huskynews 
Bradford, England — When Haniyya Ejaz gets on a crowded morning train in a city in the north of Bradford, an auto-announcement with a cheerful Yorkshire accent chimes says, “Welcome to this northern service to Leeds.” I did.
But a 10-mile commute between the two cities is welcome for Ejazz, whose daily train journey to Leeds college classes usually suffers from delays, staff shortages, overcrowding, and cancellations. It’s far from that. Her home, Bradford, was given the suspicious honor of being the worst connecting city in Britain. One studyReflects a common problem in northern England.
“Usually my train is late or arrives on time, but I know I don’t have a driver,” said Ejaz, a 19-year-old student at the University of Leeds. “I thought the train was much more reliable because there was no traffic, but it was as bad as a bus, if not bad.”
The traffic problems that plague Bradford are just one of the symptoms of financial negligence that has long hampered northern England, where growth, employment and health care lag almost south. Successive governments have promised to tackle this issue.Recently, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration has “Level up” the north And bring it to the prosperity of the South.
One initiative — £ 96 billion (Approximately $ 120 billion) The integrated railway program, including the high-speed railway project HS2, has been promoted by the government in recent years as an important effort to alleviate traffic problems in the north.
However, in November, British Secretary of Transportation Grant Shaps planned a branch line to the eastern section of the line, Leeds. Drop indefinitely..
Add salt to the wounds of local people, Bradford Council Several supporters for including the East-West line connecting major northern cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Bradford into another line, the Northern Power Plant Railroad, and the new line. Upgraded station Ignored in Bradford.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport said in a statement, “The new line from Manchester to Leeds via the new Bradford station will cost an additional £ 10 billion on its own.”
The evaporation of dreams for a better railroad has offended many in the affected areas and has caused feelings of betrayal by the London government. The best connection in the UK..
“Many things in the north are ignored,” Ejazz said. “People just accepted that this is the standard for train services they have.”
Mandy Ridyard, director of Produmax, Bradford’s aerospace plant that manufactures parts for companies including Boeing, said one of her employees was in a traffic jam on the road from his home in Manchester, about 30 miles away. Said he resigned last year because of. That road, M62, Some of the busiest areas In England.
“Three or four years after I couldn’t see the kids go to bed, the traffic was getting worse and he just gave up,” said Lidoyard. “We just want what the rest of the country has forever.”
With a population of over 500,000, Bradford is a British city. The youngest city..More than a quarter of the population is under the age of 18. Almost 10 According to figures shared by the Bradford Council with the New York Times, the proportion of people aged 18 to 24 receive unemployment-related benefits, which is about twice the national average for that age group.
According to the company, about 20% of employees have completed an apprenticeship program at a factory where a poster of a superhero wearing a hat is displayed in the warehouse and declares that “the superhero is designed this way”. I’m a teenager.
Lidoyard said he was concerned that failure to improve rail connections could impair social mobility in central and surrounding commuter towns and cities, which could adversely affect young people. rice field.
“If you need to have a car to go somewhere because the train connection doesn’t work, we’re not talking about an equal playground,” she said.
To compensate for the fall of the high-speed rail, the government has provided several concessional upgrades to existing lines. Old-fashioned Victorian tracks will be electrified, reducing travel time on some existing routes (the new plan will reduce travel time from Leeds to Bradford by almost half). And the capacity of train services in the north will increase. However, there is no definitive date as to when all of this will be completed.
Years of travel turmoil North The aging and understaffed railroad saw a franchise run by Arriva Rail North, owned by Deutsche Bahn in Germany, which was taken over by the government in March 2020.Passengers have lost confidence in the northern rail network“Mr. Chaps declared.
A few months before the 2019 general election, when the Conservatives won a landslide and succeeded in winning voters in the traditional Labor Party in the north, Johnson funded the northern power plant railroad route between Manchester and Leeds. Promised to provide.Turbocharge regional growth and prosperity” regional.
The Bradford Council says the Northern Powerhouse Rail proposal is about Bradford’s economy £ 30 billion, create 27,000 new jobs by 2060..
Recent U-turns have left a bitter taste for many.
Jim O’Neill, Key Architect for Northern Powerhouse Strategy, said: Former adviser to Prime Minister Theresa May prior to Mr Johnson.
“It was pretty obvious that Bradford wouldn’t happen at least two years ago,” said O’Neill, who was working within the government at the time, and he said plans to build a new station in Bradford were considered. It’s too expensive.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport did not address the allegations of current Vice-Chairman O’Neill. Northern Powerhouse PartnershipThe lobbying group told the Times that the government did not cancel the eastern section of HS2. “The integrated rail program will secure £ 100m to consider the most effective way to bring HS2 trains to Leeds, and more work will be done to evaluate the best options,” he said. rice field.
Not everyone was in favor of the northern high-speed rail.
Retired teacher Edna Small, 77, moved to Church Fenton in 2007, a village surrounded by lush countryside in North Yorkshire. About 1,500Would have been one of the last stops on its eastern foot.
After news that a 50-foot viaduct thundered the quiet suburbs of the village and her house was sandwiched between the viaduct and local train stations on either side, Small joined a group of anti-HS2 activists.
The suspension of HS2’s eastern branch provided a sense of security, even if 77-year-old Small had already sold his home. She said its market value had been reduced by railroad plans.
“It was trying to destroy the entire area,” she said. “It was a vanity project,” she said.
“But Bradford is in a fuss,” Small admitted. “The government makes promises that they will never keep.”
