19 October 2022
The Railway Industry Association (RIA) North has published a new plan for how the North’s railway should be electrified, to improve journeys and help decarbonise rail freight and passenger lines across the region.
RIA North’s plan, entitled 'Greener, Faster, Better', sets out a long-term vision for which passenger and freight routes should be prioritised for electrification, and other low carbon technologies such as battery and hydrogen, to remove polluting diesel trains from the network. Electric railways are one of the greenest modes of transport and enable trains to run faster and more services to operate.
Looking ahead to 2050, the report identifies strategic freight lines, intercity corridors and suburban networks across the North which should be top of the list to be electrified. According to RIA North, the Midland Main Line (MML) and TransPennine Route Upgrade (TRU) offer the greatest decarbonisation benefits – both of which the Government announced it will electrify as part of the Integrated Rail Plan.
It also highlights a range of connections between major towns and cities in the North as ‘first priority’, including:
- Sheffield to Doncaster/Moorthorpe
- Manchester Victoria to Leeds via Bradford Interchange
- Northallerton to Saltburn via Middlesborough
- Manchester to Sheffield (Hope Valley)
- Leeds to Hull
The Submission