The Chancellor’s £15.6bn regional transport investment package is part of a wider £113bn in capital spending outside South East England, to be confirmed in full in a spending review next week
Speaking at a Rochdale bus factory, chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged over £15bn to the development of trams, trains and buses outside of London in a significant regional transport investment package, ahead of the capital spending review conclusion expected next week.
The five-year-package will fund upgrades across eight metro mayoral regions, with Treasury investment rules rewritten to favour areas outside of South East England, which was found to disproportionately benefit from the cost-benefit analysis utilised in ‘the green book’ in regards to investment decisions.
Per a Treasury press release, the regional transport investment includes:
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander called it a “watershed moment”
A Britain that is better off cannot rely on a handful of places forging ahead of the rest of the country.
Today we are investing billions in transport projects across the North, Midlands and West of England.
Change promised. Change delivered.
— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) June 4, 2025
The news was welcomed by Tracey Brabin, mayor of West Yorkshire; Steve Rotheram, mayor of Liverpool and Greater Manchester’s Andy Burnham, amongst others.
The chancellor also announced she would hold a regional investment summit later in the year with regional mayors to discuss next steps.
The speech appeared to be rallying and reiterating Labour’s economic achievements in the face of growing discontent amongst voters, with Reeves pointing to the deal exempting the UK from hefty tariffs on steel in the US and emphasising the Government’s commitment to reducing child poverty.
Reeves was also asked by a reporter about plans for a new rail link between Manchester and Liverpool, a project which has been bouncing around since the previous government cancelled the Manchester leg of HS2 in 2023. The Labour government have since announced a multibillion investment in northern rail earlier this year and whilst Reeves did not answer the question directly, she did suggest there would be more news on the topic next week, saying “more to come”.
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