Transport across Yorkshire and the Humber to be “transformed” with £947m investment

Millions of people in Yorkshire and the Humber will benefit from better public transport, reduced congestion and upgraded bus and train stations as the Government continues to reallocate funding from HS2 to revolutionise transport, drive economic growth and transform communities. 

Today (Monday 26 February), Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Transport Secretary Mark Harper have confirmed that Yorkshire and the Humber will receive a £947m funding boost from April 2025 through the Local Transport Fund to improve the transport connections that so many people rely on every day, particularly across smaller cities, towns, and rural areas.

The new investment, announced as part of Network North, will deliver an unprecedented long term funding uplift across the region over seven years.

It is the first fully devolved transport budget of its kind targeted at smaller cities, towns and rural areas, which empowers local communities and local leaders to invest in the transport projects that matter most to their communities.

Over the seven years as a whole this funding will be on average at least nine times more than these local authorities currently receive through the local integrated transport block which is the current mechanism for funding local transport improvements in their areas.

At Cabinet today, the Prime Minister is expected to call on Ministers and MPs to hold local authorities to account to ensure the funding is used appropriately and that the voices of local communities are heard when decisions are made on where this funding goes and how this funding is spent. 

This funding prioritises the forms of transport that matter most to people and will deliver for future generations, driving jobs, growing the economy, and levelling up the country. 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commented: “We have a clear plan to level up our country with greater transport links that people need and deliver the right long-term change for a brighter future.

“Through reallocating HS2 funding, we’re not only investing nearly £1bn directly back into our smaller cities, towns and rural areas across Yorkshire and the Humber, but we are also empowering their local leaders to invest in the transport projects that matters most to them - this is levelling up in action.  

“The Local Transport Fund will deliver a new era of transport connectivity. This unprecedented investment will benefit more people, in more places, more quickly than HS2 ever would have done, and comes alongside the billions of pounds of funding we’ve already invested into our roads, buses and local transport services across the country.”