Disgruntled commuters in northern England have reacted with scepticism to the government’s announcement of new funding for regional transport infrastructure and services. The north of England has been allocated £2.5bn and the Midlands £2.2bn from April 2025 following the scaling back of HS2. But passengers at Crewe Station in Cheshire say the will ‘believe it when they see it’. Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 The government are saying that they're going to spend about £180 million in this area on improving transport links and the cancelled HS2. What do you think about that?
00:11 I think there's a lot of different opinions in there. I'm coming from the Manchester area, I don't really use that link.
00:19 I've not been using the trains too often, so I think it's more of a case of like, you know, people who use the trains more often might have a bigger opinion on it all.
00:28 I'd like to see some of the money invested in the north-west areas. I know this is a big hub, it's very important, so I think it should come through here and a lot of money should be spent making it a much better hub as well.
00:39 It should put a lot more money into the area, so I don't think that the... it depends where the money's getting invested.
00:44 Andy Burnham talks a lot on Radio Manchester, especially to people like Mike Sweeney, and he's on every Thursday. He talks a lot about what's going to happen.
00:52 I listen to him and I quite enjoy what he says about the fact that there should be a lot more put into the sort of the rinks that they've said they're going to deal with, because they've said that a lot of the money's not going to be spent on that now.
01:03 But then if the other government come in, if Labour get in, they're saying they're going to basically bring it back, so it's all very confusing.
01:10 At the end of the day, it's just a case of like, let's get the transportation system better and make some proper decisions.
01:16 Thank you.
01:17 Pro rata per person per head, that money that gets spent on public transport is really unfair, isn't it?
01:26 So, I mean, I think it's a vast amount of difference, so I would say whatever is going to be announced today is not going to be enough.
01:35 I mean, I know this council here, on the edge of HS2, has invested so much money and spent money that they can't afford.
01:45 You know, quite understandably they've done that because they were told by the government it's going to be ready for HS2, and now it's all lost.
01:52 So, I just think, especially in Crewe, we've got very little buses, we have a decent train station, but obviously more is needed.
02:02 So, those are two main points, the disparity between the South and the North, and also the amount of money that Cheshire East has had to pay up front to put things in place for HS2.
02:16 So, I'm not holding that much hope for the announcement today.
02:24 Thank you.
02:25 Thanks very much.
02:26 So, the government are announcing today what they're going to be doing with the money that was meant to be spent on HS2.
02:31 They're saying it's going to be over £4 billion worth of funding in the North and the Midlands. What do you think about that?
02:37 I think we're coming off second best again.
02:39 And why's that?
02:41 We're always the forgotten North.
02:43 And, you know, they're saying Cheshire East's area will get about £180 million for their transport, for their roads, buses, trains. What do you think about that? Is that enough?
02:54 If it actually happens, then yeah, it's great. But it's all promises at the moment, and promises have never been fulfilled in the past.
03:06 The North of Salford are in Cheshire East at the moment, though.
03:10 I believe it when I see it, the Cheshire East as well.
03:13 I can't believe what they say.
03:15 Thank you.
03:16 Honestly, I don't have any problem getting into work every day in the morning, so I think it's fine.
03:22 You don't have issues with...
03:24 No, I didn't have any issues. I got to work every day, so I didn't find it a problem.
03:29 And what about buses and things? Do you rely on...
03:32 I usually walk it down to the office, so it really doesn't matter too much.
03:36 I think the government should put more money into transport, that's what I've heard.
03:41 I think it's a bit of a lie, if I'm being honest. I think we've been promised, obviously, HS2 up in the north, that's been cut.
03:52 I've personally and crew seen a lot of investment in new parking structures and stuff like that,
03:59 kind of in preparation for the people coming from the south, putting a bit more investment into local infrastructure here.
04:07 And it's been cut, so we're not going to have them people coming from the south up here spending money,
04:14 which might be reinvested into a town.
04:16 So do you trust that this announcement today will actually come to fruition?
04:21 I doubt it, from what I've seen of the promises made in the past. I don't think it will, no.
04:28 Thank you.
04:29 Yeah, it's a good step, I think.
04:31 Do you think it's enough?
04:33 Yeah, I think it's enough. I cannot say that, but if it gives benefit to the people, then it's a good step.
04:42 Because I think there's a lot of rush in the trains, like I come from the press, I'm going to Chester, I have to change my train,
04:51 and there's a lot of rush, and we sit like this way in the train. So I think it's a good step, and it should be promoted.
05:00 Yes, especially during holidays, cancel train or weather, there's always cancel train and you have to wait.
05:09 And sometimes I feel short distances should have maybe bus replacements, but they don't provide bus replacements.
05:16 Aside weather and maybe holidays. Yeah, and I think it's better, but it can be really crazy sometimes, very frustrating.
05:25 Do you think more funding should go into the transport services?
05:31 Yeah, I mean transportation is the first thing. Not everybody can afford to drive, and not every place is good to have parking space.
05:38 So sometimes you just want to park your car and use the train. But yeah, I think more funding should go into transportation. It will go a long way.
05:45 That's great, thank you.
05:47 You should know the information of this train.
05:50 I'm being personalised.
05:52 Yeah, I might just want to do all the numbers.
05:56 Will you get the other information?
06:01 Yeah, yeah.
06:02 Oh, yeah, I will get it.
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