Transport chiefs welcome key report on rail investment

Date published: 24 April 2009

A report calling for significant investment in Greater Manchester’s heavy rail network has been wholeheartedly welcomed by the region’s transport leaders today.

Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) is backing The Northern Way’s conclusion that addressing the heavy rail bottlenecks in and around Manchester could be worth up to £16 billion to the North’s city regions.

The findings are contained in a report published by The Northern Way today as part of an ongoing feasibility study into the Manchester Hub – the name given to the constraints on the heavy rail network in and around Oxford Road, Piccadilly and Victoria stations.

Councillor Matt Colledge, Chair of GMITA, said: “The hub is the heavy rail gateway to the North but the bottlenecks in an around it are beginning to limit the number and frequency of passenger and freight services that can call through it.

“As Manchester commuters will know, many trains are unacceptably overcrowded and there are an increasing number of gaps in services brought about by a lack of network capacity.

“We need to make sure that our network can meet current demand and encourage further growth by providing faster and more regular connections locally and to cities like Liverpool, Preston, Leeds and beyond.

“The report published today by The Northern Way shows just how much is at stake if we don’t address this issue soon and gives us a great platform to take our case for investment forward to the government.”

The Northern Way report is the first part of a feasibility study that is being led by Network Rail at the request of the Department for Transport. Network Rail will now look into developing affordable, value-for-money solutions.

Councillor Keith Whitmore, Vice Chair of GMITA, said: “The hub is the greatest single strategic transport issue for the economic future of the North and today’s report outlines just why.

“In the next few years we’ve looked to provide short-term answers, like longer trains, to bridge the gap between demand and capacity. The time has now come to start developing real and tangible long-term options for unlocking the full economic potential of the hub.

“We now look forward to working with Network Rail on the next phase of the study – to identify and develop the priorities for future investment.

“This will build on the North’s share of the 1,300 carriages that the Department for Transport has promised, to deal with overcrowding between now and 2014.”

Network Rail’s study will identify potential investment plans for its next ‘control period’ – the name given to the five-year investment schedules for the UK’s heavy rail network – which comes into force in 2014.