The July North East Area event was a presentation by Rob Warnes on the Northern Hub scheme and wider North of England Infrastructure schemes over the next 5 years.

Rob explained that £560 million of infrastructure improvements are to be made as part of the industry developed hub scheme. The biggest enhancement being the Ordsall Curve which will provide a direct route from Manchester Victoria Station towards Oxford Road station. The scheme which will transform rail travel in the north is envisaged to provide £4.2bn boost to the economy with the potential to create 20 -30000 jobs. Specifically hub is anticipated to provide:-
• 700 more trains per day
• Allow up to 44 million more people to travel by train each year
• Two fast trains per hour between Manchester Victoria and Leeds
• Six fast trains an hour between Leeds and Manchester
• More Local services
• Faster journey times between Leeds/Liverpool and Manchester
• Faster journey times to Sheffield and the east midlands, Chester, Bradford, Halifax, Hull, Newcastle and North East

The Ordsall Curve part of the scheme is anticipated to be ready for Dec 2016 with the full scheme implemented in Dec 2017/18

Rob also gave a brief on the North of England electrification plans which aim to electrify the following routes:-

Manchester Airport – Scotland Dec 2013
Wigan/Manchester Victoria – Liverpool Dec 2014
Blackpool – Liverpool May 2016
Preston – Manchester Dec 2016
York – Leeds TBA
Leeds – Stalybridge TBA

These will provide increased capacity to deal with expected passenger growth and free up diesel traction for cascading onto other routes to increase capacity. There will also be journey time improvements, major freight benefits; environmental benefits and improved customer satisfaction.

There are also a number of other smaller schemes planned to help improve station capacity around the north.

It was a very interesting and informative presentation and a very exciting time for the railways in the north. A question and answer session followed the presentation and the event was well attended.

What was learned at the event?

• The sheer amount of infrastructure enhancements planned for the North of England over the next 5 years
• The Northern Hub scheme, costs and benefits
• The extent of the north of England electrification program