04.09.18
Corbyn pledges £10bn for Northern Crossrail project
Jeremy Corbyn has pledged that Labour would invest at least £10bn to deliver Crossrail for the north in his flagship announcement for the party’s ‘National Rail Campaign Day.’
Corbyn travelled the proposed route with commuters yesterday as part of the Labour pledge to boost rail services for the north of England that has been hampered by a series of strikes, cancellations, and chaotic disruption over recent months.
The Labour leader said that the rail chaos affecting the north of England “shows their utter disregard” for people living in the towns and cities in the north.
“For decades, northern communities have received only a fraction of the transport investment that is spent in London and the south east. Labour will put this right by building Crossrail for the north, connecting the great cities of the north of England to unlock huge untapped potential,” he added.
“People’s lives are being badly affected by this chaos and the government needs to recognise that rail privatisation has failed. Labour will end this rip-off and bring our railways into public ownership so they are run in the interests of passengers, not private profit.”
The call comes after yet another setback for Crossrail in the UK: on Friday, it was announced that the Crossrail will not open this year as the launch was delayed by at least nine months.
Labour say HS3 and Crossrail for the north will help deliver 850,000 new jobs by 2050; and unlock £97bn of economic potential in the north. The proposed track for Corbyn will travel from Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester, Leeds, and through to Hull.
Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said: “The government’s blind obsession with privatisation is putting the future of the railway at risk. Labour will do what’s best for passengers and taxpayers by taking the railway back into public ownership in order to improve services and cap fares.”
Rail in the north will be the centre of discussion at TransCityRail next month. Click here to find out more.
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Image credit: Peter Byrne, PA Images