Posted 16th February 2010 | 8 Comments

Network Rail unveils £530m plan for Northern hub

A £530 MILLION plan to transform rail travel in the north of England through better stations and quicker, more frequent services has been published by Network Rail.

NR said its Northern Hub study ‘identifies what needs to be done to respond to the significant growth seen in the region’ and to help encourage prosperity. The plans include a 40% increase in train services, which would mean 700 extra daily trains, adding capacity for an extra 3.5m passengers per year, as well as quicker and more frequent services for Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.

The plan also includes a major upgrade for Manchester Victoria, which was one of the ten stations nominated as needing urgent improvements in the Station Champions’ report in late 2009.

The Northern Hub plan is a proposal for significant investment in rail over the next 10 years to build on work which is already underway.  By removing historic bottlenecks – such as at Manchester – it would allow faster line speeds. New track would give greater timetable flexibility – allowing fast trains to overtake and run at speed while still providing space on the network for essential stopping services and freight.

Principal key benefits outlined

Faster services between Liverpool, Chester, Manchester and Manchester Airport and Sheffield, Leeds, Hull, and the North East

New inter-regional/trans Pennine services, allowing six trains every hour to pass between Leeds and Manchester with journey times as quick as 43 minutes

Major restoration and improvements at Manchester Victoria. The station would become a major interchange for the north with ‘vastly improved’ facilities for passengers

Increasing capacity for freight by doubling the number of paths from the West Coast Main Line to Trafford Park, and making it possible for larger containers to be carried by train

Reader Comments:

Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.

  • Martin, Halifax, West Yorkshire

    Network Rail needs to replace all the rail system that the Victorians left for us before Dr Beeching took an axe to it. The tracks need to be replaced on disused lines first then more added to link small towns to the lager city. I drive a car but find it cheaper to go by rail to the city rather than pay fuel and parking charges. Very soon the cost of fuel will make driving cars too expensive. Trains can run on electrified lines or who knows one day a water powered train will used but not by steam but converting the water to Hydrogen to power it.

  • shelly washington, Pontefract, West Yorkshire

    What about the service from Pontefract Monkhill - Leeds (via Glashoughton aka: Xscape Leisure Complex. The trains run every hour, and on an evening the trains are always cramped full! Couldn't trains run more frequently.

  • G. Tingey, London

    How about electrifying (AND also re-opening):
    M/c Vic - Bradford & Leeds
    M/c Vic - Huddersfield-Leeds
    Woodhead
    Leeds-York???

  • John Miller, Thorne / Doncaster, U.K

    A faster service between Manchester and Manchester Airport and Sheffield .... can only mean one thing ... your reopening the Woodhead Route ! .. Because its the only possible way you can shorten with significant difference the journey time .. .... Ex Rotherwood Guard ... who still signs the route ....

  • les Burge, leicester, england

    I hope that more funding for environmentally friendly schemes such as the above mentioned can be taken from the roads budget over the next ten years.

  • John Lee, Southport, UK

    WHAT ABOUT SOUTHPORT?????
    We seem to be getting....NOTHING!!!!
    Yet we have the worst trains in the country to Manchester, a simple correction that could be made at Burscough to connect the Southport/Manchester line to the Liverpool/Preston line and a station in "no-man's-land" which neither Merseyrail nor Northern Rail admit responsibility for - Meols Cop.
    What are you lot going to do about this seemingly forgotten town???

  • David Spencer, Bolton, Lancashire, UK

    I have read both the Plan Summary and the Technical Study produced by NetworkRail and my first conclusion is that a lot of thought and review has taken place. To this end I agree that Option 2 is likely to be the most satisfactory and the most cost effective. However what I noted was the regular reference to "old railway names" such as GLC and "Great Rocks Line". This is surely a tribute to the original Victorian railway builders and Companies. Similarly the Hub proposals in many areas reintroduce what was previously removed in the 1960's such as the four tracking of the Great Central main line between Ashburys and Guide Bridge.

    It was interesting to also note that platform lengthening is to be carried out with additional ones at stations that previously had 10 carriage platforms up to the 1960's such as Stalybridge.

    I feel therefore that the following comes out of the report more than the obvious improvements and NetworkRail may be embarrassed as a result:

    1. It will cost us a lot to put back what we once had up to the 1960s. British Rail and Dr Beeching fan club please note.

    2. None of the Hub proposals are of any value unless additional carriages are provided for commuters. It isnt clear on the Bolton Line whether expresses such as Pendolinos will venture through Bolton to pick up Manchester commuters. In any case Manchester commuters will NEVER GET ADDITIONAL CARRIAGES UNTIL 2013 AT THE EARLIEST - its official!

    3. The new frequencies and services are worthless unless the fares system is sorted out such that passengers can travel whenever they want without silly off peak and saver and advance ticket restrictions.I strongly suggest that a "Hub Zone" ticket arrangement be considered involving GMPTE, WYMetro, SYPTE and Nexus PTE.

    4. It is noticed that the Heaton Norris to Ashton under Lyne railway is still not targeted for passenger use via Reddish South except for a cursory indication of possible extension of Northwich trains.

    5.The Manchester Hub study has taken a long time to reach this early stage (according to the NetworkRail timeline). I am tempted to say GET ON WITH IT! I calculate that when the benefits of the Hub proposals are installed and working I WILL BE DEAD. Yet most of the proposals in the study report WERE IN EXISTENCE IN MANCHESTER in the 1950s when I was a YOUNG boy. Why oh why did we destroy them in the first place.

  • Simon H, Stockprot, Cheshire

    One hopes that the promise of extra rolling stock for this project will not see the cascade of older rolling stock from other parts of the country?