Hull ignored by 'High Speed Three'

Hull North MP Diana Johnson has responded to the Chancellor's comments today about having a 'High Speed Three' rail link between Manchester and Leeds ignoring Hull.

Diana Johnson MP said: "It's good to know that Ministers are thinking about having a long term vision for transport that recognises that it's currently quicker to travel between London and Paris than between Liverpool and Hull.

"However, if this 'High Speed Three' is meant to follow High Speed Two, given that High Speed Two is only due to be completed in 2030, 'High Speed Three' is a very long way off in the future.

"If the Government wants to help Hull and the North now, they could do so by finalising the privately-financed rail electrification plans to Hull in time for 2017 City of Culture, especially with the A63 upgrade not happening in time for it. They could also halt, once and for all, the appalling recent proposal to move Transpennine trains South at the expense of the North.

"Worse still, although it's right to want to improve transport links East to West across the North - and not just North-South links - the Chancellor is only proposing upgrading the line between Manchester and Leeds excluding Hull yet again, as we saw when they planned to end rail electrification at Selby.

"The original Northern Way idea proposed by Labour was to improve rail links all the way across the North between the gateway port cities of Liverpool and Hull not just to Leeds.

"Many years before 'High Speed Three' could happen, the Coalition will have spent £1bn on two more tube stops in central London, built a new Thames Garden Bridge, completed the huge Crossrail scheme and the Chancellor even proposed rebuilding London's Euston Station.

"Despite their rhetoric, this Coalition Government has done little to 'rebalance the economy' between North and South. They axed the Regional Development Agencies, ignored Lord Heseltine's proposals for devolving regeneration funding to the regions and have given local authorities such as Hull the deepest cuts in the country.

"All our recent good news over City of Culture and Siemens was achieved by our local efforts made in Hull, not in Whitehall."