The UK Government has announced that improvements to transport within the North and the Midlands will be achievable thanks to the allocation of almost £5 billion.
Coming after the cancellation of the Northern Leg of HS2, the £4.7 billion fund is aiming to deliver major transport improvements as part of the Network North project. The North will benefit from £2.5 billion, with the remaining £2.2 billion being given to the Midlands from April 2025.
Over the course of seven years, the funding is looking to support smaller cities, towns, and rural areas to improve the local transport connections that communities rely on every day. The announcement from the Department for Transport outlined that this funding, over the seven-year period, is larger than what the local authorities are currently getting through the local integrated transport block of funding.
Funding can be used to drive transport improvements through projects including:
- New roads and junction improvements
- The installation or expansion of mass transit systems
- Pothole filling and better street lighting to improve roads and safety.
- Tackling congestion to improve journey times for those travelling by car and bus.
- Increasing electric vehicle charging infrastructure
- Improving or refurbishing bus and railway stations
- Making streets safer for children walking to school.
Speaking about the allocation of the funding, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:
“Through reallocating HS2 funding, we’re not only investing billions of pounds directly back into our smaller cities, towns and rural areas across the North and Midlands, but we are also empowering their local leaders to invest in the transport projects that matter most to their communities – this is levelling up in action.
“The Local Transport Fund will deliver a new era of transport connectivity. This unprecedented investment will benefit more people, in more places, more quickly than HS2 ever would have done, and comes alongside the billions of pounds worth of funding we’ve already invested into our roads, buses and local transport services across the country.”
Whilst the scrapping of HS2 beyond Birmingham was not received well by many local leaders, Transport for the North has welcomed this funding, with Chair Lord Patrick McLoughlin saying:
“We welcome this funding for our local transport areas as a sign of progress towards transforming the north to a more inclusive, sustainable, and better-connected region. By having greater clarity on the funding that’s available, and consolidating funding streams, it helps remove inertia and accelerates delivery on the ground.”
Now that funding has been announced, local authorities will be given advice on how they can develop plans for using the funding, whilst they will be expected to publish delivery plans for where the funding will be invested.
Image credit: iStock
