Chancellor Rishi Sunak is planning to detail plans in the Autumn spending review on Wednesday to pump £7bn in local transport improvements in Midlands and Northern cities.
The pledge will amount to around £1.5bn or 20% of actual extra new cash to supplement previous spending commitments on infrastructure in the regions over the next five years.
It will be directed at areas outside of London to level up transport with new train and station upgrades and the expansion of trams, with £1.2bn also allocated to improve bus services.
Its forms part of a £26bn raft of spending commitments trailed over the weekend ahead of the Autumn spending review.
Local transport infrastructure commitments will see West Yorkshire given £830m while South Yorkshire receives £570m.
Around £1.05bn will be freshly committed in the West Midlands, £710m for the Liverpool City Region, £310m in Tees Valley and £540m granted to the West of England.
Rishi Sunak confirmed previously the Government had announced £4.2bn for regional transport, adding the Government would now top that up with an extra £1.5bn while giving out the precise allocation for where the cash will go within the oveall local transport infrastructure cash envelope.
“Greate cities need great transport and that is why we’re investing billions to improve connections in our city regions as we level up opportunities across the country.
“This transport revolution will help redress that imbalance as we modernise our local transport networks so they are fit for our great cities and those people who live and work in them,” he said in briefings over the weekend.
(Orginal Source - Aaron Morby. https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2021/10/25/chancellor-to-detail-7bn-spending-pledge-for-transport/).