The £45 billion Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project is on shaky ground, with MPs warning it risks repeating the costly mistakes made on HS2. A damning report from the Public Accounts Committee highlights concerns that the Department for Transport (DfT) has yet to learn from its past blunders in managing major rail projects.
Despite the Government's commitment and funding announcement for NPR in January, the committee expressed a lack of confidence that the DfT can deliver the project within its allocated budget. The report warns there are "clear risks that the full programme and benefits cannot be delivered" within the £45bn funding cap, echoing concerns first raised in 2014 when high-level plans for a transformed northern railway were first mooted.
Key aspects of NPR, including precise journey times, overall capacity, and exact routes of new lines, remain undefined. The committee questioned how HM Treasury arrived at the £45bn funding cap without the entire project being designed, scoped, and fully costed. This uncertainty is compounded by the involvement of HS2 Ltd in producing some of the cost estimates, a detail the committee found troubling given the DfT's poor track record in managing and estimating rail infrastructure costs.
The final phase of NPR, connecting Liverpool and Manchester, could be jeopardised if the DfT struggles to scope the programme within the funding limit or if initial cost estimates prove unrealistic. Clive Betts, Deputy Chair of the PAC, underscored the public's desire for improved transport infrastructure in the North but stressed that "the spectre of HS2 hangs over Northern Powerhouse Rail," citing "troubling echoes of the same mistakes in loose governance" made early on in HS2.
One unresolved question pertains to the proposed underground station at Manchester Piccadilly, which could add an estimated £5 billion to the project's cost compared to a surface-level station. Mr Betts called for clarity from both the Treasury and the DfT regarding the £45bn cap, stating, "Given the fact that this project has no clear plan or budget, it is impossible to say how much it will ultimately cost."