What is Northern Powerhouse Rail and why does it matter?

The government is yet to put its money where its mouth is on levelling up, writes Jon Stone

Boris Johnson says he wants to invest in the regions but has yet to do so on a large scale (Getty)

The Independent has learnt that the government’s plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail may not meet the ambitions of regional leaders. But what exactly is the project?

Northern Powerhouse Rail (also known as NPR) has gone by several names in the last few years. First, it was called HS3; Labour’s manifesto also referred to it as “Crossrail for the North”.

Essentially, the idea is an east-west line linking from Liverpool in the west through Manchester, West Yorkshire and on to places on the east coast like Hull and Newcastle.

The idea is to improve intra-north connections, in a country where it can sometimes be easier to get to London than your neighbouring city.

The problem is that despite having had several names since it was announced back when George Osborne was chancellor, the plan still does not have any details.

This is because of wrangling over the route and exactly what specification it would be. Northern leaders like Andy Burnham have said the north cannot have cut-price infrastructure. Treasury mandarins have been less impressed.

The project is due to be outlined in the government’s Integrated Rail Plan, which will be published in the next couple of weeks. And what The Independent has learnt is that the final plan looks to be a lot closer to the less-ambitious end of things, in a way that will probably upset a lot of northern leaders.

Note that this project is separate from but related to HS2. Most of HS2 is going ahead: it is being built as we speak and a link will run from London to Crewe (and trains will travel onwards on conventional tracks to cities like Manchester, or the Scottish central belt).

But the eastern leg, linking Birmingham to Yorkshire via the east midlands, is still up in the air. And it looks like that part of the project will be kicked into the long grass, not revitalised.

Unfortunately, this is part of the project that councils in the midlands say they need to improve local rail services, not just between cities on the new line but between places that will benefit from having capacity freed up.

Unless there’s a last-minute change of heart, you can expect leaders in the north and midlands to get annoyed at what is announced in the rail review – and claim the government’s levelling-up agenda is a sham not backed by real cash.