Leader slams line plan

OMBC leader Cllr Jean Stretton

OLDHAM Council Leader Jean Stretton has described Government plans to ditch the electrification of the Manchester to Leeds rail line as "disappointing" and "a slap in the face to the North".

In her blog on the subject, Councillor Stretton said the recent decisions leave the North West "stranded at the platform" while the Government spends billions on the Crossrail 2 project.

Councillor Stretton said: "Public transport has an absolutely key role in promoting social inclusion by enabling people from the widest possible range of groups - including jobseekers, low income families, young people, disabled people and older people - to work, learn and be economically active.

"That's why last week's announcement that the Government has ditched its pledge to electrify the Manchester to Leeds rail line was so disappointing.

"In 2015, the Department for Transport had said electrification of the whole link going through Manchester, Leeds and York would be complete by 2022.

"This, we were assured, demonstrated the Government's commitment to the Northern Powerhouse and it was also in their election manifesto published less than a couple of months ago.

"Yet today we now find ourselves once again stranded at the platform."

She added that Greater Manchester was not the only area to suffer under recent announcements, with electrification of the routes between Cardiff and Swansea, Windermere and Oxenholme in the Lake District, and between Kettering, Nottingham and Sheffield, also scrapped.

She added that overcrowding, regular delays, cancellation and stagnant journey times are all problems faced by regular train users in the region, while fares have risen.

"Making these announcements after Parliament went into summer recess all feels, shall we say, at least a tad convenient for Mr Grayling," she said.

"Andy Burnham has made clear the universal disgust at this decision across GM - and, rest assured, we're all prepared to fight long and hard to get this decision overturned once again."