Sheffield MPs Call On Grant Shapps Not To Scrap Rail Link Plans To Manchester Airport

Sheffield’s Labour MPs have called on the Government to abandon plans which could see the direct rail link between Sheffield and Manchester Airport scrapped.

In a letter to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, they said “The long-established direct rail link between Sheffield and Manchester Airport is a vital part of maintaining Sheffield’s international connectivity.”

The proposal to scrap the direct link is included in two of the three options being considered in a Department for Transport consultation on improving services in and around Manchester. But the MPs argue that “any review of Manchester services should not be undertaken in isolation but must consider the impact on the wider northern region.”

The letter from Paul Blomfield MP, Clive Betts MP, Olivia Blake MP, Gill Furniss MP and Louise Haigh MP urges the Transport Secretary to retain the direct link after the consultation closes on 10th March 2021, saying that “the loss of a direct rail connection will drive more road traffic onto already congested trans-Pennine routes.”

They also say that “Sheffield needs international connectivity to attract inward investment and enable business to improve productivity. The long-established direct rail link is a vital part of that and strongly supported by local business” and that “our world-class universities in Sheffield also rely on this link to recruit international students who are worth more than £200 million a year to our local economy”.