JOURNEY times between Liverpool and key northern cities will be slashed by a £530m investment programme in the railways.

The scheme would remove a major bottleneck in the railways around Manchester, freeing up the rest of the North’s network for a 40% increase in trains a day. Liverpool will have a direct rail link with Bradford and Halifax for the first time, with journey times to the likes of Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle cut by up to 40 minutes.

The planned investment is on top of the £100m electrification of the line between Liverpool and Manchester that will cut times from 54 minutes to around 30 and should be complete by 2013.

Network Rail unveiled the Northern Hub project as one of its key funding priorities for 2014 to 2019 yesterday at Liverpool’s Lime Street Station.

Liverpool Riverside MP and chairman of the transport select committee Louise Ellman said the announcement of the project was a major breakthrough.

“This is vitally important because it is about enabling the northern region to develop its economy.

“Ultimately it is about jobs and the economic strength of the North.”

She said its need could be compared to the Crossrail scheme that will cut across London but will cost 25 times as much with a £13bn price tag.

The Northern Hub project will also see Chester get a train service to Manchester every half an hour, and direct trains to Leeds and Manchester Airport.

The Northern Way, a collaboration of northern cities and towns, estimates that the scheme could have a benefit of £16bn for the economy of the North.

The cost benefit ratio has been estimated at 4 to 1.