That deep depression over northern England I reported last month quickly turned to anger in the media when it was revealed, in quick succession that:
■ Midland main line electrification anywhere north of Kettering towards Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield was being abandoned;
■ electrification of the Manchester – Leeds – York trans-Pennine route is now ‘unlikely’; and
■ the already huge differential in public transport spending per head between Yorkshire and the South East had further widened from one-seventh (1/7) to a disgraceful mere one-tenth (1/10).
The wiring cancellations were only announced after the House of Commons had risen for the summer recess to avoid awkward questions from northern MPs.
To cap it all, following widespread concern that the recent Queen’s Speech mentioned neither Northern Powerhouse Rail, which was a feature of the recent Conservative manifesto, nor Crossrail 2, which wasn’t, Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling pointedly lent his support to Crossrail 2 with a price tag of at least £31 billion, but made no mention of Northern Powerhouse Rail. Mr Grayling represents Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, right next door to his predecessor and now Chancellor of the Ex…
