And finally… On the right track?
The government is promising to transform rail travel across the North with a £1bn investment in 29 new battery-electric trains – although passengers may have a while to wait for their rail revolution.
The new TransPennine Express fleet will be built at Alstom’s historic Litchurch Lane Works in Derby from 2028, with the first trains expected to enter service in winter 2034.
The Adessia Stream trains will be the first battery-electric trains designed for long-distance main line services in the UK, operating on non-electrified sections of the network.
They are expected to cut journey times by a (perhaps underwhelming) 10 minutes between Manchester and Leeds and up to 14 minutes between Manchester and York, while also providing quieter and smoother journeys, improved accessibility, more luggage space, and onboard Wi-Fi that may actually work.
The trains will also serve some of Yorkshire’s towns that have historically been underserved by the rail network, linking Liverpool Lime Street with Scarborough, Manchester Airport with Saltburn, and Manchester Piccadilly with Hull.
The investment is being positioned as a boost for UK manufacturing, with more than 350 highly skilled jobs and 40 apprenticeships and 40 student opportunities supported at Alstom’s Derby site.
A further 6,000 jobs are expected to be supported across the UK supply chain, with the government estimating the investment will generate around £360m for the wider economy.
The trains will be bought by rolling stock company Rock Rail and leased to TransPennine Express.
The government says the new fleet will help support the Transpennine Route Upgrade’s ambition to increase capacity by 30%, with thousands of additional seats a day expected across the Pennines by the early to mid-2030s.
Passengers across the North know only too well that the region’s railways need fixing, making the investment a welcome start – but is 29 trains really enough to put things right?
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “I’ve lost count of the number of times someone has stopped me to tell me about the train that never came. And when that happens, it means missed shifts, missed appointments, and missed opportunities.
“Today that starts to change. These 29 new trains will bring faster, more reliable journeys to the North, and thousands of British jobs for the next generation.
“It’s exactly what Great British Railways is all about – taking back control of the basics and getting Britain believing again.”
Perhaps this editor has become too cynical about rail travel in the North and should be more hopeful.
