Member Article

The Northern Arc: Meet the business-led proposal hoping to transform transport in the north

Whatever happens in today’s General Election, it will remain certain that better transport infrastructure in the north is a national necessity.

In an electoral campaign where Brexit has inevitably dominated headlines, the run up to office has been vastly removed from the narrative built only two years ago by the current PM’s predecessors.

While messrs Cameron and Osborne built their 2015 charge on reducing the North/South divide and creating a Northern Powerhouse, a scheme with improved transport infrastructure at its core, May’s focus on such issues has paled in comparison this time around.

But could improved northern transport be brought about by forces other than the UK government?

Hyperloop One, the business attempting to commercialise the train-in-a-vacuum-tube tech proposed by Elon Musk, has shortlisted nine routes as part of its global challenge to create more efficient, greener, on demand and faster transport across the continent.

One competing proposal hoping to be put into practice is Northern Arc, a business-led collaboration with local government to bring transformational transport to the North of the UK.

The Northern Arc route covers Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow, aims to create a coordinated, government backed, deliverable proposal which will connect Scotland with the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ partners to create a super region and showcase the north of England as a global leader of transport innovation.

With Hyperloop One, passengers and cargo are loaded into a pod and accelerated gradually via electric propulsion through a low pressure tube.

The pod quickly lifts above the track using magnetic levitation and glides at airline speeds for long distances due to ultra-low aerodynamic drag.

It is designed for higher energy efficiency per passenger mile than traditional modes of transport, curbing emissions and fuel consumption.

Using Hyperloop One technology, the Northern Arc route has the potential to connect 10.4m people across the six great cities of the north with the total journey time of 47 minutes.

The team have received strong levels of support on the submission from NELEP, and have engaged with the Department for Transport, BEIS and a range of other local authorities and regeneration agencies.

Ultimately, Northern Arc is about creating a bigger and better northern network, building on the initial concept of the Northern Powerhouse and transcending the border into Scotland.

It will connect the major economic corridors of the M62 and the Scottish central belt to create a super region with the capability to compete on the world economic stage.

Paul Bell, partner at Ryder Architecture, one of the businesses pioneering the scheme, said: “Northern Arc is more than a Hyperloop route – it is the economic region that the northern powerhouse should be and we’re excited to be involved in this pioneering opportunity.”

The route would link Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh into an integrated northern arc airport with secure city check ins in Glasgow, Leeds and Liverpool and with proposed extensions to Aberdeen, Belfast and Hull, Northern Arc will connect all the major ports in the north of the United Kingdom, providing the opportunity to transform domestic distribution and significantly reducing congestion and C02.

Nick Merridew, director at Arup, added: “We are delighted to bring our design and engineering expertise and knowledge of Hyperloop systems to make the concept a reality not only for the north but for the UK.”

By the end of 2017, Hyperloop One will have a team of 500 employees dedicated to bringing the technology and the winning Global Challenges routes to life. If the north is to prosper, we’ll need to coin new excuses for being late to meetings.

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