Dan Jarvis, Mayor of the Sheffield City Region, said: “For too long, passengers in the North have been let down by delayed, overcrowded, and expensive rail services. Although I welcome today’s announcement by the Government, much more will need to be done to address the challenges we face with our railways in the North.
“The overriding priority must be to ensure passengers have reliable rail services. To see real change and restore passenger confidence, in what has been an unacceptably poor transport system, significant investment is needed in infrastructure across the North – where spending is still a fraction of that in London and the South-East.
“That’s why I’m calling for Government to commit to a sustained programme of investment in our public transport system. As a priority, they need to work closely with Northern leaders on the operator of last resort (OLR) arrangement; focus investment on shovel-ready schemes that ensure passengers see the benefits sooner rather than later.”