6 rail issues Labour didn't address in this year's Budget

The first Labour Budget for 14 years produced very little in terms of rail references. Most of what was announced in parliament on Wednesday is already under way. 

The Transpennine Route Upgrade is an ongoing project, as is East West Rail. The confirmation of taking HS2 to Euston was widely expected while increasing rail fares next March – detailed in the full document – was not mentioned by the Chancellor. 

Following yesterday’s announcement, here are six things Rachel Reeves has not told us. 

HS2 tunnelling  

Reeves said the government will provide funding for tunnelling to Euston.

There’s no mention of when work will start or how much Labour believes the tunnelling will now cost, though the Chancellor promised to 'deliver the Transport Secretary's commitments to control costs and being the project back on track'.

HS2 at Euston 

HS2 trains will be going to Euston, but all key details about the station itself are still unknown.  

The government has not said how many platforms it will have. The original plan was for 11 until Rishi Sunak’s administration cut that back to six last year. 

Reeves’ speech said HS2 running into Euston will ‘catalyse private investment into the station and local area’, with the full document adding: “Investment at Euston will be further supported through the appointment of Bek Seeley to chair the Euston Housing Delivery Group, to drive forward an ambitious housing and regeneration initiative for the local area.” The Budget stops short of saying the government will pay for the station, or who will be responsible for operating it. 

HS2 Phase 2a 

Earlier this month the mayors of Greater Manchester and Birmingham, Andy Burnham and Richard Parker put forward a proposal for an alternative scheme – linking to the proposed east-west Northern Powerhouse Rail - using the same alignment as HS2’s northern leg, scrapped by Sunak last year, but with a smaller loading gauge and lower speeds.  

Also in October, Rail Minister Lord Hendy indicated that land purchased between Lichfield, Staffordshire and High Legh in Cheshire on the now-scrapped route would be ringfenced until the government had considered alternative options.  

The Budget has made no mention of HS2 north of Birmingham. 

Northern Powerhouse 

Labour’s commitments to Northern Powerhouse were vague in yesterday’s announcement and all based on the Transpennine Route Upgrade. There were three references in The Budget. Here they are in full: 

“The Transpennine Route Upgrade between York and Manchester, via Leeds and Huddersfield, will transform northern rail connectivity and lay the ground for Northern Powerhouse Rail.” 

“Securing delivery of the Transpennine Route Upgrade and maintaining momentum on Northern Powerhouse Rail by progressing planning and design works to support future delivery. The government will set out further details in due course.” 

“Delivering the Transpennine Route Upgrade between York and Manchester, via Leeds and Huddersfield, and maintaining momentum on Northern Powerhouse Rail by progressing further planning and design works to support future delivery.” 

Network North 

When the last Conservative government cancelled HS2 Phase 2, it published its now infamous ‘Network North’ document. This included the line: “We will reconnect communities by reopening closed Beeching lines.”  

Labour has already said the Restoring Your Railway programme is being cancelled, ending any discussion of Beeching reversals made in ‘Network North’, however the document also said: “This includes £3 billion for a plan to connect the great Northern cities: not just Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle, but Sheffield, Hull and Bradford, where we will invest £2 billion to increase capacity, halve journey times and build a brand new station. In addition to that £19.8 billion, we will invest a further £12 billion to better connect Manchester to Liverpool.” 

Another line in ‘Network North’ was: “We’ll provide an unprecedented £1 billion investment to fund the electrification of the North Wales Main Line.” 

Labour has not addressed any of these proposals.

London Gateway 

In mid-October a £1bn investment to expand London Gateway was announced. This included a second rail terminal. 

Speaking at the time, Rail Freight Group’s director general Maggie Simpson said the government “needed to commit to completing the electrification of the route to this port, enabling freight operators to use electric locomotives and fully decarbonising the routes to this vital and growing port”. 

Electrifying the route, or any other route, was not mentioned on Wednesday.