Town Hall Extension, Transport for the North head office
Transport for the North (TfN) is the first statutory sub-national transport body in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 2018 to make the case for strategic transport improvements across the North of England.[1][2] Creating this body represented an unprecedented devolution of power from central government.[3] TfN brings together the North's twenty local transport authorities and business leaders together with Network Rail, National Highways, and HS2 and works with the UK Government.[4] The organisation has offices in Manchester and Leeds.[5]
TfN's work is to align with the statutory local transport plan of the existing local transport authorities, as no powers have been taken away from local government.[9] The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 as amended states that TfN's constituent authorities must 'exercise transport functions with a view to securing the implementation of the proposals contained in the STB's transport strategy.'[10]
In January 2018, legislation was approved in the House of Commons to establish TfN as the first sub-national transport body in England.[11] The legislation was approved following consent from 56 local authorities in the North. The statutory body came in to force on 1 April 2018.[12]
Producing a statutory transport strategy, which the Government of the time must formally consider in the decision-making process.
Funding organisations to deliver transport projects.
Working with local transport authorities to fund, promote and deliver road schemes.
Be consulted on all rail franchises that provide services in the North.
Take forward smart ticketing on public transport.
The functions of Rail North, an existing association of local authorities, are now the responsibility of TfN, which include currently co-managing with the Department for Transport the Northern Trains and TransPennine Express rail franchises with the Government.[7]
Strategic Transport Plan
The TfN Board approved the Strategic Transport Plan in February 2019 following consultation between January – April 2018.[13][14][15][16][17]
The Plan sets out the case for investment in transport across the North by 2050, along with the key strategic transport infrastructure requirements. The work is being informed by the Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review (NPIER).[18] This analysis has shown that the North of England has significant potential, and could generate:
4% higher productivity than in a business as usual scenario.
The objectives of the Strategic Transport Plan are to:[19]
Increasing efficiency, reliability, integration, and resilience in the transport system
Transforming economic performance
Improving inclusivity, health, and access to opportunities for all
Promoting and enhancing the built, historic, and natural environment
TfN programmes of work include:
Northern Powerhouse Rail – a £39 billion major strategic rail programme, transforming connectivity between the key economic centres of the North, including Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Hull, Newcastle and Liverpool – and the North's largest international airport, Manchester Airport.[20][21][22] TfN's analysis suggests that it could increase the number of people within one hour of four of the largest cities in the North from less than 10,000 to 1.3 million.[23] TfN have also stated that Northern Powerhouse Rail could bring Manchester Airport within 90 minutes reach of 3 million more people.[20]
The Strategic Transport Plan has set out an 'emerging vision' for Northern Powerhouse Rail, and will be delivered over a 30-year programme. This vision is:[24][25][26][27]
A new line linking Leeds and Manchester via Bradford, including the option for a Bradford city centre station
A new twin-track line linking Liverpool to HS2 and onwards to Manchester, via Warrington and Manchester Airport[28]
Significant upgrades and integration with HS2 linking Leeds and Sheffield
Significant upgrades between Sheffield, Leeds and Hull
Significant upgrades of the Hope Valley corridor between Manchester and Sheffield
Significant upgrades between Newcastle and Leeds
Journey times and service frequency
The current expected service frequencies and journey times between Northern Cities from Northern Powerhouse Rail:[29]
Journey time before NPR
(hr:min)
Journey time with NPR
(hr:min)
Service frequency before NPR
(trains per hour)
Service frequency with NPR
(trains per hour)
Manchester – Liverpool
0:37–0:57
0:26
4
6
Manchester – Leeds
0:46–0:58
0:25
4
6
Manchester – Sheffield
0:49–0:57
0:40
2
4
Sheffield – Hull
1:20–1:26
0:50
1
2
Sheffield – Leeds
0:39–0:42
0:28
1
4
Leeds – Hull
0:57
0:38
1
2
Leeds – Newcastle
1:28–1:35
0:58
3
4
The Strategic Transport Plan sets out that using planned HS2 infrastructure, junctions could be built to support Northern Powerhouse Rail services. These could be on the:[30]
HS2 mainline for Leeds – North East services
HS2 Leeds spur to facilitate through services via existing Leeds station
HS2 mainline for Sheffield – Leeds services
