Hopes of mid-2020s start on Northern Powerhouse Rail

摘要

"WE will have spades in the ground by the mid-2020s," Transport for the North's Northern Powerhouse Rail Director Tim Wood announced on September 8. Addressing a Westminster Social Policy Forum webinar, Wood said the proposed start date for construction is "not a long time away" and that NPR will form a key part of a Northern Infrastructure Pipeline. He told the webinar: "Despite the obvious challenges over the recent months, the NPR programme continues to progress at pace." NPR is a proposed network featuring new railways and upgraded existing routes. As well as planned new sections of railway, it will also feed into HS2 Phase 2b and the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade. Plans are expected to be presented to the TfN board this November. Discussing the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential changes to passenger behaviour, Wood said that NPR was designed to benefit northern England "for the next century and beyond". He added that lower current passenger numbers should not deflect from the long-term vision and claimed that NPR will help with Government's targets relating to decarbonisation.