RIA Policy Note: Integrated Rail Plan for the North & Midlands Annex A: Full list of the IRP core portfolio and announced projects 1) HS2 Phase 2b Western Leg a) HS2 Western Leg (Phase 2b) i) The high speed line to Manchester will be completed. ii) The Crewe to Manchester section of the Western Leg of HS2 Phase 2b should proceed as planned. b) Manchester Piccadilly surface station expansion to support future NPR services and HS2 c) Crewe Northern Connection construction, part of a Crewe Hub 2) HS2 Phase 2b Eastern Leg a) Original plan: Eastern Leg to run from the West Midlands to an East Midlands Hub station at Toton. Trains would then continue north, serving Chesterfield and Sheffield via a spur to the Midland Main Line (MML), or continue on new high speed line to a new station at Leeds, with a spur to the East Coast Main Line (ECML) to serve York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. b) New plan: i) New high speed line from the West Midlands to East Midlands Parkway (HS2 East), based on the existing safeguarded route, but designed to allow trains to reach the existing stations in Nottingham and Derby. ii) Electrification of the Midland Main Line to Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield via Derby. iii) Package of further investment on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) from London to Leeds and the North East. iv) Significant package of upgrades to the East Coast Main Line 3) Improvements to local services and integration with HS2 and NPR: a) West Yorkshire Mass Transit System i) Committing more than £200m from central government to further develop and start work on delivering these plans, alongside the assessment of how best to get HS2 services to Leeds. b) Midlands Rail Hub i) A high speed line between the West and East Midlands, which would give better connectivity benefits than previous plans. 4) Northern Powerhouse Rail a) Between Liverpool and York, NPR will be built in line with the 2019 Option 1 developed by TfN, instead of Option 3, which was TfN’s preference. This would include: i) 40 miles of newbuild high speed line between Warrington, Manchester and Yorkshire and upgraded and electrified conventional line for the rest of the route. ii) Improvements to the previous Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) plans between Manchester and Leeds, including full electrification, digital signalling, longer sections of three and four-tracking, and gauge upgrades. iii) Electrification of Leeds–York.
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