HS2 Manchester spur for Manchester – Liverpool services
South facing junction on HS2 mainline for London – Liverpool services
The Strategic Outline Business Case has been submitted to Government, with further investment decisions likely to be made in the Comprehensive Spending Review. An additional £37 million of funding has been confirmed for 2019/20.[31][32]
New and refurbished TransPennine Express rolling stock at Hull Station
Long Term Rail Strategy[33]- TfN has sets out an ambitious vision to transform the North's railway network with new major investment projects and services. Currently, rail is only 1.1% share of total trips in the North, and currently rail passengers are three times higher than 20 years ago, growth of 6.3% per year, while capacity has only increased by an average of 6.45% over the same period.[33]
New Arriva Rail North rolling stock
Minimum standards for the rail network will include:[33]
Minimum two trains per hour
Journey times of at least 80mph for long-distance services, at least 60mph for inter-urban services, and at least 40mph for local and suburban services
Ensure the rail network accommodates for freight, including longer and heavier trains, and clearance of structures on the network (also known as gauge clearance) as there is not currently a cleared route across the Pennines
A 50% improvement in the average speed of freight services by 2028
Rail connections to serve each of the North's international airports
Infrastructure to enable a weekday inter-peak level service on Sundays and bank holidays
The North's major ports in the North to be served by a railway to support future growth of rail freight
New rolling stock for the TransPennine Express franchise
Through Rail North, the TransPennine Express and Arriva Rail North franchises will transform the North rail network, delivering the ambition and specification set out by TfN. This includes:[34][35]
£1.5 billion investment on rolling stock, including 500 new or refurbished train carriages
2,000 extra services a week by 2019
£60 million investment at stations
The Draft Major Road Network, as consulted on by the Department for Transport
Major Road Network for the North[36] – TfN has set out a Major Road Network for the North, which includes Highways England's Strategic Roads Network and local transport authority managed roads. The Major Road Network for the North is around 8,000km or 7% of the North's roads. This formed key evidence for the Department for Transport's development of a Major Road Network for England. The Major Road Network for the North aims to:[37]
Enable international connectivity to ports and airports
Support agglomeration economies
Support growth in key employment and housing sites
Increase the resilience of the economy
Enable efficient journeys by different modes of transport
Improve access to opportunities
New funding for this network was announced in October 2018 for two schemes;[38]
Strategic Roads Studies[39] – TfN have been undertaking three road studies, with progress updates set out in the draft Strategic Transport Plan:
Trans Pennine Tunnel Strategic Study – providing significantly improved road connectivity between Greater Manchester and Sheffield City Region. The draft Strategic Transport Plan has stated that a long tunnel under the Peak District National Park is technically feasible, but the cost would be substantial and offer poor value for money. TfN have now set out that they are developing alternative options that will be more cost-effective. TfN suggest that the most promising alternative is a partially tunnelled route on the A628, with wider road enhancements, including on the M60, M67 and M1.
Northern Trans Pennine Routes Study – developing the case for improving the A66 between the A1 at Scotch Corner and the M6 at Penrith, including improvements to the A69 between Newcastle and Carlisle.
Manchester North West Quadrant Strategic Study – Exploring options for significant improvements to sections of the M60, M62, M602, M61 and M66.
Central Pennines Study – The Department for Transport announced in March 2019 that TfN will be working with Highways England to look at major improvements to road connections between the M65 in East Lancashire across to Yorkshire.[40][41]
Contactless payments across public transport in the North
Integrated and Smart Travel (IST)[42] – a smart ticketing programme to allow seamless travel on public transport across the North. It was proposed that emerging technologies would allow modern payment methods and mobile travel information on all public transport in the North.[42] Paying for journeys would become quicker, easier and more convenient. TfN was delivering a £150 million government-funded programme.[31]
The programme was to be delivered in three phases:[42]
Phase One – Smartcards on rail – as part of a national programme for smart ticketing on all rail travel.
Phase Two – Customer information, collaboration and innovation – open data and disruption information for rail and bus passengers to support single and multi-mode journeys.
