Is the government serious about funding the infrastructure needed by the northern powerhouse cities if they are to grow? Nobody is entirely sure, even the government, which is naturally cautious about writing a blank cheque for a project that could run into tens of billions of pounds.
The main target for investment is a £10bn-£15bn plan for a high-speed rail link connecting the cities either side of the Pennine hills. The existing Trans Pennine line between Liverpool and Newcastle, via Manchester and Leeds/Sheffield, is slow and trouble-prone. A new line with 140mph (225km) per hour trains would provide fast, effective commuter services allowing the cities’ economies to integrate.
Big public spending projects can easily get derailed, or suffer political engine failure, and there is concern that the rail link may be shunted into the sidings. Two new quangos have been established, either or both of them involved in organising it – Transport for the North, and the new National Infrastructure Commission.
The government promises that by this month it will “conduct an initial prioritisation of options to focus further work and inform the development of an appropriate timeline for implementation”. The exact degree of commitment this implies is unclear.
Chris Taylor, chief executive at Hermes Real Estate, one of the largest London-based investors in the Northern cities, hints that it is time to get a move on.
“The key to the northern powerhouse has to be infrastructure. It is the major issue, and if the government is committed it needs to invest in the new rail links because the northern powerhouse will not work without it. If you radically improve the links between cities, you get the benefits,” he says.
Taylor hopes the new National Infrastructure Commission, chaired by former minister Andrew Adonis, will help kick the project forward.
Also coming down the track
The circa £28bn High Speed 2 (HS2) link from London to Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds will radically cut journey times to London and is expected to be completed by 2033.
Rail improvements are taking place which stop short of the HS3/northern powerhouse rail scheme. The electrification of the northern route across the Pennines is due for completion by 2022 (pushed back from 2018), and there are hopes of improving a second Trans-Pennine rail line from Manchester to Sheffield.
The triangular relationship between Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield is regarded by many as the key to making the northern powerhouse a success – and today the Manchester-Sheffield link is weak. Bringing it up to scratch would cost around £1bn-£2bn.
Peter Whiteley, Sheffield-based partner at Knight Frank, says: “Linking the three cities has a huge role to play. You would be linking three superb sets of universities, and improved connectivity would improve the market. We would see a lot of recruitment across the cities. The northern powerhouse is not necessarily a dead duck without it, but it would be a help.”
