Lord Blunkett and Yorkshire mayors launch Yorkshire's Plan for Rail

The Star, Sheffield

South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard, Sheffield peer Lord Blunkett and Sheffield City Council leader Coun Tom Hunt speak to Local Democracy Reporter Julia Armstrong about the launch of Yorkshire's Plan for Rail, calling for a £14bn government investment in the region

Transcript

00:00Oliver Copper, Mayor of South Yorkshire.

00:02Today, we're told it's a historic day today.

00:05Do you want to give us a little bit of an idea why?

00:07Yeah, well, today we're launching our Yorkshire Plan for Rail,

00:10brought together by David Blunkett, Sheffield's own David Blunkett,

00:14and it is laying out what we need in terms of rail connectivity

00:16and transport connectivity across the whole of Yorkshire.

00:20That's a £14 billion plan that David has brought together,

00:23but it has a, just over 10 years, £20 billion impact on our economy.

00:26And we're now saying to the government, in advance of the spending review

00:30and the infrastructure strategy, we need that investment into our region

00:34to unlock the potential of our places, absolutely,

00:36to make sure that people can go where they need to go,

00:39when they need to be there, and allow our places to thrive.

00:43How hopeful are you? How realistic is it going to be?

00:46Well, look, we've had really positive discussions with the government.

00:48We don't underestimate the challenges the government are under.

00:51There's 14 years of lost growth to catch up on.

00:54But ultimately, we know in Yorkshire we have the potential to grow,

00:58to thrive, to give opportunity to everyone right across this whole place.

01:02And the government I know recognise that potential.

01:04So we've had positive conversations.

01:06There are always going to be challenges.

01:07These are difficult things to get done.

01:09But I think we have a huge hope that we are going to be able to get

01:13at least some of this straight away over the line

01:14and then a plan for the rest of it over time.

01:18People in Sheffield and South Yorkshire feel like

01:20their rail and public transport system is pretty well broken.

01:24Can you give them any hope at all?

01:26How realistic is it that this plan is going to be taken up by the government?

01:30The whole purpose of having a properly thought through, coordinated report,

01:35which draws together all the mayors in Yorkshire,

01:38not competing with each other but collaborating,

01:41getting a programme that's deliverable on time,

01:44the investment we need from government, can be transformational.

01:47And as I found this morning coming from Sheffield to Leeds,

01:50on the train, 26 minutes late on a 35-mile journey,

01:55people crying because of the overcrowding and the difficulty they faced.

01:59This is an imperative.

02:01We've got to do it.

02:02And it's going to be good for Sheffield and South Yorkshire.

02:04And it's going to be good for the east of the Pennines generally.

02:08Thank you very much.

02:08So this is Tom Hunt, leader of Sheffield Council.

02:12Tom, we've heard a lot of hope today about fixing public transport in Sheffield

02:17and South Yorkshire.

02:19How optimistic are you about it?

02:22I'm hugely optimistic.

02:23I think when the three mayors come together with city leaders and Lord Blunkett,

02:28it gives us a louder voice to be able to make our case to government.

02:32We've already had a very positive meeting with the Transport Secretary,

02:36Heidi Alexander, and the Rail Minister, Peter Hendy, last month in York,

02:41where we shared the draft report.

02:43And what the minister was saying is that what you've got here

02:46is a credible and an affordable package of potential investments.

02:52Clearly, there is decisions taking place in Westminster and Whitehall right now

02:56about the spending review.

02:57And this report gives us the best possible chance to put Sheffield and Yorkshire's case forward.

03:03We know that we need more city-to-city connectivity.

03:08Sheffield and Leeds are the two powerhouses of our region.

03:12But currently, we don't have enough fast trains between them.

03:15The services are not fast enough, they're not frequent enough,

03:18and they're not reliable enough.

03:20We know that with investment, we can improve that.

03:23We also want to see investment in Sheffield's tram network,

03:26because with more tram-train services,

03:29we can take some of the pressure off some of the heavy rail lines.

03:33So the two things for us that are critical are that city-to-sea connectivity,

03:37more capacity at Midland Station,

03:39and then tram-train services being expanded as well.

03:42Fantastic.

03:43Fantastic.

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