Northern Powerhouse Rail

Since 2014, successive governments have acknowledged the limitations of rail infrastructure in the North of England. Several large cities - including Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield - are poorly served by transport connections. The Northern Powerhouse Rail programme is intended to improve connectivity between major cities in the North of England and promote economic growth through increased productivity. The programme will be delivered in three phases, the first of which will see the construction on new rail lines and upgrades to existing lines in the Northeast of England and is expected to be completed in the 2030’s. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has previously reported on the impacts of the cancellation of the Northern leg of HS2 and the Department for Transport’s (DfT) management of the Crossrail programme . In both instances, the PAC raised concerns about the spiralling costs of the projects meaning they were unlikely to provide value for money, and has