement is a serious commitment to that vision after years of frustration.

“For people in Manchester this will mean more reliable and more frequent – not just faster – services to Liverpool, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Warrington and York. After many years of us making the case, for the first time a Government has recognised the potential benefits of an underground station and in the coming years we will work closely and constructively with Government to see that become a reality.

“At long last people across the North will finally feel the benefits.”

The new Liverpool-Manchester line would underpin the Northern Growth Corridor – a bold strategy to drive growth from the Mersey to the Pennines, stretching into Yorkshire, Lancashire, North Wales and beyond, generating around £90 billion in additional GVA by 2040 from the North West section of the Northern Arc alone – with a key connection at Manchester Airport, the north’s gateway to the rest of the world.

Chris Woodroofe, Managing Director of Manchester Airport, said:

“This is a welcome and long overdue step towards the creation of a highly productive and internationally competitive Northern growth corridor. By placing Manchester Airport at the heart of a full Northern Powerhouse Rail Network, people and businesses across the region will have the direct access they deserve to the world.

“That will help high-value industries to thrive and attract investors and visitors to all parts of the North – maximising the region’s contribution to national growth. The project will deliver the public investment needed to turbo-charge MAG’s £1.3bn transformation of Manchester Airport. It will unlock the full capacity of Manchester’s existing two full-length runways – capacity that is available now.

“That is why we look forward to working with Government and regional partners on ways to deliver NPR at the earliest possible opportunity.”

In its first decade of devolution, Greater Manchester has become the UK’s fastest-growing city-region, with average annual growth of 3.1% since 2015.

Now the city-region is pioneering a new, first-of-its-kind model of growth that, if maintained at current rates, would make Greater Manchester’s economy a third larger by 2035 (36%), adding £38 billion of additional GVA to the city region’s £100 billion economy.