00:00Oliver Copper, Mayor of South Yorkshire.
00:02Today, we're told it's a historic day today.
00:05Do you want to give us a little bit of an idea why?
00:07Yeah, well, today we're launching our Yorkshire Plan for Rail,
00:10brought together by David Blunkett, Sheffield's own David Blunkett,
00:14and it is laying out what we need in terms of rail connectivity
00:16and transport connectivity across the whole of Yorkshire.
00:20That's a £14 billion plan that David has brought together,
00:23but it has a, just over 10 years, £20 billion impact on our economy.
00:26And we're now saying to the government, in advance of the spending review
00:30and the infrastructure strategy, we need that investment into our region
00:34to unlock the potential of our places, absolutely,
00:36to make sure that people can go where they need to go,
00:39when they need to be there, and allow our places to thrive.
00:43How hopeful are you? How realistic is it going to be?
00:46Well, look, we've had really positive discussions with the government.
00:48We don't underestimate the challenges the government are under.
00:51There's 14 years of lost growth to catch up on.
00:54But ultimately, we know in Yorkshire we have the potential to grow,
00:58to thrive, to give opportunity to everyone right across this whole place.
01:02And the government I know recognise that potential.
01:04So we've had positive conversations.
01:06There are always going to be challenges.
01:07These are difficult things to get done.
01:09But I think we have a huge hope that we are going to be able to get
01:13at least some of this straight away over the line
01:14and then a plan for the rest of it over time.
01:18People in Sheffield and South Yorkshire feel like
01:20their rail and public transport system is pretty well broken.
01:24Can you give them any hope at all?
01:26How realistic is it that this plan is going to be taken up by the government?
01:30The whole purpose of having a properly thought through, coordinated report,
01:35which draws together all the mayors in Yorkshire,
01:38not competing with each other but collaborating,
01:41getting a programme that's deliverable on time,
01:44the investment we need from government, can be transformational.
01:47And as I found this morning coming from Sheffield to Leeds,
01:50on the train, 26 minutes late on a 35-mile journey,
01:55people crying because of the overcrowding and the difficulty they faced.
01:59This is an imperative.
02:01We've got to do it.
02:02And it's going to be good for Sheffield and South Yorkshire.
02:04And it's going to be good for the east of the Pennines generally.
02:08Thank you very much.
02:08So this is Tom Hunt, leader of Sheffield Council.
02:12Tom, we've heard a lot of hope today about fixing public transport in Sheffield
02:17and South Yorkshire.
02:19How optimistic are you about it?
02:22I'm hugely optimistic.
02:23I think when the three mayors come together with city leaders and Lord Blunkett,
02:28it gives us a louder voice to be able to make our case to government.
02:32We've already had a very positive meeting with the Transport Secretary,
02:36Heidi Alexander, and the Rail Minister, Peter Hendy, last month in York,
02:41where we shared the draft report.
02:43And what the minister was saying is that what you've got here
02:46is a credible and an affordable package of potential investments.
02:52Clearly, there is decisions taking place in Westminster and Whitehall right now
02:56about the spending review.
02:57And this report gives us the best possible chance to put Sheffield and Yorkshire's case forward.
03:03We know that we need more city-to-city connectivity.
03:08Sheffield and Leeds are the two powerhouses of our region.
03:12But currently, we don't have enough fast trains between them.
03:15The services are not fast enough, they're not frequent enough,
03:18and they're not reliable enough.
03:20We know that with investment, we can improve that.
03:23We also want to see investment in Sheffield's tram network,
03:26because with more tram-train services,
03:29we can take some of the pressure off some of the heavy rail lines.
03:33So the two things for us that are critical are that city-to-sea connectivity,
03:37more capacity at Midland Station,
03:39and then tram-train services being expanded as well.
03:42Fantastic.
03:43Fantastic.
03:43Fantastic.
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