Last week the Prime Minister pledged to “invest massively” in the rail network. Today I wrote to him & Grant Shapps (Secretary of State for Transport). In advance of the publication of the Integrated Rail Plan for the Midlands and the North.
The Integrated Rail Plan provides an opportunity to act on the NIC findings, finally setting out realistic investment plans that will deliver the greatest and most inclusive economic benefits to Doncaster and the North.
To achieve the ‘levelling-up’ agenda and deliver real benefits to communities across the north, I urge government to focus investment on local and regional connectivity, along with decarbonisation and improvement of the existing network including our high speed East Coast Main Line and stations.
In Doncaster, we have a clear understanding of our socio-economic challenges and a singular focus on our priorities. In the short term, there is an urgent need to drive forward our post-COVID economic recovery. However, this must align with our strategy to achieve long-term transformational improvements in skills, productivity, innovation, health and wellbeing, while also delivering our net-zero carbon targets.
Transport will play a crucial role in realising this levelling-up agenda and will shape Doncaster’s future. Our Inclusive Growth Strategy is dependent on expanding our existing strengths in connectivity, Future Mobility and advanced engineering, including:
- Skills, Engineering and Innovation: The National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure, and Doncaster’s extensive rail industry cluster, are fundamental to our engineering sector and the growth of a knowledge based economy. A new City Region economic blueprint aims to establish a University-led Future Mobility Innovation Cluster in Doncaster with direct runway and rail access, built around innovation fuels, battery technology, electrification and light weighting technology.
- Freight and Logistics: Logistics has been at the heart of Doncaster’s recent economic success and will play a catalytic role as we implement our South Yorkshire Freeport proposals, centred on Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) and iPort Rail.
- Economic resilience and vibrant urban centres. Our strategy to transform Doncaster Town Centre as part of a resilient dual-pole economic hub with DSA is predicated on high quality rail connectivity. We are already delivering new developments on this basis and our Towns Fund proposals will see high quality business premises constructed at our East Coast Main Line railway station, building on existing government investment at the station gateway.
- Access to business and employment sites. As the largest metropolitan borough in England with a dispersed population, located 17 miles from Sheffield, 25 miles from Leeds and 30 miles from York, rail is an essential means of connecting people to local and regional employment sites as part of a multi-mode public transport offer.
For places like Doncaster to recover from COVID19 and realise their economic potential, greater clarity on rail investment is urgently required. It is vital to our businesses, our supply chain development and our own investment plans. Although we support the development of new national rail links, improved local and regional connectivity will drive economic growth and are of primary importance. Existing rail infrastructure in the north also urgently needs investment. For example, the Continuous Modular Strategic Planning study of the Doncaster area identifies key constraints that are already affecting local, regional and long distance services. If not addressed, these limitations will obstruct regional connectivity improvements and continue to constrain national services, irrespective of whether the HS2 is built.
In our joint response to the Oakervee Review, Doncaster and Rotherham Councils raised concerns that:
- The current plan for HS2 between the East Midlands and Leeds will not in itself deliver the levelling-up agenda in South Yorkshire. Compared to the original route, the new alignment will result in lower economic benefits, less new capacity and slower journey times, as well as having detrimental local impacts;
- The HS2 eastern leg spur proposal places considerable pressure on a rail network in South Yorkshire that is already under severe strain. It cannot be delivered successfully without full complementary investment on the existing railway;
- The delivery of all currently proposed national and regional rail programmes may not be feasible and affordable in the short to medium term; and
- As a result, constructing HS2 in full may come at the expense of urgent rail programmes in the North or other essential developments on the existing rail network.
The National Infrastructure Commission Rail Needs Assessment reinforces our concerns. It clearly sets out the cost challenges faced by government and the need to make strategic choices about the scale and prioritisation of rail projects. The NIC analysis provides evidence that the biggest impact and highest return on investment will come by prioritising regional rather than long distance connectivity.
The Prime Minister pledged last week to “invest massively” in the rail network. The Integrated Rail Plan provides an opportunity to act on the NIC findings, finally setting out realistic investment plans that will deliver the greatest and most inclusive economic benefits. Even if approved, the full eastern leg of HS2 will not open for many years and it will not address the vital improvements required now. The NIC report does not preclude the development of a full eastern leg of HS2 in the future. However, to achieve the ‘levelling-up’ agenda and deliver real benefits to communities across the north, we urge you to focus investment on local and regional connectivity, along with decarbonisation and improvement of the existing network including our high speed East Coast Main Line and stations. I am now seeking certainty for the neighbourhoods and communities of Doncaster so that the current blight is lifted.
My View 