Cross-party backing for trans-Pennine rail plan is key. Now build it – The Yorkshire Post says
Just as The Yorkshire Post has, for two years, been working with rival newspapers to end the daily delays on the region’s railways, it is heartening to see Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, give their personal backing.
Both these politicians – and others – have become frustrated, even exasperated, by the pedestrian rate of progress. It is nearly 10 years since this full electrification was first promised, and if this new body cuts red tape by giving Northern leaders direct access to Ministers, then so be it.
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Hide AdAfter all, the overhaul of the Leeds to Manchester line will only be completed if every element of the railway industry, plus Transport for the North and local councils along the route, start working together and share the urgency being applied by Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary and Northern Powerhouse Minister.
Unlike his predecessor Chris Grayling who he, thankfully, replaced a year ago, Mr Shapps accepts that there has been a “transport deficit” in which this region has suffered “chronic underfunding” in comparison to the South East. He says so in today’s newspaper.
He also believes electrification is the way forward as additional track is installed to speed up journey times – and that quality matters. Encouragingly, he does not want the route to be “an also-ran in comparison with the East and West Coast Mainlines”.
Strong words, Mr Shapps can expect to be judged by them. But so, too, will TfN and others if they still put their own agendas before the region’s greater good and this chance to get rail services back on track here.
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Hide AdEditor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.
Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.
And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.
Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.
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Sincerely. Thank you.
James Mitchinson
Editor
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