'Northern transport is Labour's top priority - but we'll be honest'

Labour has promised to improve railways across the North of England - but the party has refused to commit to specific schemes.

Labour's shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh has told the Manchester Evening News that the party has not ruled anything out - including building the new platforms at Piccadilly which were promised more than a decade ago but cancelled last year. However, the party has not committed to building the new high-speed railway line from Manchester to Liverpool which is currently on the table.

Ms Haigh also said there are 'lots of option on the table' when it comes to improving rail links between Manchester and Birmingham. This includes the plans for a new line that mayor Andy Burnham put forward after the Northern leg of HS2 was scrapped last year.

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However, Ms Haigh said that Labour will not take the HS2 plans 'back off the shelf' because the costs of it were 'completely out of control'. It comes as the party awaits the findings of an independent expert-led review into rail and urban transport infrastructure.

Ahead of the publication of that review, which was commissioned after the Conservatives cancelled phase 2 of HS2 last year, Labour has said that it will aim to deliver new projects 25 per cent faster and 20 per cent cheaper than existing ones. The Labour manifesto, which was published last week, promises to prioritise improving rail connectivity across the North - but does not list specific schemes.

The M.E.N. asked Ms Haigh, who was visiting Manchester Airport on Thursday (June 20), what voters can expect in the first five years of a Labour government if the party wins the general election. She said: "What people in Greater Manchester can expect from, hopefully, an incoming Labour government is that we will be honest about the scale of the challenge but also about our ambition.

"We are not going into this election promising anything that we can't commit to. We want to take a long-term approach that encourages the private sector to invest and make sure that every penny that we spend of taxpayers' money delivers the best return and delivers the best outcomes for passengers across the North.

"But Northern rail connectivity and transport infrastructure will absolutely be the priority of the next Labour government."

Speaking to the M.E.N. last month, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer pledged to work with the mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region to make the new line between their cities a reality. But the Labour manifesto does not mention the scheme.

Asked about the plans for the new line between Manchester and Liverpool which the Conservatives have promised, Ms Haigh said the two cities will be 'at the heart' of the plans to address Northern connectivity, which includes links to Hull and the North East too. However, she said that, if elected, Labour would have to take a 'proper look at the books' before committing to the new railway line.

She said: "Those plans were formulated on the basis of HS2 coming up to both Manchester and Leeds and those lines have both been scrapped by the Conservatives and that money re-allocated since then. Which is why we need to take it back to first principles and develop a plan that will deliver the same outcomes as the original Northern Powerhouse Rail conception which is to improve connectivity and capacity right across the North."

The Labour frontbencher, who is running for re-election as an MP in Sheffield, has also said that her party would look at reviving plans for two new platforms at Piccadilly. The plans for platforms 15 and 16 were ready in 2015, but last May, the vital upgrade was cancelled.

Asked about this, Ms Haigh said: "Absolutely, that will be considered as an option because it is one of the biggest barriers to growth.

"We need to take a step back and look at the needs of the country as a whole, look at the needs of the North, and make sure we integrate our rail and our airports, with our industrial strategy as well. We think this is a massive reset moment for the country.

"We have not had that approach for 14 years. So it does enable us to take a step back and make those investment decisions."

Juergen Maier, the former CEO of Siemens UK, is conducting the independent review of rail and urban transport infrastructure for the Labour Party. Joining Ms Haigh on her visit to Manchester Airport, he agreed that the party should not be making commitments yet.

He said: "I think it's absolutely the right thing to do. As a business person and as somebody who's looking for confidence right now, actually, the worst thing that could happen is that we actually get another 20 promises which we doubt are going to be delivered.

"What we'd rather do is take a little bit of time, work in collaboration, work in partnership and then we work out together what we need to deliver, and then we stick to the plan, we deliver on time. Maybe even a little bit faster, maybe even a little bit cheaper."