Business community lines up behind Insider campaign
Faster and more reliable trans-Pennine rail links would encourage more business travellers to use the service, according to an exclusive Insider survey.
The survey provides further support for Insider’s Back the Bid rail campaign. We are calling for investment in the track and station infrastructure across the north of England, proposed in Network Rail’s £530m Northern Hub plan.
Just 26 per cent of those who took our online poll said they currently use the service at least once or twice a month.
But were the journey time to be “significantly reduced”, this jumped to more than 54 per cent.
Our survey of business leaders in the region found that reduced journey times would encourage 7 per cent to use the service daily, up from 2 per cent currently.
It found that 12 per cent would use a faster service once or twice a week, compared to a current figure of just under 5 per cent.
And almost 36 per cent said they would use the service once or twice a month, compared to a current figure of just 19 per cent.
The most popular reasons cited for not using the service more often were the slow journey time and overcrowding.
Two-thirds of respondents said that improving rail services should be "most important" or "very important" in our region’s lobbying efforts to Whitehall.
Insider has thrown its weight behind Northern Hub, Network Rail's £530m plan to revolutionise trans-Pennine rail with high-speed, non-stop services connecting cities across the north.
Such investment would cut journey times from Leeds, Sheffield and Hull to and from Manchester, with extra trains to reduce the over-crowding that can occur at peak times on Transpennine Express services.
If your business could benefit from improved rail connectivity across the North of England, get in touch. Email Insider editor richard.abbott@newsco.com or find us on Twitter @insiderbid.
