OVERWHELMING SUPPORT FOR VISION TO TRANSFORM RAIL IN THE NORTH

Wednesday 21 Dec 2011

OVERWHELMING SUPPORT FOR VISION TO TRANSFORM RAIL IN THE NORTH

Region & Route:

· 80% say plans make them more likely to use the train

· Events held around the north setting out vision for rail in the region

· Overwhelming majority support Network Rail’s plans to improve rail network

People across the north of England have given their backing to Network Rail’s plans to improve rail links across the region. The feedback shows a large public appetite for more journeys by rail. More than two thousand people attended events in stations, town halls and shopping centres and gave their feedback online during a recent consultation.

Network Rail’s biggest ever consultation exercise in the north showcased exciting plans for the Northern Hub, a vision for rail investment across the region. If fully funded the Hub would allow faster, more frequent journeys. It includes the Ordsall Chord, a new short section of railway near Manchester which will reduce journey times by easing a major bottleneck; work to electrify the network between Manchester and Liverpool and the Lancashire triangle, and plans to fully restore Manchester Victoria station.

Network Rail’s Graham Botham, said: “The scale of this consultation clearly demonstrates our ambition to stimulate economic growth by better connecting the towns and cities of the north. It is hugely encouraging that the overwhelming majority of the public in the region support our plans to make it easier for people to get to work, do business, go shopping and visit friends and family.”

Network Rail is inviting further comment on all aspects of the vision during consultations to be held in 2012.

Notes to editors

For more information please contact David Lewy, Communications Manager, Network Rail on david.lewy@networkrail.co.uk or 07801 900328.

1. 26 consultation events were held over eight weeks at the following locations:

Liverpool Lime Street station, Manchester Piccadilly station, Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI), Salford Central station, Salford Town Hall, Eccles station, Manchester Victoria station, Manchester Town Hall, Arndale Centre, Manchester, Newton-Le-Willows station, Earlestown station, St Helens Central station, Leeds station, Rainhill station, Huyton station, Newcastle station, Edgehill station, Sheffield station, Meadowhall Shopping Centre, Sheffield, Warrington Central station.

2. Questions asked in the survey included:

Do you support Network Rail's plans to improve the railway in the North?

Yes – 83%

No – 3.6% of total respondents

Don't know – 5.5%

No comment - 7.9%

Will the Northern Hub project make you more likely to use trains for any purpose (eg visiting friends and family, shopping, commuting, business travel)?

Definitely more likely to use

50%

Probably more likely to use

30.4%

Not sure

17.18%

Probably less likely to use

0.92%

Definitely less likely to use

1.5%

2. The Northern Hub is Network Rail’s plan to stimulate economic growth by upgrading the rail network across the North. Independent assessments estimate that it could deliver over £4bn of benefits and 20,000 to 30,000 new jobs for the North.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office -London North Eastern & East Midlands route
01904 383180
mediarelations@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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