Northern Hub

The Northern Hub is a rail programme in Northern England to improve and increase train services and reduce journey times between its major cities and towns, by electrifying lines and removing a major rail bottleneck in Manchester. It is predicted to stimulate economic growth in the region. The project has several elements but the prime objective is to eradicate the bottleneck in Manchester and allow trains to travel through the city at speed without stopping. The project was announced as the Manchester Hub in 2009. The project's steering partnership involves Network Rail, Deutsche Bahn, First TransPennine Express, Northern Rail, East Midlands Trains, CrossCountry, Freightliner, the Department for Transport, Transport for Greater Manchester and Merseytravel. 
Services from Liverpool to Leeds and beyond will be diverted from the Liverpool to Manchester line southern route, via Warrington Central and Manchester Piccadilly, to the more direct electrified Liverpool to Manchester northern route, via Newton-le-Willows and Manchester Victoria; this will provide a fast route to and through Manchester. The construction of two through platforms at Manchester Piccadilly will allow 4 more trains per hour through the station. The refurbishment of Manchester Victoria station was completed in October 2015, so it can become an east-west rail interchange and through station between Liverpool and Leeds. Trains from North-East England to Manchester Airport will use the £85 million Ordsall Chord, between Manchester Victoria and Manchester Oxford Road, to access Piccadilly and will continue to the airport without reversing at Piccadilly. 
The Manchester Hub Study, outlining the project, was released by Network Rail in February 2010. Costs were estimated at £530 million, subsequently reassessed to £560 million. Chancellor George Osborne approved expenditure of £85 million for the Ordsall Chord in his budget on 23 March 2011 and other aspects of the scheme were reviewed to ensure best value. A further £130 million was committed in Osborne's budget of March 2012 and approval for the full scheme was confirmed by the government on 16 July 2012. The first train ran on the chord on 10 December 2017 and the project was completed by 2018.
Support for the scheme has been vociferous from civic and business leaders, due to the high benefit-to-cost ratio, and from politicians, such as George Osborne; but has also been criticised for being incremental and only improving the rail network in Northern England to "where it should have been a decade ago". The scheme has a benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR) of £4 for every £1 invested - double that of Crossrail in London and the proposed High Speed 2 project which have BCRs of £2.10 and £2.30 respectively. 
The project may be followed by or merged with High Speed 3. In November 2015, Transport for the North (TfN) proposed a four-track trans-Pennine railway line to link with the HS2 line to London, and a new Liverpool-Manchester Airport-Manchester railway line also linked to HS2. A feasibility study of the west to east rail line and its branches into HS2 will be published in March 2016.
Background.
The Northern Hub was proposed in February 2010 to resolve problems around Manchester city centre that restricted route capacity and caused delays.<br>
Network Rail concluded that no single intervention would unlock the bottlenecks but that greater efficiency and enhancement to services was possible. A proposal to use Piccadilly primarily for north-south services and Victoria for east-west services was agreed as the most effective course of action.
The re-alignment of services commenced in May 2014 when First TransPennine Express services between Liverpool and Newcastle were routed through Manchester Victoria rather than Piccadilly. It is expected most TransPennine Express services will pass through Victoria after the May 2018 timetable change after the opening of the Ordsall Chord in December 2017.
Station improvements.
Major stations will be improved to include new platforms, station layout re-configuration and redevelopment. Most improvements will be in Manchester aimed at alleviating bottlenecks that delay passing services and restricts routes.
Manchester.
Victoria station will be re-configured as the Northern England hub for east-west rail services. Once voted the worst station in the United Kingdom, it has received a £44 million transformation including a £20 million roof covering the concourse and four platforms.
Piccadilly's through platforms, 13 and 14, will be modernised and two through platforms, 15 and 16, will be built over Fairfield Street to alleviate congestion.
Oxford Road's platforms will be lengthened and a footbridge will be built. The Grade II listed timber grid-shell roof will be incorporated into the new station design. The surrounding site could be redeveloped with office, residential and leisure space. 
Salford Crescent station will be redeveloped at a cost of £12 million and further development could occur should extra capacity be required.
At Manchester Airport station a new platform will be built creating extra capacity and access for direct services from other cities in Northern England. Construction of the platform began in February 2014.
Huyton and Roby stations will have two new tracks through the stations to allow faster trains to pass and provide two additional platforms.
Burnley Manchester Road station will receive a £2.3 million upgrade before the reinstatement of a direct rail service to Victoria via the re-opened Todmorden Curve in 2015.
Dore and Totley railway station will get a second platform and a footbridge for access. The single track will be doubled.
Leeds.
At Leeds Station two platforms will be built at a cost of £13.6 million to alleviate congestion.
Infrastructure.
Northern Hub plans include:
Electrification.
Electrification for rail lines out of Manchester is underway or has been approved. While independent of the Northern Hub scheme, they complement it:
Service improvements.
Northern Hub is expected to deliver the following improvements:
As part of the Northern Hub scheme; electrification of key lines will enable faster electric trains increasing capacity and lowering journey times. Typically, diesel trains that operated between Manchester and Liverpool such as the Class 142 and Class 156 had a maximum speed limit of . Following electrification, Class 319 trains reach a top speed of with greater acceleration from stations.
Network Rail has published target times from Manchester to be achieved after the completion of the Northern Hub projects.
Timeline.
Network Rail's original aim was for all schemes - including electrification, station upgrades and track work - to be completed by the end of 2018, though this timescale will not be met for the Transpennine electrification.
Heritage threat.
The historic first passenger railway station, Manchester Liverpool Road, a Grade I listed building, is threatened by the plan. After this project is completed, it will no longer be possible to run trains into or out of the station. The Manchester Museum of Science and Industry management objected to the scheme and an inquiry was set up in 2014 to investigate potential damage to the historic structure.
Future.
The Northern Hub may be merged into or superseded by a larger project being called High Speed 3. David Higgins, chairman of the HS2, stated in March 2014 that the Northern Hub scheme is incremental and the benefits of the High Speed 2 will not be fully felt if rail links between Northern cities are not improved. In June 2014, George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer stated his vision to see improved transport links between Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds to increase economic productivity. Osborne's proposals were referred to as 'Crossrail of the North' and 'High Speed 3'. In November 2015 Transport for the North (TfN) proposed a four-track trans-Pennine railway line that would link with the HS2 line to London, and a new Liverpool-Manchester airport-Manchester railway line also linked to HS2. A feasibility study of the west to east rail line and its branches into HS2 will be published in March 2016.