Phase Three – Account-based travel – allowing passengers to make contactless bank card payments with a 'fair price promise' with a capping of fares on all modes of public transport.
In January 2021 the Department for Transport announced there would be no further UK Government funding for IST, as a result of which the programme will be wound down during 2021/22.[43]
Strategic Development Corridors[44] – identifying transport infrastructure improvements in economic growth areas, where evidence suggests investment in transport infrastructure will enable transformational economic growth. TfN have also stated that these Corridors will prioritise and sequence transport projects that will transform economic growth, promote cost-effectiveness of all modes of transport, explore digital technologies, explore a more efficient use of existing networks and provide capacity to meet the future economic demand, and protect the environment.[45]
Investment Programme
TfN's Investment Programme states that it is seeking to increase investment in strategic transport investment over and above the level. TfN's current estimate of interventions it is promoting could cost between £60 – 70 billion over the next 30 years.[46][47][48] This would consist of additional capital expenditure, over and above the existing investment, of £21–27 billion over the next 30 years (£700 – £900 million per year / £150 per person per year).[49]
Arriva Trains Northern was a train operating company in England owned by Arriva that operated the Regional Railways North East franchise from March 1997 until December 2004. Arriva resumed operating Northern train services again on 1 April 2016 under the Northern brand but ceased again on 29 February 2020.
Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of the city centre, it hosts long-distance intercity and cross-country services to national destinations including London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Reading, Southampton and Bournemouth; regional services to destinations in Northern England including Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle and York; and local commuter services around Greater Manchester. It is one of 19 major stations managed by Network Rail. The station has 14 platforms: 12 terminal and two through platforms. Piccadilly is also a major interchange with the Metrolink light rail system with two tram platforms in its undercroft.
The Hope Valley line is a trans-Pennine railway line in Northern England, linking Manchester with Sheffield. It was completed in 1894.
Leeds railway station is the mainline railway station serving the city centre of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on New Station Street to the south of City Square, at the foot of Park Row, behind the landmark Queens Hotel. It is one of 20 stations managed by Network Rail. As of December 2023, it was the busiest station in West Yorkshire, as well as in Yorkshire & the Humber, and the entirety of Northern England. It is the second busiest station in the UK outside of London, after Birmingham New Street.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is a local government body responsible for co-ordinating transport services throughout Greater Manchester in North West England. It is an executive arm of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), the city region's administrative authority. The strategies and policies of Transport for Greater Manchester are set by the GMCA and its Greater Manchester Transport Committee (GMTC). The committee is made up of 33 councillors appointed from the ten Greater Manchester boroughs, as well as the Mayor of Greater Manchester.
The Huddersfield line is the main railway line between the English cities of Leeds and Manchester, via Huddersfield. It is one of the busiest MetroTrain lines. The route travels south-south-west from Leeds through Dewsbury. After a short westward stretch through Mirfield, where it runs on the ex-L&YR section, it continues south-west through Huddersfield, using the Colne Valley to its headwaters. The long Standedge Tunnel, just after Marsden, crosses under the watershed; the majority of the run down to Manchester is in the Tame Valley. From Manchester, some services continue to Manchester Airport and others to Liverpool.
Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated the most stations of any train operating company in the United Kingdom. Northern Rail was replaced on 1 April 2016 by Arriva Rail North.
Manchester Airport station is a railway, tram, bus and coach station at Manchester Airport, England which opened at the same time as the second air terminal in 1993. The station is 9+3⁄4 miles (15.7 km) south of Manchester Piccadilly, at the end of a short branch from the Styal line via a triangular junction between Heald Green and Styal stations. Manchester Metrolink tram services were extended to the airport in 2014 and operate to Manchester Victoria.
First TransPennine Express was a British train operating company jointly owned by FirstGroup and Keolis which operated the TransPennine Express franchise. First TransPennine Express ran regular Express regional railway services between the major cities of Northern England as well as Scotland.
England has a dense, multimodal transportation infrastructure. The Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the transport network in England. The Secretary of State for Transport is the member of the cabinet responsible to Parliament for the Department for Transport.
