Government backing to develop the HS3 high-speed rail link between Manchester and Leeds will be “no substitute” for construction work actually beginning, a think tank has claimed.
IPPR North warned that the region will expect significant investment in the project - as was the case for London’s £14.8 billion east to west Crossrail route, which is due to open in phases from next year.
The organisation’s director, Ed Cox, welcomed George Osborne’s expected decision to give the go ahead for HS3 and several road schemes in his Budget on Wednesday.
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One of the road schemes is for a £75m six-mile tunnel beneath the Woodhead Pass, south of Holmfirth and there is also likely to be extra funding to improve the M62.
But he added: “It is important to remember though that project development work is no substitute for spades in the ground and only raises expectations about the Government’s ambitions for the North.
“In due course, Government will be expected to invest significant amounts of public money to finally get the construction of these projects off the ground just as it has done with Crossrail in London.
“Until then, as a region and as a nation, the amount of money we invest in transport infrastructure remains much lower than other developed nations.”
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Mr Osborne is expected to commit the Government to taking forward HS3 between Manchester and Leeds through Huddersfield and Dewsbury, with £60 million to cut journey times to 30 minutes from their current 49.
A full blueprint for HS3 will be drawn up by next year.
He will also announce £75 million to develop plans for a trans-Pennine tunnel between Sheffield and Manchester and explore options for improvements to the M60 ring-road around Manchester as well as the A66 and A69 coast-to-coast trunk roads further north.
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Highways England is set to be given £161 million to accelerate upgrades to the M62 Liverpool-Hull motorway.
Louise Ellman, chair of the Commons’ Transport Select Committee, said there is “far more investment in the South than there is in other regions” and described improving trans-Pennine links as “equally important” to the North as Crossrail is to London.
She said the £300 million Budget package to boost transport in the North “isn’t very much” compared to Crossrail 2, which is expected to cost £27-£32 billion.
Ms Ellman added: “We need to know the detail of what is being proposed.”
