THE Chancellor Rishi Sunak was due to deliver his Autumn Budget just after this issue went to press, but prior to that, £6.9bn was announced for train, tram and other transport projects around the country.
Greater Manchester (£1.07bn), the West Midlands (£1.05bn) and West Yorkshire (£830m) were three regions set to benefit most. Liverpool City was allocated £710m; South Yorkshire £570m; the West of England £540m; and Tees Valley £310m.
Mr Sunak said: “This transport revolution will help redress the 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.”
Much of the West Yorkshire money looks set to be spent on a new metro system, possibly trams, with Leeds being described as the largest city in Europe not to have such a network already.