Labor has promised to improve railways in northern England, but the party has refused to commit to specific plans.
Labour’s shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said this Manchester Evening News that the party has not ruled out anything – including building the new platforms on Piccadilly that were promised more than a decade ago but canceled last year. However, the party has not committed to the construction of the new high-speed line from Manchester to Liverpool, which is currently on the table.
Ms Haigh also said there were ‘lots of options on the table’ when it came to improving rail links between Manchester and Birmingham. This includes plans for a new line put forward by Mayor Andy Burnham after the northern part of HS2 was demolished last year.
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However, Ms Haigh said Labor will not take the HS2 plans “off the shelf” because their costs have “completely spiraled out of control”. It comes as the party awaits the findings of an independent, expert-led inquiry into rail and urban transport infrastructure.
Ahead of the publication of that study, which was commissioned after the Conservatives canceled phase 2 of HS2 last year, Labor has said it aims to deliver new projects 25 percent faster and 20 percent cheaper than existing projects. The Labor manifesto, published last week, promises to prioritize improving rail links in the north, but makes no specific plans.
The GENTLEMEN Ms Haigh, who visited Manchester Airport on Thursday (June 20), asked 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 hopefully expect from a new Labor government is that we will be honest about the scale of the challenge, but also about our ambition.
“We are not going into this election promising something we cannot commit to. We want to take a long-term approach that encourages the private sector to invest and ensure that every cent we spend on taxpayers’ money delivers the best results. efficiency and delivers the best results for passengers in the north.
“But northern rail connectivity and transport infrastructure will absolutely be the priority of the next Labor government.”
Speaking to the GENTLEMEN Last month, Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer pledged to work with the mayors of Greater Manchester and the 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 the plans for the new line between Manchester and Liverpool that the Conservatives have promised, Ms Haigh said the two cities will be ‘at the heart’ of plans to tackle northern connectivity, which will also include links to Hull and the North East includes. However, she said if elected, Labor would have to “look closely at the books” before venturing into the new rail line.
She said: “Those plans were formulated on the basis of HS2 coming to both Manchester and Leeds and those lines were both scrapped by the Conservatives and that money has since been reallocated. That’s why we have to bring it back to first place.” principles and develop a plan that will deliver the same results as the original Northern Powerhouse Rail conception, namely improving connectivity and capacity across the North.
The Labor frontbencher, who is running for re-election as Sheffield MP, has also said her party would look at reviving plans for two new platforms in Piccadilly. Plans for platforms 15 and 16 were completed in 2015, but the crucial upgrade was canceled last May.
When asked about this, Ms Haigh said: “Absolutely, that will be considered as an option because it is one of the biggest obstacles to growth.
“We need to take a step back and look at the needs of the country as a whole, at the needs of the North, and make sure we integrate our rail and our airports, also with our industrial strategy. We think this is so. a huge reset moment for the country.
“We haven’t had that approach for fourteen years. So it does allow us to take a step back and make those investment decisions.”
Juergen Maier, the former CEO of Siemens UK, is carrying out the independent review of rail and urban transport infrastructure for the Labor Party. While accompanying Ms Haigh on her visit to Manchester Airport, he agreed the party should not make any commitments yet.
He said: “I think this is absolutely the right thing to do. As a businessman and as someone looking for trust right now, the worst that can happen is actually that we get another twenty promises that we doubt will be delivered. have been delivered.
“What we’d rather do is take some time, work together, work together and then figure out together what we need to deliver, and then we stick to the plan, we deliver on time. Maybe even a little faster, maybe even a little cheaper.”