Off Topic Northern Powerhouse...

Uh-oh...

Rail scheme delays 'discussed in March'
By Ross HawkinsPolitical correspondent, BBC News

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Network Rail knew as early as March that joint decisions with the government on delaying major rail projects were due shortly after the general election, documents reveal.

Labour said the news showed ministers must have known rail electrification projects would be paused in June, and that they had misled voters.

It will raise fresh questions about why the Conservatives pledged to electrify rail routes in their manifesto, only to put plans for electrifying two lines on hold shortly after polling day.

Minutes of a Network Rail board meeting from March show the board agreed to a plan that included making "decisions required jointly with the DfT re enhancement deferrals from June".

"Enhancement" is industry jargon for upgrade. "Enhancement deferral" refers to delaying upgrades.

'Standing joke'
It is understood rail executives had judged that taking any longer to pause struggling projects would incur extra costs.

The government has had "direct oversight" of Network Rail since September last year.

One senior rail executive has told me further delays are expected of major projects in the north of England.

Network Rail's plans there had become a "standing joke" the executive said,

Rail schemes were at the heart of George Osborne's election promise to create a "northern powerhouse".

The shadow transport secretary Michael Dugher said: "This revelation shows ministers must have known before the general election that vital rail electrification projects would be shelved.

"It is becoming increasingly apparent ministers deliberately decided to cynically mislead people during the general election campaign that key rail lines would be electrified in the Midlands and the North, knowing full well that they would then renege on these commitments after the election. "

Minutes from Network Rail board meetings as early as November reveal there were concerns about the "deliverability" and affordability of upgrades.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33508800

 

See the Manchester to Leeds bit is back on again... No mention of the Selby to Hull section yet again. It's like anything east of Leeds doesn't exist which is no surprise!

http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/update/2015-09-30/transpennine-electrification-works-to-resume/

 

They should nationalise Network Rail. Oh, hang on...

 

Network Rail is structured as a company limited by guarantee, meaning it has members rather than shareholders. Its sole member is the Secretary of State for Transport and it is classified as a central government body. It is a 'not for dividend' company and applies its income to its own purposes.

It's the TOCs (Train Operating Companies) which are to be taken into national ownership as each franchise comes up for renewal.

As far as I understand it.

 

• North West electrification
• 
  
  
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  ON SCHEDULE
  We're electrifying key rail routes across the North to make journeys faster, quieter and more reliable.
  
  This will improve travel between Manchester, Liverpool, Preston, Blackpool, Leeds and York and is vital in supporting the region’s long-term, low carbon economic growth.
  
  The first phase between Manchester and Newton-le-Willows was completed in December 2013, electrifying the route between Manchester Airport to Scotland.
  
  
• Which routes are being electrified?
• NW electrification map
  
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  Click to see full size
  
  
• Manchester to Liverpool, and Huyton to Wigan: complete
  We've modified bridges beteen Newton-le-Willows and Liverpool, and Huyton and Wigan.
  
  The work included installation of overhead line equipment to allow electric trains to run between Manchester Victoria and Liverpool, and Liverpool and Wigan.
  
  Preston to Blackpool
  A fully electrified route between Preston and Blackpool will connect the area to the West Coast main line, the key rail artery linking the North West with London and Scotland.
  
  We're currently assessing the structures along the route to understand which need to be modified to allow electrification. The outcome of this work will be discussed with local authorities and stakeholders over the coming months.
  
  Bridge modification programme leaflet
  
  Manchester to Preston: by December 2016
  We will be starting work in 2015 to make room for over head line equipment through Farnworth tunnel.
  
  Find out what we'll be doing and how it could impact on your journey: Manchester to Preston electrification.
  
  Oxenholme to Windemere and Wigan to Lostock
  The Department for Transport announced additional funding to electrify these routes in autumn 2013.
  
  We're currently assessing the structures along the route to understand which need to be modified to allow electrification. The outcome of this work will be discussed with local authorities and stakeholders over the coming months.
  
  Manchester to Leeds and York
  We've been developing the scheme since funding was announced in 2011: A fully electrified route will be provided between Manchester, Leeds and York, linking up with the electrified lines at Leeds and York.
  
  We are currently revising the scheme to include upgrades to track and signalling to take the maximum advantage of the investment opportunity.
  
  These further improvements will accommodate the projected growth in train services and significantly improve in journey times, helping to support economic growth in the north.
  
  This means the original plan to complete work by 2019 will take longer. Planning for the new, bigger scheme is currently underway.
  
  We're currently assessing the structures along the route to understand which need to be modified. The outcome of this work will be discussed with local authorities and stakeholders over the coming months.
  
  Letter from Mark Carne to Lilian Greenwood MP, 23 July 2015
  
  Electrificaton milestones
  
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  1. December 2013 - Manchester to West Coast Main Line and Newton-le-Willows
  2. Early 2015 - Newton-le-Willows to Liverpool Lime Street; Huyton to Wigan
  3. December 2016 - Manchester Victoria to Preston
  4. Winter 2016/17 - Preston to Blackpool

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/North_West_electrification.aspx

 

Not much of a powerhouse in Redcar.

