NORTHERN RAILWAYS MODERNISATION CANCELLED

PATRICK MCLOUGHLIN

Cancellation? Rather a betrayal of the people in the North but the HS2 estimated cost so far £60billion (eventually £100billion or more) has not been cancelled. A very luxurious train with tickets only affordable by the rich.

For the short time, from the promise to the cancellation, just before and after the General Election, it looks as nothing but a vote catching with no serious intention to make the plan reality.

Government announced the £38.5billion of modernising Northern Railways is not possible under the present cuts in the budget.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin stated the rising costs and missing targets make the £38.5billion plan impossible to follow through.  

Of course, the Tories will have somebody or something to blame. Note: it is not Labour this time.

Would it be wrong to suspect the £38.5billions or a great part of it is necessary to get David Cameron’s super train the H2S into operation?

The estimated costs for H2S was at first, for £35billion and then it rose to £50billion but beyond any doubt it will be near £100billion if not over.

Last year the plan was labelled as the “largest modernisation of the railway since Victorian times.” It would update Networks Rail contracting 2,500 stations, tracks, tunnels and level crossing which would have given work to a large number of unemployed people.

The main effected routes are:

-          Trans-Pennine route from York to Manchester

-           Midland main line York to Sheffield

-           But the Great Western main line work will go ahead – as of this moment

It is somehow suspicious why those two lines were axed.  Has it something to do with the H2S which will run from London to Manchester and Birmingham. It will never be for the general public because it bound to be too expensive? The H2S looks like, again, only for the Elite.

It was one week after the Tories won the General Election when Chancellor George Osborne went to Manchester to give a speech. He announced “a revolt is the way will govern England”. He “promised” to close the economical gap between the North and South. 

To start with there was a record involvement in Northern Transport project.

It was nothing new because the General Election manifesto has already gave a “promise” to electric the main north routes as a part of a £13billion plan to modernise the region transport.

Keith Wakefield who lost his seat as Labour leader of  Leeds city council and is part of the newly set-up body from last year to develop pan-northern connection to forge a single northern English economy area.

Was the set-up already to win voters? It would have been too cruel for the people struggling to feed their children and heat their homes, many do almost without it

Keith Wakefield said: “As far as we knew, it was all going ahead.”

Then on Thursday, he received calls about an announcement from the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, for a halt on key electric project on the Trans-Pennine route between Manchester and Leeds as well as the Midland mainline from London to Sheffield.

It shows again that you can not trust the Tories!

They were making people in the North belief, who suffered terrible under Margaret Thatcher closing mines, steelworks and shipyard over night, it will getting better  Now to go there and speak of modernising their railways and to create a “Northern Powerhouse” is beyond any acceptance of respect to the people and moral. Even in politics there should be some limit of painting a mirage and then destroy it the moment they won the election.

During all this time, minister for the northern powerhouse, James Wharton, was avoiding comments about it and referred them to the Department for Transport.

He kept his constituency at Stockton South. Was it a reward for playing the part?

The northern people must be feeling really betrayed after their hopes went up for a better life because they still suffered from Thatcher and on top of it came the cut backs from the previous Tory-led government.  Now there will be further cut due to the government £12billion savings on Welfare. 

It will not make any difference to the National debts or deficit like the last time. On the contrary, the National debts went up by £500billion despite of austerity which now turned out to be a con and so will this Welfare saving be. 

But it is all Labour's fault. Tories will never get off this hobby-horse.
  

How those people will cope is unimaginable since starvation, over 1,000 food banks and they have problems coping with the demand and suicides continuously in the headlines.  

Yet, David Cameron, Chancellor George Osborne and Ian Duncan Smith, head of Dept of Work and Pension all deny the situation exists.

It is one way of avoiding facing the music but putting the head in the sand will not last forever, especially now when the new cuts will have an impact on top of the others.

Whether they deny it or not it is another big betrayal of the people in the North