Northern authorities “united in our aims”

Rail North’s vision is about the whole of the North, its Director David Hoggarth said in Leeds on November 5.

“It’s about the whole of the North,” he said. “It’s about passengers, businesses, freight as well, and fundamentally supporting economic growth. That’s what we’re about.

“From last week I worked at one authority - West Yorkshire. This week I’m now working across 29 authorities across the whole of the North. That’s how you get round and meet them all. I work in the North, with Stoke-on-Trent, with every political colour as well. And on what we’ve done so far, we’ve been absolutely united in our aims, which is really good across the North.

“HS2 is not just about Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, etc, it needs to be about the whole of the North.”

• For more on the National Rail Conference, read RAIL 788, published on November 25.