UK Inquiry Tracker

Northern Powerhouse Rail

Public Accounts Committee Open Inquiry

Opened: 20 Mar 2026 Parliament page

Since 2014, successive governments have acknowledged the limitations of rail infrastructure in the North of England. Several large cities - including Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield - are poorly served by transport connections. The Northern Powerhouse Rail programme is intended to improve connectivity between major cities in the North … Read more Since 2014, successive governments have acknowledged the limitations of rail infrastructure in the North of England. Several large cities - including Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield - are poorly served by transport connections. The Northern Powerhouse Rail programme is intended to improve connectivity between major cities in the North of England and promote economic growth through increased productivity. The programme will be delivered in three phases, the first of which will see the construction on new rail lines and upgrades to existing lines in the Northeast of England and is expected to be completed in the 2030’s. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has previously reported on the impacts of the cancellation of the Northern leg of HS2 and the Department for Transport’s (DfT) management of the Crossrail programme . In both instances, the PAC raised concerns about the spiralling costs of the projects meaning they were unlikely to provide value for money, and has raised concerns over how DfT has failed to learn lessons from the past. According to a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) found that the DfT will have spent £410mn on the programme by March 2026, with a funding cap of £45 billion for spend from 2026-27. The NAO warned that further work is needed to ensure that the programme aligns with growth plans, which will require effective cross-government working at national and local levels. Proceeding from the NAO’s report, the Committee will take evidence from witnesses including senior DfT officials on subjects including key challenges within the programme, and what progress has been made on it since 2014. If you have evidence on these issues, please submit here by 23.59 on Monday 13 April 2026. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues . Show less

3 Recommendations

27 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

1 Event

Activity timeline 2 events

1 Jul
2026

Report published

8th Report - Northern Powerhouse Rail

27 Apr
2026

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

27 Apr 2026

View on parliament.uk

Jo Shanmugalingam · Department for Transport Nick Bisson · Department for Transport Tom Riordan CBE · HM Treasury Will Davis · Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
8th Report - Northern Powerhouse Rail	HC 97	1 Jul 2026	30	Pending

Recommendations & Conclusions

30 results

2 Recommendation

8th Report - Northern Powerhouse R…

There is a clear risk that the Department will not be able to manage the...

There is a clear risk that the Department will not be able to manage the programme within its £45 billion funding cap. HM Treasury has set a £45 billion funding cap for the programme. This may help affordability, but we … Read more

HM Treasury

Northern Powerhouse Rail

Activity timeline 2 events

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Recommendations & Conclusions

There is a clear risk that the Department will not be able to manage the...

The Department has not yet put in place appropriate governance arrangements with other central government...

The Department’s arrangements for working with local government do not appear sufficient to manage the...

The Department has not yet set out how Northern Powerhouse Rail will work alongside national...

We are not convinced that the Department has embedded all lessons from past failures into...

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...

The Northern Growth Strategy sets out how the government expects providing better connections between northern...

HM Treasury has set a funding cap of £45 billion (2025 prices) on programme spend...

However, the Department has a track record of high infrastructure costs and poor cost estimation...

We asked the Department how it would ensure within-budget delivery for Northern Powerhouse Rail phases...

The Department told us that local places could also top up the funding from central...

The NAO found the Department had established appropriate steps to identify lessons from other major...

However, a Department-wide review by the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) in January 2026 found...

In February 2025, we reported that HS2 Ltd’s efforts to reduce the environmental impact of...

While the Department for Transport is responsible for delivering the railway, it will need others...

In 2025, the Office of Value for Money set out its definition for mega- projects—the...

However, the NAO also set out that the government views Northern Powerhouse Rail as a...

The Department told us it was discussing with HM Treasury whether Northern Powerhouse Rail would...

The Department told us that the government would ultimately take final decisions on the programme,...

At the local level, it has discussions with mayors and local councils about specific stations...

The Department explained it was working with sub-regional groups to develop the railway plans for...

At the programme-wide level, the Department described “unified discussions” with mayors and ministers, where the...

We are concerned that this partnership-based system is not clear on responsibilities and may not...

The Treasury’s Northern Growth Envoy acknowledged that “it is really hard to agree stuff across...

As part of its January 2026 announcements, the government committed to building a new line...

We highlighted this gap to the Department.

The Department was clear on the need for Northern Powerhouse Rail to integrate with local...

We asked the Department how it was managing interdependencies with other transport plans and how...

The Treasury’s Northern Growth Envoy emphasised that their approach with local areas was about more...

We asked how the programme’s strategic case would recognise the wider social benefits of investments,...