Northern Powerhouse Rail - What could go wrong?
Northern Powerhouse Rail, or NPR, was announced by the Government to much fanfare on 14 January 2026. Up to £45 billion will be invested in the creaking railway infrastructure of the North. A new line between Birmingham and Manchester is going to be under consideration. Years of dither and delay ends now, trumpeted the Secretary of State for Transport.
Many cheered for joy but a few scratched their heads. Surely the £11 billion Transpennine Route Upgrade has been underway for a few years, and won’t that provide the baseline on which much of NPR between Manchester and Yorkshire will be built…
The skinny
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