MANCHESTER: Britain commits to a new rail infrastructure programme worth up to £45bil (US$60bil) for the north of England, a region long held back by underinvestment.
The government said it pledged to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail in three phases, starting with improved connections between the Yorkshire cities of Sheffield and Leeds, Leeds and York, and Leeds and Bradford.
That will be followed by a new railway line between Liverpool and Manchester, running via Manchester Airport, and then improved connections between Manchester and Yorkshire.
British cities outside the capital suffer a bigger shortfall in productivity compared with their counterparts in other countries, with outdated and limited transport links identified by organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development as a key factor.
Rail links in the north are plagued by bottlenecks. — Reuters
