Manchester sharpens its rail ambitions

Transport Strategy 2040, which will succeed the present Local Transport Plan 3 when it is published in final form next year, will cover all modes of transport, from walking and cycling to roads and rail. And a recurring theme is how Manchester’s booming airport increasingly gives connectivity with global markets for the whole of the North of England.

Rail now plays a vital part in Greater Manchester’s transport map. As Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) Committee Chairman Andrew Fender said at the strategy’s launch event: “It’s difficult to imagine what the world might look like in 25 years, but it’s crucial that we have a long-term and ambitious vision of how we want our city region to look and feel in 2040. 

“The Strategy is about making travel across Greater Manchester and beyond easier, faster, safer, healthier, more efficient and offering greater choice for customers, across all modes and increasingly supported by new technology. An effective transport system is integral to growth and prosperity, and acts as a catalyst for new development and regeneration. That’s what’s driven the transport innovation of the past, and it’s what will determine our future.”

Greater Manchester (GM) has been at the forefront of developing innovative new ways of funding rail (particular light rail) projects, and now funding through such streams as the Local Growth Fund and Earn Back Deals can be brought to bear. 

A Devolution Bill is presently passing through Parliament that will give GM far greater control over its own spending in areas including transport, while GM is also at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse theme as well as both Rail North and Transport for the North. 

The way that Rail North has already had a positive effect on the forthcoming Northern and TransPennine Express franchises (both of which start next April) is key to unlocking the potential for the railway to better serve Greater Manchester. 

And one of Transport for the North’s principal activities is the development of the so-called HS3 line, the high-speed railway that is set to link Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds and Hull by the 2030s. This sort of timescale is reflected in the need for a vision stretching to 2040. 

The 48-page Strategy consultation document points to several fundamental issues that drive transport development, indicating how Greater Manchester can link key policy areas: “Transport can only fulfil potential if it is planned in tandem with a wider economic, social and environmental programme covering housing, employment, innovation, public service and welfare reforms, and the need to develop a sustainable economy.”

While it would have been conventional to have asked GM’s ten component councils what they wanted to see in the next Local Transport Plan, TfGM Chief Executive Dr Jon Lamonte tells RAIL that it was decided to take a very different approach. Instead, TfGM started with the vision of what sort of place Manchester ought to be to live in, asking many people and groups across Greater Manchester for their input and comment.

“Then we can start work on a detailed strategy which would make that happen. With that vision in place we can then break down the goals into five-yearly transport plans,” he says. TfGM is eager for feedback and opinions from the general public, which can be contributed via www.tfgm.com/2040.

A key TfGM target is to have considerable improvements to the local rail network in place before the first HS2 service arrives (currently set for 2033), although there is a lot to be done over the next 18 years to agree, fund, develop and implement such changes. 

Meanwhile, the programme for the Northern Hub and electrification in Manchester up to 2019 (the end of the railway industry’s Control Period 5) is well established. And GM’s Local Growth Funding is set until 2020/21, allowing other projects to be undertaken, such as the re-opening of three platform faces at Salford Central.

Then, for the 2020s: “We have to start looking at a few more things. There’s an opportunity to do an awful lot at Piccadilly,” says Lamonte. 

Even today Piccadilly is working very close to capacity - trains frequently have to share platforms, especially in the peak times. And while the opening of the Ordsall Chord and the completion of the two through platforms at Piccadilly will bring some relief (by removing the TransPennine Express trains that currently reverse in the station to reach the airport), the pressure for new services and longer trains will soon eat up any remaining capacity.

“HS2 will add four platforms to the north of the present Piccadilly,” Lamonte continues.

“And we would like to move Metrolink around - its present location underneath the station might not be ideal if we introduce tram-trains in the 2020s. There is an opportunity to do something really interesting in a multimodal sense at Piccadilly, involving buses, coaches, taxis, tram and heavy rail in a major transport interchange.” 

Linked to this is a massive opportunity for urban regeneration, including the redevelopment of the former Mayfield station to the south of Piccadilly, as well as sites in an arc all around the station.

The continuing expansion and success of Manchester Airport will also bring developments to the conventional rail network as more towns and cities (such as Hull) press for services to the airport. 

High-speed rail services to a new station at the airport will greatly improve connectivity locally and to other parts of Britain for airport workers (19,000 in total) and passengers (22 million a year), as well as for adjacent developments such as the £800 million Airport City site.

“Getting people into jobs, and to and from jobs, is a key imperative for a thriving economy. And for a thriving economy you need transport connectivity,” says Lamonte.

The Strategy consultation points out: “We will need high quality, affordable and seamless transport connections from the most deprived areas to key employment and training locations, particularly for the 31% of households with no access to a car.” 

The challenge here is that young people and others seeking lower-paid jobs need trains to get them across Manchester, while those at the higher end of the salary scale, who might prefer to live in towns beyond Manchester and commute some distance, also need to be able to do so by train. Says Lamonte: “There is no wall around Manchester to encircle the commuters - they come from Cheshire, from Lancashire, even as far as Sheffield.”