northern powerhouse rail is a rail network for- the north of england. il, which would have improved the network between northern towns and cities, has been cut back. nicola headlam is a former government economist. something that has been extremely controversial recently has been the scaling back of northern powerhouse rail and the eastern leg. and i'm sure you can find out better than i can why on earth, a government that wants to unite and level up would just so flagrantly ignore the views and wishes of the combined northern business and mayors and leaders and everybody who were brought business and mayors and leaders and everybody who were bought into a rail strategy that had hs2 in full both sides and npr across the middle. i think overall the amount we've been investing in rail, notjust through hsz but more broadly, in rail improvements across the north of england is at a record level. but there is more that requires to be done. put simply, through, the eastern leg of hs2 being cancelled, northern powerhouse rail being cut back, that's just bad news