The government’s Northern Powerhouse initiative has been given a boost this week with the announcement of new contracts for two rail franchises.
The northern franchise has been awarded to Arriva and the Transpennine Express franchise to First.
The department for Transport said this deal will see the north of England and Scotland undergo the “biggest transformation in decades” after a range of improvements were promised as part of the deal.
The deal will see more than 500 new carriages, the removal of outdated and unpopular Pacer trains and room for 40,000 extra passengers at the busiest times, and more than 2,000 extra services a week will be delivered.
Both franchises are due to start on April 1 2016. The Northern franchise will run for nine years, until March 2025, with the option of a one year extension. The TPE franchise will run for seven years, until March 2023 and will also include a one year extension.
The two train operators will oversee £1.2bn of investment into the railways.
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “We promised passengers a world class rail service that would make the Northern Powerhouse a reality – and I’m delighted that we have found 2 operators that will deliver exactly that.
“As a one nation government we are committed to closing the economic gap between north and south. This deal, and the joint management of the franchises, will bring the Northern Powerhouse to life.”
Other promises in the announcement include:
- Free wi-fi on TransPennine Express services and stations by July 2018, and on Northern Rail services and 36 stations by December 2019
- £55m of investment to improve stations
- A new direct Liverpool to Glasgow service from December 2018
- Additional services from Manchester to Glasgow and Edinburgh from December 2017
- Doubling the number of Manchester to Newcastle services, and running more daily services to Hull from Manchester and Leeds, both from December 2017
The franchises will be jointly managed from Leeds by the Department for Transport and Rail North Limited - which represents 29 local authorities across the north.