Northern Businesses Join Forces to Campaign for Rail Investment
Date published:
North East England Chamber of Commerce has joined forces with Chambers across the North to campaign for more investment in the rail network to increase capacity and help level up the country.
In the letter to Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport, signed by seven Chambers, the Minister was told investment would demonstrate that the Government truly is committed to investing in the North as part of the COVID-19 recovery process.
James Ramsbotham, Chamber chief executive said: “The North has faced historic underinvestment in its transport network. Better connections will increase productivity and help to encourage more trade between northern cities. It will also give people a wider choice of employment opportunities, encouraging them to live and work in the region.
“Investment in transport connectivity across the North will incentivise further private sector investment and create opportunities for regeneration and development.”
The Chambers, which represent hundreds of major employers across Northern England, also stressed the urgent need for Government to commit to the eastern leg of HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail. Upgrades to increase capacity on the East Coast Main Line and Trans-Pennine routes were also highlighted as important.
James Ramsbotham added: “Increasing capacity in the Northern rail network will be crucial to addressing so many challenges that we face as a nation. It will support domestic and international businesses to transport goods and help our efforts to decarbonise our economy.
“It is essential that the eastern leg of HS2 is not scaled back, as this would increase regional disparities and do nothing to improve rail connections in the region. We need both the east and west sections completed to truly level up the North’s rail infrastructure and unleash its economic potential.
“The economic benefits of this investment would be transformational.”
In the letter the Chambers set out the economic case for the investment. It states Transport for the North estimate that the full Northern Powerhouse Rail project would increase the number of people within 90 minutes of four or more Northern Cities by 3.8 million, increase Gross Value Added (GVA) by £3.4bn by 2040, with over 100,000 jobs being created in urban areas.
The letter stresses that delivering HS2 in full will bring huge benefits both to the North and the entire nation, both on the line itself, and by increasing overall capacity across the rail network. HS2 East estimate that the Eastern leg will support the employment of 6 million people, with over 160,000 new jobs being created and a total GVA increase of over £200bn.
Both Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 will also provide vital opportunities for businesses in their supply chains. Businesses within advanced manufacturing, engineering and construction sectors, areas of strength within the UK economy, will benefit especially from further rail investment.
The letter argued that without investment, the region’s potential will continue to be held back by out-dated infrastructure. Northern areas need Government to be ambitious in its ‘build back better’ programme and commit to investing in genuinely transformational projects for the North, to truly create a fair recovery.
James Ramsbotham said: “It is no coincidence that the major economies of the North have historically grown on the back of increased transport connectivity provided by the expansion of the canal, rail and road networks.
To deny the North the increased rail connectivity that these critical improvements would provide, would be to hold back future growth and opportunity for the millions living and working across the North.”
The letter was signed by:
The Hon. James Ramsbotham CBE DL, Chief Executive, North East England Chamber of Commerce
Clive Memmott, Chief Executive, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
Miranda Barker, Chief Executive, East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce
Daniel Fell, Chief Executive Officer, Doncaster Chamber of Commerce
Paul Colman, Chief Executive, South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce
Alexis Krachai, Executive Director, Sheffield Chamber of Commerce
Mark Goldstone, Head of Business Representation & Policy, West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce