New Liverpool to Manchester line approval

THE government will commit to spending billions of pounds on a new railway line between Liverpool and Manchester at next week's spending review, according to reports.

- By LIAM THORP

After campaigning from regional mayors - backed by the region's two newspapers - it is understood that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce investment for the new line between the two great cities of the North West when she makes her much anticipated statement in the House of Commons next Wednesday.

According to the Financial Times, Ms Reeves will outline a £113million investment in capital projects across the rest of this parliament having now settled the Department of Transport's multi-year settlement.

The newspaper says that as part of this process, the Treasury's so-called 'Green Book', the methodology that assesses what projects represent value for money, is being reformed to give extra weight to opportunities that will improve productivity in areas outside London and the South East - including the North.

Among the major projects set to benefit from this investment is the major new rail link between Liverpool and Manchester, which Mayors Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham have long-argued could hugely boost the economic growth of their respective city regions and the wider north of the country.