“A railway the North can be proud of”

The North’s rail system must be ready for High Speed 2, according to Northern Rail Managing Director Alex Hynes.

Speaking at RAIL’s National Rail Conference in Leeds on November 5, Hynes said: “We will have created a northern rail network that is HS2 ready which doesn’t react and respond to growth, but instead helps drive growth in the north of England.

“Everywhere in the north of England will be using new retailing methods. There will be new stations. There will be new trains. We will have a bigger, better electric train network, better productivity, better customer service. We will have created a railway that the North can be proud of.”

He explained that currently: “If you’re going from London to Manchester Piccadilly on a Pendolino, we then put you on a Pacer to Marple.

“Now, last time I checked, we were the sixth richest country in the world, and those trains were designed as a stop-gap for the nationalised railway."

• For more on this, and what else Hynes had to say, read RAIL 788, published today.