Discussions take place on northern transport

Regional leaders from across the north of England took part in the first Transport for the North project board meeting yesterday.

The meeting was the first step in drawing up and delivering a programme of strategic investment into the North's infrastructure.

With a broad remit, Transport for the North will look at east-west rail links, roads, ports and airports as well as broadband, devolved powers, smart ticketing and how this inter-connectivity would work with and complement the UK's other regions and HS2.

To coincide with the meeting, transport leaders across the North West announced their priorities for the Transport for the North agenda.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson and Cllr Nick Forbes, leader of Newcastle City Council, issued a joint statement supporting coast-to-coast transport improvements which could cut journey times between the two cities by up to an hour.

Transport for Greater Manchester called for changes to the management of local railway stations to enable long-term investment and prevent them from "falling into sharp decline".

Railway stations across Greater Manchester are managed by train operating companies on a short term basis, or by Network Rail. TfGM said that the stations would be better managed and run locally, on longer leases.

Transport for the North, an alliance of the North's key authorities and agencies, was set up by the Government in October.

It is led by the city regions that made up One North: Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle, together with Hull and the Humber, working in collaboration with the Department for Transport, Highways Agency, Network Rail, and HS2.

Transport for the North will jointly produce an interim report in March 2015.

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