Deputy PM presses Chancellor to spend on Yorkshire road and rail

Nick Clegg has set out plans to invest in road and rail to dramatically cut journey times across the North in the next decade.

By The Newsroom

Published 6th Nov 2014, 07:22 BST

The Deputy Prime Minister is pressing for the electrification and upgrade of rail lines and the scrapping of outdated diesel pacer trains - branded ‘buses on rails’ by commuters - to be in Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement next month.

Mr Clegg wants the major cities of the North connected by electrified rail and maximum journey times between Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester cut to 40 minutes by 2025.

He also wants to see the M62 become an eight-lane motorway between Leeds and Manchester and improvements to the Woodhead Pass connecting Sheffield and Manchester.

Mr Clegg said: “London and South East has had billions of transport investment over recent years from HS1 to Crossrail to the Northern Line extension. The perfectly reasonable requests I have been hearing from the North are basics that are needed if we are to create a true economic hub in the North of England.