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Northern rail integration 'needed to rival south-east'

18/01/2008

Integrating transport links between Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield would be good news for the north of England, it has been claimed.

The chief executive of Creative Sheffield said this would provide the UK with a second major economic powerhouse to compare with the south-east.

Ian Bromley told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that it would make economic sense for the there city-regions to become more closely connected as they have the collective population the size of London.

He said: "When you look at the economic geography of Great Britain, you have one enormous economy in the south-east.

"A lot of that has to do with sheer size; none of the cities in the UK on their own, even cities the size of Manchester and Glasgow are really big enough to be global contenders."

He said it is "ridiculous" that it takes up to an hour to travel between the three cities by rail, while it is only 20 minutes between Reading and London.

Last month, the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority said that Manchester deserves a transport infrastructure that reflects its national importance.

The authority has developed a Regional Centre Transport Strategy that includes a number of proposals to establish a transport system to rival London.