A new rail route between Liverpool and Manchester via Manchester Airport and Warrington will make up one element of the long-promised rail project to boost east-west links across the North of England.

After years of delays, chancellor Rachel Reeves will finally set out the government’s vision for Northern Powerhouse Rail tomorrow, alongside a funding commitment to seeing it delivered.

The government has allocated £1.1bn during the current Spending Review period to support planning, development and design work to enable the preparation of a detailed delivery programme, including construction sequencing and timelines, with a total funding cap of £45bn for the full NPR programme.

NPR will hopefully provide faster and more frequent services linking Liverpool, Manchester, Warrington, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, and York, with onward services to Newcastle via Darlington and Durham, as well as to Hull and Chester for North Wales connections.

The programme will build on the ongoing Transpennine Route Upgrade, which remains in delivery, with the first phase focusing on improved rail connections between Sheffield and Leeds, Leeds and York, and Leeds and Bradford.

In parallel, development work on reopening the Leamside Line in the North East will progress.

North West travellers will have to wait until the 2030s to see a new rail route between Liverpool and Manchester via Manchester Airport and Warrington brought to fruition. The route would enable the delivery of a low-level station at Warrington Bank Quay, which will see four to six trains stop there every hour as they journey between the two cities. The feasibility of an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly will also be explored by the government.

Also on the NPR agenda: further upgrades to cross-Pennine connections between Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, and York.

NPR is expected to support significant construction activity across the region, including civil engineering, rail systems, stations, and associated infrastructure, and will generate skilled employment in planning, design, and construction, with complementary investment in training facilities through further education colleges.

Alongside NPR, the government has restated its long-term intention to develop a new rail line between Birmingham and Manchester, to be delivered after NPR and subject to further design and assessment – this proposal is separate from HS2 and is at an early stage of consideration.

The NPR programme sits alongside existing rail investments, including the Transpennine Route Upgrade, additional East Coast Main Line capacity, new services to Bradford, and reduced journey times between London, Leeds, and Newcastle.

A history lesson

Critics of the scheme will point to the many bumps in the road that the programme has encountered so far.

NPR was first proposed in 2014 under David Cameron’s government, with the working title ‘High Speed 3’, as part of the Northern Powerhouse agenda.

In 2018, support was confirmed by Theresa May’s government for a more ambitious NPR network, including a high-speed Manchester–Leeds route, with Liverpool–Manchester upgrades and onward connections to Sheffield, York, and the North East.

Since then, a series of delays and the cancellation of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester, which removed infrastructure that NPR was expected to share, have affected the project and turned it into a constant source of frustration for Northern commuters.

It is well known that connectivity in the North lags behind the South, with an example journey of travelling the 35 miles from Paddington to Reading taking 22 minutes, while the rail journey between Liverpool and Manchester Airport – measuring 29 miles – can take 1 hour and 25 minutes, stopping 21 times.

Reaction

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “Over the past decade, we’ve become the UK’s fastest growing city region, but underinvestment in rail infrastructure has long acted as a brake on further growth.

“Today marks a significant step forward for Greater Manchester. We’ll now work at pace to prove the case for an underground station and work up detailed designs for the route between Liverpool and Manchester.”

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “Two hundred years ago, we built the world’s first passenger railway between Liverpool and Manchester – and changed history.

“After more than a decade of dither, delay and broken promises, this is the start of a new era, with a genuinely strategic approach and a government finally backing Northern Powerhouse Rail in full.

“A creaking rail system has held the North back for too long. Our journeys aren’t just slower – our growth has been slower too. Poor connectivity doesn’t just hold people back – it holds our economy back. It limits our productivity, restricts freight capacity, and chokes off opportunity.”

Cllr Hans Mundry, Leader of Warrington Council, said: “This announcement is great news for Warrington and the wider Cheshire and Warrington sub region. By confirming its commitment to Northern Powerhouse Rail and a new low-level station at Bank Quay, the government has recognised the key role our town can play as a driver of Northern growth.

“This investment will transform travel, deliver better connectivity and faster journeys and unlock thousands of jobs, and massive economic opportunities that will benefit our residents for years to come.”

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire said: “For too long, unreliable rail links have caused misery for people living and working in the North, while holding back our ambitious plans for growth.

“Today we have a solid commitment from government to invest in connecting our towns and cities including taking forward plans for Bradford station, capacity upgrades in and out of Leeds, and electrification across the network to allow more frequent and faster trains.”

Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire said: “This plan for Northern Powerhouse Rail isn’t just about faster trains. It’s about working with central government to build a transport system that matches the ambition we have for South Yorkshire over the next decade and beyond.”

Kim McGuinness, Mayor of the North East said: “My region deserves major investment in transport and that’s what we’re delivering, ensuring Northern Powerhouse Rail services reach Newcastle, via Darlington and Durham.

“We will work with government on the proposed Leamside reopening, aiming to bring back rail to parts of County Durham for the first time in decades.”

David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said: “This is a strong endorsement of the vision we set out in our White Rose Plan for Rail. For too long the North has missed out on investment, but this £45bn commitment changes that.

“By investing in capacity upgrades at York’s station, Northern Powerhouse Rail puts York at the heart of a modern transport network for the North.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “I spent three happy years in Leeds as a university student, a vibrant city I was proud to call home. But I’ve seen first hand what underinvestment and empty pledges do to cities across the North.

“A reliable commute, a secure job, a thriving town centre – these are all things that everyone should expect. But over and over again people in Northern communities, from Liverpool and Manchester to York and Newcastle have been let down by broken promises.

“This cycle has to end. No more paying lip service to the potential of the North, but backing it to the hilt.”

Reeves said: “If economic growth is the challenge, investment and renewal is the solution. That’s why we’re reversing years of chronic underinvestment in the North.”