From the FT:
Ministers are set to promise a new version of HS2rCOs cancelled leg between >Birmingham and Manchester as part of an overhaul of rail infrastructure in >the north.
The government will announce on Wednesday its much-delayed plans for major >new and upgraded east-west rail links across the north of England, in a >project known as Northern Powerhouse Rail.
The plans will include a commitment to a new Birmingham to Manchester line >after NPR is delivered, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Labour has not previously announced plans to replace any northern elements
of HS2 cancelled by previous Conservative administrations.
The high-speed rail line was originally designed as a Y-shaped route up to >Birmingham and then two separate northern lines to Manchester and to Leeds.
In 2021, the then-prime minister, Boris Johnson, killed off the route to >Leeds in an attempt to cut the cost of the scheme. Then in 2023 his
successor Rishi Sunak cancelled the north-west leg to Manchester.
The decision caused outcry in the north of England and left the chronically >congested West Coast Mainline with no alternative plan to solve its
capacity crisis.
Since taking power in 2024 Labour had been reluctant to make any
commitments to replacing either cancelled northern leg.
Costs on the first leg from London to Birmingham, which is already under >construction, have spiralled and are expected to surpass -u100bn, the FT >reported on Tuesday.
Ministers instead opted to prioritise the revival of NPR, a separate >decade-old plan to connect the cities of northern England from east to
west, which had drifted under the last parliament.
On Wednesday, chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to commit to NPR after >months of negotiation with northern mayors.
The project is expected to take more than a decade, starting with upgrades
in Yorkshire, followed by a new Manchester to Liverpool line and further >electrification elsewhere in the north.
After that, the government now intends to build the new line between >Birmingham and Manchester.
Details of the speed or specification of the proposed new line were not >immediately clear. The announcement would not include timescales or details >on funding, a government official said.
On Wednesday, chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to commit to NPR after >months of negotiation with northern mayors.
The project is expected to take more than a decade, starting with upgrades
in Yorkshire, followed by a new Manchester to Liverpool line
and further electrification elsewhere in the north.--
In message <10k5e0e$34eao$1@dont-email.me>, at 12:32:14 on Tue, 13 Jan
2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
On Wednesday, chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to commit to NPR after >>months of negotiation with northern mayors.
I'll get the popcorn ready.
The project is expected to take more than a decade, starting with upgrades >>in Yorkshire, followed by a new Manchester to Liverpool line
Oh Noes! Not the high speed line recently smugly dismissed by a posting >here.
In message <10k5e0e$34eao$1@dont-email.me>, at 12:32:14 on Tue, 13 Jan
2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
On Wednesday, chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to commit to NPR after
months of negotiation with northern mayors.
I'll get the popcorn ready.
The project is expected to take more than a decade, starting with upgrades >> in Yorkshire, followed by a new Manchester to Liverpool line
Oh Noes! Not the high speed line recently smugly dismissed by a posting here.
and further electrification elsewhere in the north.
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <10k5e0e$34eao$1@dont-email.me>, at 12:32:14 on Tue, 13 Jan
2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
On Wednesday, chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to commit to NPR after >>> months of negotiation with northern mayors.
I'll get the popcorn ready.
The project is expected to take more than a decade, starting with upgrades >>> in Yorkshire, followed by a new Manchester to Liverpool line
Oh Noes! Not the high speed line recently smugly dismissed by a posting
here.
and further electrification elsewhere in the north.
ThererCOs no detail at all, so any talk of a high speed line is pure >speculation (as is the article at the moment).
ItrCOs decades away from opening, if it ever gets that far.
On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 13:49:10 -0000 (UTC), Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <10k5e0e$34eao$1@dont-email.me>, at 12:32:14 on Tue, 13 Jan
2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
On Wednesday, chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to commit to NPR after >>>> months of negotiation with northern mayors.
I'll get the popcorn ready.
