Northern Hub is our plan to stimulate economic growth by improving the rail network of the North.
It’s about the whole North. The services and economic benefits run as far as Newcastle and Hull in the East to Chester and Liverpool in the West. It’s about targeted investment to allow the North to continue to thrive.
If funded in full, Northern Hub will have the following benefits:
- Up to 700 more trains per day with space for 44 million more people to travel by train each year
- Two new fast trains per hour between Manchester Victoria and Liverpool
- Six fast trains an hour between Leeds and Manchester (as opposed to four now)
- Journey times between Leeds and Manchester could be reduced by about 10 minutes
- Journey times between Liverpool and Manchester could be reduced by 10-15 minutes
- A new direct service through Manchester city centre to Manchester Airport
- Faster journey times to Sheffield and the East Midlands, Chester, Bradford, Halifax, Hull, Newcastle and the North-East
The Northern Hub will be included in the industry’s submission to Government in September 2011 and there is a campaign already underway to secure full funding by the summer of 2012.