Burnley and Padiham’s MP Antony Higginbotham has welcomed a huge £1.4 billion of extra funding being put into transport projects across the North West. It’s all part of a new Local Transport Fund, which is seeing HS2 funding reallocated to localised transport projects following the Prime Minister’s decision to cancel the overdue and overbudget high speed rail project.
From the £1.4 billion coming to the northwest, Lancashire County Council is set to benefit to the tune of £494 million as part of plans to level up local transport.
The extra funding is the first transport budget of its kind that is specifically targeted at towns like Burnley and Padiham. It aims to empower local people and local leaders to invest in the transport projects that matter most in their communities.
Commenting Antony Higginbotham MP who has already secured funding to build a new disability friendly bridge connecting the two platforms at Manchester Road Station said:
“What I hear on the doorsteps is that improving our local transport links means frequent bus services, particularly in rural areas, reliable trains in and out of the area and crucially maintaining our roads and getting potholes filled. That’s the message I’ve been taking to Parliament.
LCC are already receiving an extra quarter of a billion pounds over the next few years to resurface our roads. And this massive investment of £494 million now gives us an amazing opportunity to go even further in delivering transport projects to benefit all residents.
I’ve already spoken about a new westward slip road on Junction 11 of the M65 but that’s just one idea. Funding on this scale can really transform public transport for the better and is why I’m so pleased to see it coming to our local area.”
Funding will be received from April 2025, giving time to develop funding proposals and to hit the ground running to start delivering them as early as possible. Over the seven years as a whole this funding will be on average at least nine times more than local authorities currently receive through the local integrated transport block which is the current mechanism for funding local transport improvements in their areas.
This funding increase is for the North because most HS2 savings are from the region. All of the £19.8 billion committed to the Northern leg of HS2 is to be reinvested in the North.
Commenting, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said:
“Today’s £4.7 billion investment is truly game-changing for the smaller cities, towns, and rural communities across the North and the Midlands and is only possible because this Government has a plan to improve local transport and is willing to take tough decisions like reallocating funding from the second phase of HS2.
“This funding boost will make a real difference to millions of people, empowering local authorities to drive economic growth, transform communities, and improve the daily transport connections that people rely on for years to come.”
