Blackpool could get 'more trams' paid for by axed HS2 cash

The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, made the widely expected announcement during his keynote speech to the Conservative Party conference.

However, he pledged to spend “every single penny” of the £36bn windfall that will be created by the culling of the high-speed project on “hundreds” of other transport improvements across the country - including in the North of England.

The so-called “Network North” element of the new funding pot that has been created will be used to support a raft of initiatives identified in a document published on Wednesday to set out the plans in more detail.

The blueprint floats the idea of “more trams for Blackpool”, but offers no further information.

It is also light on specifics about the railway upgrades that Lancashire might be able look forward to, but the the county is mentioned as a beneficiary of a £2.5 billion fund “to transform local transport” in areas beyond the so-called “city regions”.

However, the Labour opposition group leader on Lancashire County Council, Azhar Ali, said that the reopening of the Poulton to Fleetwood line was amongst the “quick wins” that Lancashire should be able to expect if the government is true to its world about investing across the North of England.

“There are lots of things that need to happen that have been on the government’s waiting list for decades and they should be done,” he said.

The Gazette understands that the Poulton to Fleetwood connection is Lancashire County Council’s top priority transport project. The scheme is now proposed to be a combined tram-train set-up after the government fleshed out how the link was likely to be delivered back in July.

Second on the County Hall priority list are improvements to capacity on the South Fylde rail line, via the creation of a passing loop, a project championed by Fylde MP Mark Menzies and which is under active consideration by the government.

As part of the Network North plans, Lancashire will share the promised £2.5bn of funding for non-city region transport schemes with 13 other areas described as “rural counties [and] smaller cities and towns”.

However, just six places across the North – each with devolved powers – will feast on a £4bn pot, created from the displaced HS2 cash.

It has once again raised the question of the extent to which Lancashire is being left behind because it still does not have a devolution deal with the government.

Back in 2021, neighbouring areas like Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region were given access to a £7bn transport improvement fund from the Treasury, but Lancashire was locked out of the largesse.

As The Gazette revealed in July, the government has now expressed its commitment to concluding a deal with the county, based on a proposal to create a new Lancashire county combined authority to discharge any new devolution arrangements.