North and Midlands rail plans should be reconsidered

A government rail plan for the North and Midlands should be "reconsidered" to avoid missing a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity, MPs have said.

The Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) includes scrapping HS2's eastern leg between the East Midlands and Leeds and curtailing Northern Powerhouse Rail.

The Transport Select Committee has now called in a report for a full analysis of the plan's wider economic impact.

The government said it was the largest single rail investment ever made.

'Missed opportunity'
Transport for the North (TfN), which advises the Department for Transport (DfT), had recommended a new line being built between Liverpool and Leeds.

However, the Integrated Rail Plan only makes provision for a new line between Warrington in Cheshire and Marsden in West Yorkshire, with upgrades to the existing network planned elsewhere.

In its report, the Transport Select Committee said this and other decisions would "reduce the prospects of meeting ambitions for the North by limiting the vital capacity needed for growth".

The "original purpose" of Northern Powerhouse Rail was to connect cities such as Bradford, Hull, Leeds and Sheffield and "enable them to grow", it said.

"The evidence base for the IRP must be reconsidered in the light of these aims if this once-in-a-generation investment in rail is not to be a missed opportunity," the report said.

A government rail plan for the North and Midlands should be "reconsidered" to avoid missing a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity, MPs have said. The Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) includes scrapping HS2's eastern leg between the East Midlands and Leeds and curtailing Northern Powerhouse Rail.