The £17bn new rail line 'not like HS2' that may benefit one major city over another
Leaders have vowed that this major rail project 'is going to happen' and is 'history' being made - but some locals think they're being short changed.
Northern Powerhouse Line, which will connect the UK's major northern and Midlands cities, is "not going to be like HS2", according to Liverpool metro mayor Steve Rotherham, it "is going to happen".
However, despite the annoucement in March that the government had confirmed the route for the £17 billion leg between Liverpool and Manchester, Liverpudlians are up in arms claiming that the project will disproportionately benefit Mancunians.
According to the Liverpool Post, over the last two weeks residents in Merseyside have been making a raft of different complaints online. Some of bemoaned the fact that the new connectivity will see journey times to Manchester Airport markedly reduced, however Liverpool's air terminals still don't have a rail link.
Others have argued that the new connectivity will bring infrastructure development to Manchester but Liverpool's existing rail network is only being upgraded.
One commenter on the property platform Place North West, saying: "So, now we know. Steve Rotheram has abandoned all pretence of bringing Liverpool closer to Manchester and Yorkshire, and has instead caved in to the £17,000,000,000, taxpayer funded, ‘South Manchester Urban Regeneration Project’".
Another wrote: "I’d be asking questions to Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham as to how Liverpool does not figure in any of this but has been shafted."
However, a former Rotherham adviser told the Liverpool Post that that inter-city rivalry is to blame for naysayers, rather than any substantive rational complaints. They said: "We’re just being put off by the word Manchester, it’s parochial."
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The link itself will see journey times between Manchester Airport and Liverpool cut to 25 minutes - presently it is approximately an hour.
Following the March annoucement, Ken O’Toole, CEO of Manchester Airports Group (MAG), said: "This is an important step forward on the journey towards unlocking the full potential of the Northern economy.
"Better connecting the towns and cities of the North with each other, and with the world, through Manchester Airport rightly sits at the heart of plans to deliver transformational growth across the region.
"Delivering Northern Powerhouse Rail will help maximise the contribution Manchester Airport makes to rebalancing the UK, helping attract up to 50 new long haul routes and increasing its annual economic impact to £16.2 billion by 2050.
"We look forward to working with government and regional partners to drive this vision forward."