The project is expected to take more than a decade, starting with upgrades >>>> in Yorkshire, followed by a new Manchester to Liverpool line
As the other article said, all that's being funded is the long-running (the first bits were announced in 2011)
Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU). That involves some four-tracking or enhanced track alignments, plus electrification,
between Manchester and York, via Huddersfield and Leeds. It will deliver a faster, more reliable, more frequent, cleaner
railway, but no speeds greater than 125 mph (and probably not much of that, either).
On 13/01/2026 14:01, Recliner wrote:
On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 13:49:10 -0000 (UTC), Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <10k5e0e$34eao$1@dont-email.me>, at 12:32:14 on Tue, 13 Jan >>>> 2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
On Wednesday, chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to commit to NPR after >>>>> months of negotiation with northern mayors.
I'll get the popcorn ready.
The project is expected to take more than a decade, starting with upgrades
in Yorkshire, followed by a new Manchester to Liverpool line
As the other article said, all that's being funded is the long-running (the first bits were announced in 2011)
Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU). That involves some four-tracking or enhanced track alignments, plus electrification,
between Manchester and York, via Huddersfield and Leeds. It will deliver a faster, more reliable, more frequent, cleaner
railway, but no speeds greater than 125 mph (and probably not much of that, either).
The other article had East of the Pennines rather than Yorkshire, but
nothing about Manchester initially in either report.
On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:16:20 +0000, Nick Finnigan <nix@genie.co.uk> wrote:
On 13/01/2026 14:01, Recliner wrote:
On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 13:49:10 -0000 (UTC), Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <10k5e0e$34eao$1@dont-email.me>, at 12:32:14 on Tue, 13 Jan >>>>> 2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
On Wednesday, chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to commit to NPR after
months of negotiation with northern mayors.
I'll get the popcorn ready.
The project is expected to take more than a decade, starting with upgrades
in Yorkshire, followed by a new Manchester to Liverpool line
As the other article said, all that's being funded is the long-running (the first bits were announced in 2011)
Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU). That involves some four-tracking or enhanced track alignments, plus electrification,
between Manchester and York, via Huddersfield and Leeds. It will deliver a faster, more reliable, more frequent, cleaner
railway, but no speeds greater than 125 mph (and probably not much of that, either).
The other article had East of the Pennines rather than Yorkshire, but
nothing about Manchester initially in either report.
The article says, "Upgrades of existing rail infrastructure east of the Pennines would be the priority in phase one,
including Leeds-Bradford, Leeds-Sheffield and Leeds-York corridors, as well as looking at stations".
That's the existing Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) project.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transpennine_Route_Upgrade
On 13/01/2026 14:26, Recliner wrote:
On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:16:20 +0000, Nick Finnigan <nix@genie.co.uk> wrote: >>
On 13/01/2026 14:01, Recliner wrote:
On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 13:49:10 -0000 (UTC), Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
Roland Perry <roland@perry.uk> wrote:
In message <10k5e0e$34eao$1@dont-email.me>, at 12:32:14 on Tue, 13 Jan >>>>>> 2026, Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> remarked:
On Wednesday, chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to commit to NPR after
months of negotiation with northern mayors.
I'll get the popcorn ready.
The project is expected to take more than a decade, starting with upgrades
in Yorkshire, followed by a new Manchester to Liverpool line
As the other article said, all that's being funded is the long-running (the first bits were announced in 2011)
Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU). That involves some four-tracking or enhanced track alignments, plus electrification,
between Manchester and York, via Huddersfield and Leeds. It will deliver a faster, more reliable, more frequent, cleaner
railway, but no speeds greater than 125 mph (and probably not much of that, either).
The other article had East of the Pennines rather than Yorkshire, but
nothing about Manchester initially in either report.
The article says, "Upgrades of existing rail infrastructure east of the Pennines would be the priority in phase one,
including Leeds-Bradford, Leeds-Sheffield and Leeds-York corridors, as well as looking at stations".
That's the existing Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) project.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transpennine_Route_Upgrade
That mentions "high speed line would be built east from Manchester" which
is not in Yorkshire, nor East of the Pennines.
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