Northern Powerhouse Rail plans delayed again amid extended review and cost concerns

Plans to extend high-speed rail across the north have been delayed again, with the government not expected to announce the Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme at the Labour Party conference next week. Officials say the revival of the Liverpool-to-Manchester line is now the subject of an extended review aimed at avoiding the kinds of cost overruns that have beset HS2. Downing Street and the Treasury did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The project, first proposed by former Conservative chancellor George Osborne in 2014, was intended to cut travel times between major northern cities and spur economic growth outside London. Parts of the scheme have been downgraded or altered by successive administrations, and in June Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would "set out" plans to take forward the Northern Powerhouse Rail ambitions in the coming weeks. A Liverpool conference announcement had been anticipated, but insiders said a thorough scoping and affordability review is now taking priority. Northern mayors had been reassured that plans for the rail line alongside a broader "Northern corridor" regeneration effort would be unveiled before or at the Labour conference. Yet several cabinet champions of the project, including Lucy Powell and Angela Rayner, are no longer ministers.

The Department for Transport is understood to have proposed to the Treasury a plan to release up to £1.5 billion in preparatory and development funds to allow work to begin around 2030. However, officials say the process is being extended to ensure the project is fully scoped before moving ahead, a cautious approach described by some as an extended tyre kicking of the plans to avoid repeating HS2’s problems. HS2’s fate has already forced a rework of expectations: the high-speed line will now run only from London to Birmingham, with earlier northern extensions scrapped. In June the government delayed the opening of HS2 beyond the 2033 target date but did not specify a new start date.

A central question for policymakers remains value for money, particularly whether connecting Manchester Airport to the city centre—a component of Northern Powerhouse Rail that overlapped with a portion of HS2 Phase 2—represents a prudent use of funds. Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has long pressed for progress on the Liverpool–Manchester link and has proposed a route with Steve Rotheram that includes the airport. A Burnham ally told the BBC that "Any more tyre kicking, and there will be no tyre left." In August, Chris Woodroofe, chief executive of Manchester Airport, said weak transport links across northern England were constraining growth and that Northern Powerhouse Rail would be essential to boosting investment and exports for northern businesses.

When HS2 Phase 2 was cancelled by former prime minister Rishi Sunak, about £12 billion of its budget was redirected to Northern Powerhouse Rail. But Andrew Gilligan, the author of a recent Policy Exchange report, called for scrapping Northern Powerhouse Rail, a view reinforced by Reform, whose deputy leader Richard Tice warned companies not to bid for contracts. With competing political imperatives and ongoing scrutiny of costs, the government’s timetable for delivering Northern Powerhouse Rail remains uncertain, even as regional leaders continue to push for momentum and a credible funding pathway.