 

You don't say. So my point went over your head?

 

The only 'point' you made was that you'd employed sarcasm, surely?

 

They have to get in first. Will carry on as is for now.

 

Sheffield area expected to become second 'northern powerhouse'
Creation of Sheffield city region combined authority expected to lead to new directly elected mayor

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The city region is expected to cover some of the great Labour heartlands of Rotherham, Sheffield, Doncaster, Bolsover and Bassetlaw. Photograph: Martyn Williams/Alamy
Patrick Wintour Political editor

George Osborne is expected to be able to announce a second “northern powerhouse” – alongside Greater Manchester – when Sheffield city region combined authority is given the go-ahead by the Treasury on Friday.

The announcement will be a coup for Osborne, who is winning support for his plans from Labour local government leaders despite the hostility from the national Labour party.

The plan, as in Manchester, would require the city region – subject to consultation and national legislation – to introduce a directly elected mayor. As many as 34 separate city region bids were submitted to the Treasury by the 4 September deadline but Whitehall sources said Osborne looks to have struck a deal for SouthYorkshire.

The city region covers some of the great Labour heartlands of Rotherham,Sheffield, Doncaster, Bolsover and Bassetlaw, and suggests Labour councils are willing to swallow their opposition to Osborne and the idea of a directly elected mayor in return for the powers they are likely to be offered.

The city region will cross county borders and may raise issues over policing. There have been disputes about the precise title and boundaries of the combined authority, likely to encompass 2 million people.

Details of the powers to be devolved will continue to be negotiated over the next few weeks. But it is a boost for Osborne before the Conservative party conference.

The chancellor has made the “northern powerhouse” project the single biggest policy initiative he wants to take in his remaining period at the Treasury since he thinks it will rebalance the UK economy and find a means of regenerating city economies that have long been moribund.

He has been advised by an economist, Lord Jim O’Neill, who as a Treasury minister has been leading the negotiations.

The “northern powerhouse” concept has been tarnished in recent weeks bydelays in rail electrification projects and the mothballing of the SSI steelworks in Redcar. This week, Osborne announced the unblocking of the suspended electrification works.

Labour under Jeremy Corbyn has so far taken little interest in devolution to English city regions, publishing one policy paper that showed hostility to the concept. Labour MPs say the danger of the devolution deals is that local councils will find they are made responsible for implementing Treasury-imposed cuts.

A West Yorkshire combined authority, largely advocated by Labour politicians, has previously been described as “very close” to being offered a deal by the Treasury, although some Labour figures in Leeds and Wakefield fear giving Osborne any party conference headlines about a dramatic remaking of the state. Osborne took northern council leaders with him on his trade trip to China as a sign of how seriously he wants to involve them in his grand experiment.

Separately, Conservative politicians in Yorkshire hoped that a competing “greater Yorkshire” plan, which would tie West, north and east Yorkshire together in a single devolution agreement, can yet be made to work.

The outline South Yorkshire combined authority was established in 2014, bringing together an integrated transport authority and an economic prosperity board.


http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...ea-expected-become-second-northern-powerhouse

 

The 'March of the Makers' continues...

Tata Steel job losses 'will kill Scunthorpe'

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As 900 workers at Tata's Scunthorpe plant face losing their jobs, what will be the knock-on effect for the north Lincolnshire town "built on steel"?

For 150 years, the town's steelworks, with plumes of smoke rising from their imposing towers, have dominated Scunthorpe's skyline and its manufacturing industry.

But the past 40 years have marked a long, slow decline, with numbers employed at the plant on North Lincoln Road dropping from 30,000 in the 1950s to 4,000 in 2015.

Now, almost a quarter of those people are set to lose their jobs.

"This will kill Scunthorpe, there will be nothing."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34580178

 

Can't they just bring back the traditional Ridings and have Yorkshire parliament in York?

 

Summat like this. Three Ridings with a parliament in York and then the Ridings divided into wapentakes.

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Or we could just declare independence and re-establish the Kingdom of Jorvik. Save us the trouble of putting it by Westminster first.

 

It's not really surprising. The North generally votes Labour and when Labour are in power, they give subsidies to car plants etc. to open up north and then pump up the benefits sector and public services jobs to keep popular, then when the Tories get in power, they switch the pot to their friends in the South East. Should the steel industry get a bail-out from the tax payer?

What should be asked is that why after 20 years of continuous price increase and growth in the steel market internationally, why has a company factory been allowed to run so precariously with low productivity and why has a local council allowed one industry to dominate its economy so much, without spreading the economic focus and using the benefit of the good years to divest and secure the area..


ESSEX GULL

 

By the way, Scunthorpe isn't in the North.

 

It's relative, is it not?


ESSEX GULL

 

It's not in the North.

VINCE MASUKA

 

Yes, you're right, North Lincolnshire is part of Greater London.



ESSEX GULL

 

I am right, it's not in the North. You're wrong, it's not part of Greater of London.

It's in the Midlands.

MR. BIG DICK

 

It might just possibly be a result of China dumping steel on the world market...