High-speed rail in the United Kingdom is provided on five upgraded railway lines running at top speeds of 125 mph (200 km/h) and one purpose-built high-speed line reaching 186 mph (300 km/h).
Transport in Leeds consists of extensive road, bus and rail networks in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Public transport in the Leeds area is coordinated and developed by West Yorkshire Metro. The city has good rail and road links to the rest of the country. Leeds railway station is one of the busiest in Britain, and Leeds is connected to the national road network via the A1(M) motorway, M1 motorway and M62 motorway. The city is served by Leeds Bradford Airport.
Thorpe Park is a proposed railway station, to be sited in the Thorpe Park area to the east of Leeds, England on the Selby Line.
The Northern Hub was a rail upgrade programme between 2009 and 2020 in Northern England to improve and increase train services and reduce journey times between its major cities and towns, by electrifying lines and removing a major rail bottleneck in Manchester. It was predicted to stimulate economic growth in the region. The project had several elements but the prime objective was to eradicate the bottleneck in Manchester and allow trains to travel through the city at speed without stopping. The project was announced as the Manchester Hub in 2009. The project's steering partnership involved Network Rail, Deutsche Bahn, First TransPennine Express, Northern Rail, East Midlands Trains, CrossCountry, Freightliner, the Department for Transport, Transport for Greater Manchester and Merseytravel.
Manchester Airport High Speed Station is a planned High Speed 2 station at Manchester Airport, on the southern boundary of Manchester, England, next to Junction 5 of the M56 motorway on the northern side of the airport 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-west of Manchester Airport railway station.
Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), sometimes referred to unofficially as High Speed 3, is a proposed major rail programme designed to substantially enhance the economic potential of the North of England. The phrase was adopted in 2014 for a project featuring new and significantly upgraded railway lines in the region. The aim is to transform rail services between the major towns and cities, requiring the region's single biggest transport investment since the Industrial Revolution. The original scheme would have seen a new high-speed rail line from Liverpool to Warrington continuing to join the HS2 tunnel which it would share into Manchester Piccadilly station. From there, the line would have continued to Leeds with a stop at Bradford. The line was intended to improve journey times and frequency between major Northern cities as well as creating more capacity for local service on lines that express services would have been moved out from.
The Northern Powerhouse was a proposal to boost economic growth in the North of England by the 2010–15 coalition government and 2015–2016 Conservative government in the United Kingdom, particularly in the "Core Cities" of Hull, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle. The proposal was based on the benefits of agglomeration and aimed to reposition the British economy away from London and the South East, where most of the UK's wealth was historically concentrated. The spatial footprint of the Northern Powerhouse was defined as the 11 local enterprise partnership areas of the North of England.
The Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) is a major investment being made in the railway between York and Manchester via Leeds and Huddersfield – the 76 miles (122 km) northern route over the Pennines, most of which is also known as the Huddersfield line. As of 2023, the line is heavily used but is slow and lacks capacity. It has Victorian infrastructure, covers difficult terrain including the 3-mile (4.8 km) Standedge Tunnel, and has poor access roads.
The Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands or more simply, the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP), is a United Kingdom government proposal published on 18 November 2021. It aims to deliver "increased capacity, faster journeys or more frequent services on eight out of the top ten busiest rail corridors across the North and Midlands", by developing rail services along with the required infrastructure in these regions of England. It was published by the Department for Transport (DfT) and features forewords by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, but its publication was delayed a number of times, partly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It contains the significant proviso that "In line with the Government's existing approach to rail enhancements, commitments will be made only to progress individual schemes up to the next stage of development, subject to a review of their readiness." A Technical Annexe was published in January 2022. A correction slip was issued March 2022.
NorthOnTrack is an unfunded Think Tank organisation set up in 2021, originally as "CrossNorth Programme" which proposes an alternative integration of Northern Powerhouse Rail through Manchester. The concept proposes a 2.5 mile tunnel from Oldfield Road in Salford to Ardwick with two stations, forming the core section of NPR. This is intended to release the Castlefield corridor bottleneck, and allow S-Bahn style operation on the existing network by moving inter-city trains onto their own dedicated tracks through the city.
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