News: Rotherham Gateway Station included in Northern Powerhouse Rail announcement
There's strong signals of support for efforts to return mainline train services to Rotherham as part of a £300m regeneration project as the Rotherham Gateway Station is included in the firtst phase of the Northern Powerhouse Rail vision announced by the Government.
With more reliable and more frequent trains across major cities in the North, the NPR plans will drastically improve how people travel for work, education and leisure with the governmnet adding that growing the productivity of the five largest cities to the national average would add up to £40 billion a year to UK economy.
The first phase will prioritise upgrades and electrification between Leeds-Sheffield, Leeds-York and Leeds-Bradford to transform commutes, set to be delivered in the 2030s. In the North East, work on the business case for the Leamside Line will be taken forward, as part of ensuring NPR services reach Newcastle.
With £1.1 billion to progress planning and development work as soon as possible, plans include improvements for Leeds, Sheffield and York stations – supporting significant regeneration plans to unlock tens of thousands of homes and jobs. The plan also includes pressing forward with work on Bradford Station, putting a young, dynamic city of 500,000 people at the heart of the northern network.
Over £11m of local transport funding has now been agreed for South Yorkshire to develop a new Rotherham Gateway station at Parkgate, which the announcement says "spells an end to slow journeys to Leeds and support the ambitious regeneration plans for the town."
When the previous government published its Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands (IRP) in 2021, it scaled back ambitions for NPR with Rotherham and Sheffield missed off the new network.
The new NPR plan has been set and overall funding cap of £45 billion.
South Yorkshire's mayor has previously expressed that improving the Sheffield-Leeds connection through NPR supports the Rotherham Gateway Station proposal. The pausing of plans for the electrification of the Midland Main Line to Sheffield last year means that it remains the largest city in the UK without electrified railways.
Advertisement
Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said: “For too long, the North has been held back by underinvestment and years of dither and delay – but that ends now.
“This new era of investment will not just speed up journeys, it will mean new jobs and homes for people, making a real difference to millions of lives.
“The exciting improved stations across Leeds, Sheffield, York and Bradford will reflect the prestigious place rail holds in the northern economy, and regenerate vibrant, bustling districts in these cities.
“The first phase of Northern Powerhouse Rail will prioritise upgrading rail connections across Yorkshire and progressing work on the business case for the Leamside Line as part of ensuring services reach Newcastle, improving opportunities across the region.”
A future phase for NPR will focus on improved connections between Manchester and Sheffield given that it can take up to one hour 23 minutes to get to Manchester airport from Leeds or Sheffield, even though they are around 40 miles away.
This landmark upgrade to rail travel is one of the central building blocks of a plan for the North – to be published in the Spring. This will include plans for a northern growth corridor from Liverpool to York via West and South Yorkshire and bespoke plans for the North-East to make the most of opportunities in clean energy, AI, innovation and city centre regeneration.
Not only will plans improve travel connections, the redevelopment of stations and surrounding neighbourhoods will bring in new homes, jobs and local businesses. Rotherham's station masterplan shows how a transport improvement scheme can act as the catalyst for a much wider regeneration project supporting thousands of new jobs.
The idea is to use a mainline station integrated with a tram-train stop to further develop the advanced manufacturing cluster within South Yorkshire as part of the UK’s first Investment Zone. Future phases involve the creation of an innovation campus of around 180,000 sq ft of commercial space, furhter industrial zones and introudcing new housing in the area.
Rotherham Gateway website
Images: RMBC
With more reliable and more frequent trains across major cities in the North, the NPR plans will drastically improve how people travel for work, education and leisure with the governmnet adding that growing the productivity of the five largest cities to the national average would add up to £40 billion a year to UK economy.
The first phase will prioritise upgrades and electrification between Leeds-Sheffield, Leeds-York and Leeds-Bradford to transform commutes, set to be delivered in the 2030s. In the North East, work on the business case for the Leamside Line will be taken forward, as part of ensuring NPR services reach Newcastle.
With £1.1 billion to progress planning and development work as soon as possible, plans include improvements for Leeds, Sheffield and York stations – supporting significant regeneration plans to unlock tens of thousands of homes and jobs. The plan also includes pressing forward with work on Bradford Station, putting a young, dynamic city of 500,000 people at the heart of the northern network.
Over £11m of local transport funding has now been agreed for South Yorkshire to develop a new Rotherham Gateway station at Parkgate, which the announcement says "spells an end to slow journeys to Leeds and support the ambitious regeneration plans for the town."
When the previous government published its Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands (IRP) in 2021, it scaled back ambitions for NPR with Rotherham and Sheffield missed off the new network.
The new NPR plan has been set and overall funding cap of £45 billion.
South Yorkshire's mayor has previously expressed that improving the Sheffield-Leeds connection through NPR supports the Rotherham Gateway Station proposal. The pausing of plans for the electrification of the Midland Main Line to Sheffield last year means that it remains the largest city in the UK without electrified railways.
Advertisement
Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said: “For too long, the North has been held back by underinvestment and years of dither and delay – but that ends now.
“This new era of investment will not just speed up journeys, it will mean new jobs and homes for people, making a real difference to millions of lives.
“The exciting improved stations across Leeds, Sheffield, York and Bradford will reflect the prestigious place rail holds in the northern economy, and regenerate vibrant, bustling districts in these cities.
“The first phase of Northern Powerhouse Rail will prioritise upgrading rail connections across Yorkshire and progressing work on the business case for the Leamside Line as part of ensuring services reach Newcastle, improving opportunities across the region.”
A future phase for NPR will focus on improved connections between Manchester and Sheffield given that it can take up to one hour 23 minutes to get to Manchester airport from Leeds or Sheffield, even though they are around 40 miles away.
This landmark upgrade to rail travel is one of the central building blocks of a plan for the North – to be published in the Spring. This will include plans for a northern growth corridor from Liverpool to York via West and South Yorkshire and bespoke plans for the North-East to make the most of opportunities in clean energy, AI, innovation and city centre regeneration.
Not only will plans improve travel connections, the redevelopment of stations and surrounding neighbourhoods will bring in new homes, jobs and local businesses. Rotherham's station masterplan shows how a transport improvement scheme can act as the catalyst for a much wider regeneration project supporting thousands of new jobs.
The idea is to use a mainline station integrated with a tram-train stop to further develop the advanced manufacturing cluster within South Yorkshire as part of the UK’s first Investment Zone. Future phases involve the creation of an innovation campus of around 180,000 sq ft of commercial space, furhter industrial zones and introudcing new housing in the area.
Rotherham Gateway website
Images: RMBC
1 comments:
Waste of money, too far from the town centre and in an area of busy traffic. Too late!
Post a Comment