On 4 June UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves unveiled a £15.6bn planned investment in local transport for cities not in London and the South East. The spending will be confirmed in the Spending Review due to be detailed on 11 June, and represents a doubling of capital investment in local transport from 2024/25 to 2029/30. The cash comes partly in response to grumbles from Labour mayors in cities outside London and the South-East that a disproportionate amount of investment is focused on the home counties, and partly to support the government’s growth agenda.
The five-year funding settlement will support the following projects:
extension of the Tyne & Wear Metro light rail to Washington (£1.8bn)
expansion of Greater Manchester’s Metrolink tramway to Stockport and new stops in Bury and Oldham (£2.5bn)
West Yorkshire light rail in Leeds and Bradford (£2.1bn)
South Yorkshire tram fleet renewal and enhanced link between Sheffield and Rotherham (£1.5bn)
Midland Metro tramway extension to Birmingham’s new sports quarter, laying the groundwork for the North Solihull corridor (£2.4bn)
Three new bus rapid transit lines in Liverpool including a new fleet of buses (1.6bn)
Improved rail infrastructure in the Greater Bristol area, including seed funding for potential mass transit (£800 000)
extension of Nottingham Express Transit trams to Derby (£2bn)
rebuilding of Middlesborough station to increase capacity (1bn)
Ms Reeves said, ‘We will be making the biggest ever investment by a British government in transport links within our city regions to be delivered by our regional mayors. For too long people in the North and Midlands have been locked out of the investment they deserve. With £15.6bn of government investment, we are giving local leaders the means to drive cities, towns and communities forward, investing in Britain’s renewal so you and your family are better off’. Reeves also announced a change in how the government evaluates regional investment in order to ensure that every region receives a fair hearing when funding decisions are made.'
Mike ballinger, West Midlands Area Officer for the Light Rail Transit Association, said, ‘the Eastside metro extension is the best of all current tramway and light railway projects in the UK and this will ensure that the scheme continues to go forward. We congratulate mayor Richard Parker on persuading the government to commit this funding, and look forward to seeing this and other transport projects develop’.
A map of the planned Birmingham Eastside and North Solihull tramway extension. (WMCA)
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