Spatial imaginaries and the politics of inter-regional transport infrastructure development in Northern England

Figures & data

Figure 1. The three Northern England ITL1 regions and core cities.

Table 1. Spatial hierarchy of rail infrastructure planning in Northern England.

National	HM Treasury Department for Transport (DfT) Network Rail HS2 (High Speed 2) Ltd National Infrastructure Commission
Cross-regional	Transport for the North (TfN)
Regional	‘Metro’ Mayors Combined Authorities Integrated Transport Authorities Local Enterprise Partnerships (abolished in 2024 – powers integrated into combined authorities)
Local	Local authorities

Table 2. Interviewees and documents analysed by organization type and spatial level.

Organization/Organization type	Spatial level	Number of interviewees	Number of documents analysed
Department for Transport (DfT)	National	6	9
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)	National		1
HM Government/Treasury			2
Network Rail	National	1
National Infrastructure Commission	National		1
HS2 Ltd	National		1
Transport for the North (TfN)	Cross-regional	4	12
Regional development organization	Cross-regional/Regional	3	1
Combined authorities	Regional	5	9
Local authorities	Local	5	9
Planning consultancies	Sub-national/regional	2
Academia	n/a	1
Voluntary sector	Sub-national/regional/local	5

Figure 2. Initial concept for NPR, focusing on reduced travel times between Northern England’s largest cities (HM Government and TfN 2015, 19).

Figure 3. Location of prime capabilities in the NPIER (TfN 2019, 19).

Figure 4. Preferred vision for NPR, including a station in Bradford (TfN 2019).

Figure 5. Integrated Rail Plan ‘Core Network’ (DfT 2021).

Table 3. Evolution of SIs in Northern England, 2011–2022.

Spatial imaginary	Period	Spatial focus	Institutional inputs and influences	Policy outputs
Connecting the Core Cities	2011–2014	Northern England’s largest cities: Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield	Abolition of RDAs Influence of Core Cities group George Osborne’s ‘Northern Powerhouse’ speech	NPR initial concept in Northern Transport Strategy
Incorporating peripheral towns	2015–2016	Northern England as a spatial whole	NPIER TfN constitution	Northern Powerhouse Strategy
Selecting winners	2017–2019	Urban areas outside the core cities: Bradford, Warrington	Local lobbying	NPR preferred route in TfN Strategic Transport Plan
Levelling Up	2019–2022	Smaller towns and cities, coastal areas, former mining towns	Post-Brexit ‘left behind’ discourse Reduced funding for TfN Removal of TfN ‘co-client’ status	Integrated Rail Plan

HM Government and TfN. 2015. Northern Transport Strategy. Manchester: Transport for the North.

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TfN. 2019. Strategic Transport Plan. Manchester: Transport for the North.

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DfT. 2021. Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands. London: Department for Transport.

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