Sheffield MP Clive Betts slams government for ditching transport improvements 'one by one'

And secretary of state for transport, Grant Shapps, won’t commit to that.

WHICH TRANSPORT IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BEEN ABANDONED?

In an exchange in the House of Commons, Clive Betts drew attention to:

- The scrapping of the electrification of the Midland Mainline in 2017;

- Plans for a road tunnel between Sheffield and Manchester to divert traffic off the snake pass given a favourable review in 2016 and then dropped;

- A new high speed rail line between Sheffield and Manchester replaced with an upgrade to the Hope Valley line with trains ‘never going above 60mph’.

He then challenged the secretary of state to continue with the only scheme left, the eastern leg of HS2.

In response, Grant Shapps refused to commit, saying only that improvements would be in the forthcoming Integrated Rail Plan – which was expected last year.

Mr Betts said “Five years ago we were being promised a whole range of exciting new transport schemes to help our economic development. One by one they have been scrapped and it seems HS2 is going to follow. Instead of levelling up it seems once again Sheffield and South Yorkshire are being forgotten about and left behind.”

The Integrated Rail Plan will set out the Department for Transport's vision for rail across the country. It was expected to be published last year but has suffered months of delays. It is also seen as a key pillar of the levelling-up agenda.

The £106bn HS2 network is due to be built in stages, with the final leg to Leeds completed by 2040.

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