Next month, the North-East’s political leaders will put the case for greater powers to the Government. In the first of The Northern Echo’s Power to the North series, Stuart Arnold asks what devolution would mean for transport.

ROADS

Any new combined authority handed greater powers would be expected to work jointly with Government and the Highways Agency to identify future road investment projects.

These would be agreed at each Spending Review. What is unclear is whether devolution would lead to any extra money on the table over and above what is already provided from Government.

The North-East Local Economic Partnership (LEP) in its Strategic Economic Plan, published last year, called for ongoing investment in a “reliable” road network and also pressed the case for dualling three lanes along the length of the A1 Western Bypass – one of the most congested dual carriageways in the country by the end of 2023.

Further south, work is already scheduled in to improve bottleneck junctions on the A19 in County Durham and Teesside, although there has been criticism that such projects do not go far enough.

Meanwhile, ‘pinch points’ for traffic remain on both the A1, A19 and radial routes in and out of the likes of Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham and Middlesbrough.

Both the North-East Combined Authority and its embryonic counterpart in the Tees Valley agree that tackling such congestion going forward is crucial if the region’s economy is to grow and achieve its full potential.

BUSES

Demand for bus travel remains strong in the region’s urban centres and most bigger towns and cities are well served, although gaps in provision remain particularly in rural areas.

In the Tees Valley an ongoing improvement scheme for the bus network, delivered by local councils, has proved a relative success with funding from Government.

A North-East Combined Authority would seek to improve bus access to key employment destinations from communities suffering from deprivation and worklessness and hope to establish more multi-operator ticketing enabling passengers to travel seamlessly between services.

The North-East could also follow the example of Manchester – which has been granted extra powers – in considering moving to a franchised system of bus delivery, although fresh legislation would be needed for this.

RAIL

The Northern Echo: PACER: A Pacer train at Darlington's Bank Top railway station. Picture: ANDY LAMB

Some have predicted that new combined authorities in the North-East could be handed ownership of railway stations. They may also get more influence over timetabling of train services.

What will be a priority, regardless of any new powers, is freeing up capacity on the congested East Coast Mainline in order to support continued economic growth.

One way of doing this could be to reinstate the mothballed Leamside line, which runs from Ferryhill to the outskirts of Sunderland.

The North-East LEP says there are strong arguments for reinstating Leamside, but any new devolved authority would have to make out a strong business case for funding given the potential costs involved.

The Government’s HS2 high speed rail network, despite only running as far as Leeds, will be a major feature of the rail landscape and promises to speed up rail journeys between London and the North.

It could mean for example that journey times between Birmingham and Durham City are cut to less than two hours.

The project could also lead to an upgrade of Darlington’s Bank Top station, one of Tees Valley Unlimited’s priorities in terms of improving connectivity in and out of the region.

A study looking at remodelling the station has already taken place.

New franchise agreements for the next Northern and TransPennine rail links are also in the pipeline and it is hoped there will be specific improvements to regional rail services within these.

Meanwhile, the Government has pledged to scrap the hated Pacer trains used by Northern, although when this will actually happen is anyone’s guess.

PORTS

The Northern Echo: TRADE BOOST: PD Ports says it is working with P&O Ferries on a new service from Teesport, pictured, to Zeebrugge

A number of new markets have developed over recent years for the region’s ports, including the import and export of cars, raw materials used in low carbon industries such as bio-mass and supply chain goods for the renewable energy industry.

In the south, a Tees Valley combined authority would be expected to push for greater investment in the Teesport and Hartlepool docks – enabling the widening and deepening of their respective entrances.

In the north, further expansion of the Port of Tyne could be on the cards along with developments utilising existing dockside land for logistics.

AIR

The Northern Echo: FORTUNES: Durham Tees Valley Airport, the proposed location of a new £10m business park

Could devolution pit North-East’s two airports – Durham Tees Valley and Newcastle International – against each other as some have speculated?

It’s plain that a combined authority in the south would attempt to boost the fortunes of Durham Tees Valley by securing further investment, but it seems unlikely that would affect the fortunes of the bigger airport.

Last month £10m plans were unveiled to create a business park at Durham Tees Valley which has continued to diversify away from passenger flights following the ending of charter holiday services two years ago.

Infrastructure remains an issue with better road and rail links on the wish list for local politicians.

Meanwhile, the North-East LEP has pledged support for stronger links from Newcastle International Airport to the major global air hubs, plus continuing direct flights to more British cities.