More than 29,000 people back petition that comes after transport secretary Chris Grayling ditched rail electrification plansMore than 29,000 people have signed a petition calling for more investment in transport in the north of England, after rail electrification plans across the country were scrapped. The petition, set up by the thinktank IPPR North and the campaign group 38 Degrees, calls on the transport secretary to give his immediate backing to HS3, a high-speed railway line from east to west across northern England, connecting Liverpool with Hull. It also asks the government to make an immediate commitment to at least £59bn of “catch-up cash” for the north over the coming decade, and urges the Transport for the North body be given the same powers as Transport for London to raise private finance. Ed Cox, the director of IPPR North, said the number of signatures laid bare “the real anger in the north” at recent announcements. Analysis from IPPR North suggests the north would have had £59bn more in public funding over the past decade if it had received the same amount per person for infrastructure as London.

Source: The Guardian July 30, 2017 13:30 UTC