Transport for the North is to determine by the end of the year whether the Northern Powerhouse will feature a Transpennine Tunnel linking Manchester to Sheffield, reducing the drive time by 30 minutes from the current average of 85 minutes.
The timescale is set out in the first annual update report of the Northern transport strategy, which looks at the roads, rail, and smart and integrated transport connectivity to link the north’s major city regions.
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The report says that tunnelling under the Peak District National Park would provide an all-weather link improving the resilience of trans-Pennine road travel and reducing the environmental impact of the existing roads.
The report also describes an implementation plan for “Smart North” – the “Oyster card”-style programme to deliver simplified fares and integrated ticketing, as well as improved online passenger information, across all the north’s public transport.
The government has committed £13bn to transport in the north over this parliament, plus £1.2bn investment in the north’s two new rail franchises, to support major change over the next five to 10 years.
Northern, London and UK GVA per person 1997-2014
The report also summarises the initial findings of the Northern Powerhouse independent economic review, commissioned by TfN in November 2015, to provide the underpinning evidence for the role of transport connectivity in closing the north’s productivity and prosperity gap.
Full findings will be published next month, but the initial finding concludes that the North has four “prime” capabilities within the world economy with the potential to drive growth and increased productivity:
- digital technology, including software and content;
- advanced manufacturing, especially materials and processes;
- energy, including nuclear and offshore wind;
- health innovation, including life sciences, medical technology and service delivery.
It also identifies three “enabling” capabilities: financial and professional services; logistics; and further and higher education. Together, these capabilities account for over a third of the north’s economy in terms of gross value added (GVA).
Trans-Pennine Tunnel Study Corridor options
The report says: “The capabilities, whose activities require a central location in the largest towns and cities in the north, benefit from agglomeration effects that increase with employment density: access to specialist skills and greater exchanges of knowledge. Transport connectivity is key to this.
“Better transport connectivity can reduce the friction that hinders supply-chain linkages and help promote a higher employment rate by making the region more attractive to global businesses selecting locations for investment.
“It can improve access to local, national and international markets; increasing the pool of workers available to work in higher productivity locations. This allows the agglomeration effects available to a network of nearby cities to be more fully realised.”
