Select committee: Transport Committee
Conclusion 9
Second Report - The Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands
Published 27 Jul 2022
Paragraph 40
Addressed to Department for Transport
Transport Committee Integrated Rail Plan All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The potential of Bradford as an engine room of the Northern Powerhouse may be squandered if it is not given opportunities to thrive through better connectivity. Direct high speed connections would give the city access to a much broader pool of labour, as well as allowing other cities to benefit from the talent and potential of its own residents. Leaving such a large and dynamic city behind would undermine the project of levelling up the country. Better public transport is essential to encouraging modal shift, and the attendant decarbonisation gains would be significant across such a large population. The Government is making a circular argument by pointing to current patterns of public transport use as justification for decisions about future infrastructure. Services must be in place, consistently, for people to use them.
From: Transport Committee, Second Report - The Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands (HC 292), paragraph 40, 27 July 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 13 July 2023 (deadline 27 September 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government welcomes the report and sets out a mixed response: it accepts several recommendations, some with caveats on timing, but does not accept that the Integrated Rail Plan "underserves the rail needs of the North of England".
- On the Golborne Link, it "accepts the rationale" for the recommendation but says the work will take longer than suggested; it remains "committed to looking at alternatives" and safeguarding is to be maintained meanwhile.
- It does not accept that the overall evidence base needs to be reconsidered, citing similar outputs, the adaptive approach and "significant" cost differentials of alternatives.
- It accepts the recommendation on HS2 to Leeds, will publish terms of reference "before the summer recess" and anticipates the study taking "around 18 months", while stating that the study "does not guarantee further interventions will be agreed or progressed".
- It "notes" the recommendation on a Manchester Piccadilly underground station and continues to believe a combined surface station is best placed to meet the needs of both HS2 and NPR services.