PM’s rail pledge will empower the people of the North

The fact that one of Boris Johnson's first acts as prime minister was to set out a domestic agenda to turbo-charge UK regional growth and prosperity will find a cautious welcome from those outside London and the South East.

Many will ask if this pledge on new intercity rail routes, with Manchester to Leeds being first on the list, is a significant step in rebalancing the UK economy or simply an eye catching early announcement from a new PM? We are optimistic at the RICS that it is the former.

Mr Johnson's statement that 'I want to be the PM who does with Northern Powerhouse Rail what we did with Crossrail in London' chimes with what then-chancellor George Osborne said, also in Manchester, when launching the Northern Powerhouse just over five years ago.

While that clearly caught the imagination of the North and sparked much more cooperation across the region, it has not (yet) seen much difference on the ground. The wider northern region is still much poorer than the south, in terms of housing, economic growth, wage levels, inward investment and transport infrastructure.

While some may shrug and say, "we've heard this before", it would be hasty to dismiss the prime minister's statement – in fact, it is a strong signal that the political will is there to see the promises of the Northern Powerhouse delivered.

It was good to see Boris Johnson at the weekend striding alongside Barry White, chief executive of Transport for the North (TfN), a key authority in the development of plans to improve the east-west road and rail networks.

RICS support the work of TfN and the transport infrastructure blueprint they have produced, especially the £39bn plan for Northern Powerhouse Rail to link up Liverpool and Manchester to Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle and Hull.

It is this that needs funding and the prime minister made a clear commitment to deliver it with detailed plans to be published in the autumn – albeit after a review of HS2.

The negativity around HS2 is worrying. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and other regional leaders have stressed that HS2 must be completed and integrated with Northern Powerhouse Rail to achieve the maximum benefits.

Regarding future infrastructure building, RICS will be pressing government and all organisations involved to adopt the highest professional standards.

The work of RICS and other professional bodies involved in the International Construction Measurement Standards Coalition has already been picked up by Network Rail and Highways England, two of the main partners involved with HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail.

The RICS-backed International Construction Measurement Standards (ICMS) has been developed by a group of more than 40 professional and not-for-profit organisations from around the world, working together to develop and implement international standards for benchmarking, measuring and reporting construction project cost.