11 April 2018
A new organisation representing the Northern rail industry has launched today (Wednesday 11 April). The new Northern Rail Industry Leaders (NRIL) will aim to deliver the skills, innovation and talent required for the North’s ambitious transport infrastructure plans, as set out in Transport for the North’s (TfN) Strategic Transport Plan. The announcement follows the first meeting of TfN with Rail Minister Jo Johnson after it became the UK’s first statutory sub-national transport body.
One of the first initiatives for the new organisation, which represents companies like Alstom, Amey, Siemens, Wabtec Faiveley and Virgin Trains, will be a series of workshops across the region to collate rail suppliers’ views on TfN’s rail infrastructure plans. These workshops will provide the basis of a report to be published later this year to support TfN’s Strategic Outline Business Case for Northern Powerhouse Rail.
The Launch event at the University of Huddersfield saw speeches from NRIL Chairs Justin Moss and Mike Hulme and from TfN Northern Powerhouse Rail Director Tim Wood followed by the first policy workshop with over 30 organisations in attendance.
Tim Wood, Transport for the North’s Northern Powerhouse Rail Director said: “It is great to see rail leaders from the industry supply chain coming together. Through projects like Northern Powerhouse Rail we are able to bring economic regions closer together and transform the way that people in the North live and work. Northern Powerhouse Rail has the potential to increase the population within an hour’s reach of four major Northern cities from less than 10,000 today to 1.3 million, and support an increase of £100 billion Gross Value Added to the economy by 2050.”
He added: “Consultation on Transport for the North’s draft Strategic Transport Plan is open until the 17 April. The Plan and the opportunity to feedback on this can be found on the Transport for the North website.”
Mike Hulme, Chair of NRIL’s West Group said: “I am delighted to launch Northern Rail Industry Leaders, which will help to represent the views of the rail supply chain to decision makers and influencers across the region. We have fantastic companies in the North of England that power our rail network, and whose expertise should be heard when transport investment decisions are made. We hope NRIL provides the vehicle by which these voices can influence policy decisions.”
Justin Moss, Chair of NRIL’s East Group said: “Over the past few years we have seen the devolution of transport powers to UK regions – through bodies like Transport for the North and the devolution of Network Rail into route businesses. This provides an opportunity for the supply chain to take an active role in regional transport policy, to ensure it is delivering investment, jobs and skills in local communities.”
David Clarke, Technical Director of the Railway Industry Association (RIA) said: “According to research published by the Railway Industry Association, rail in the Northern Powerhouse region contributes more than £7 billion in economic growth and employs around 132,000 people. Our rail network should not just be seen as a mode of transport, but also as an economic driver that can spread wealth across the UK. We hope our work supporting NRIL will help do just that in the North”.