Rail bosses have concluded for the second time that Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations MUST be expanded in order to tackle the north’s crippling rail problems - five years after the plan was first promised by George Osborne.

The £600m ‘Northern Hub’ was first announced by Mr Osborne when he was in the Treasury, but since then the government has failed to sign off key elements of the programme.

Under transport secretary Chris Grayling, Network Rail was last year told to review the idea of expanding the stations, a move thought to have been aimed at finding cheaper alternatives.

Officials were given until March to find 'other options'. The M.E.N. now understands they have concluded the original plan is the only solution, meaning the proposal is now back on Mr Grayling’s desk.

Manchester council leader Sir Richard Leese has warned the project is now at least five years behind, if it ever happens at all, adding: “If this was in London or the south east, it would have happened... If it’s the north of England, it doesn’t happen.”

George Osborne unveiled plans for the ‘Northern Hub’ in 2014, promising major upgrades to infrastructure aimed at ending rail gridlock and adding ‘billions’ to the northern economy.

Part of that was a plan to add two new platforms, 15 and 16, to Manchester Piccadilly, as well as lengthening those at Oxford Road, aimed at increasing crucial capacity within the bottleneck at the heart of the city.

Since then, however, Mr Osborne has left the Treasury and the final sign-off - known as a Transport and Works Act order - has remained stuck with the Department for Transport.

Around a year ago, Chris Grayling then asked Network Rail to review the plan, suggesting ‘digital’ solutions might be sufficient to avoid spending millions on new platforms.

The M.E.N. understands Network Rail has now completed that report, which has concluded no viable alternative exists.

One source said the only other way of dealing with the crippling problems on the network - which affect the wider north as well as Manchester, contributing significantly to last year’s timetable chaos - would be to ‘cut services’.

That concern echoes scathing comments made by Sir Richard Leese at the most recent meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, where leaders agreed that Northern Rail should have its franchise stripped.

“It’s really really important that we don’t let government off the hook as well,” he told colleagues, before referring to a ‘large number of promises’ made previously by the government, including new trains and expansion at Piccadilly.

“The only bit of those infrastructure works that’s been carried out is the Ordsall Chord,” he said, referring to the £80m new link through Castlefield, opened two years ago.

“There are two major pieces of work - Piccadilly platforms 15 and 16 and the expansion of platforms at Oxford Road station where public inquiry was carried out, where the reports from those public inquiries still sit on ministers’ desks. They have not yet been determined.

“In the interim, over the past 12 months Network Rail have carried out yet another review of how they can deal with congestion on the Castlefield corridor and they’ve come to exactly the same conclusion: that we need two extra through platforms at Piccadilly station and that we need longer platforms at Oxford Road station.”

(Image: PA)

Essentially that means the project has been delayed, but no viable alternatives identified.

"This is work that should have been carried out by this year, in order to allow this timetable to be delivered. At the current rate, it is likely to be another five or six years before that work is carried out. With the current secretary of state, it’s likely it will never be carried out actually, because it is likely he’d be required to make a decision and a decision about investment in the north."

Sir Richard added that the saga highlighted - as does the ‘power up the north’ campaign launched by the M.E.N. and other northern titles this morning - the difference in the way the region is treated in comparison to the capital.

“This is yet another example where if this was in London or the south east, it would have happened. It would have happened on time. And even if it did cost more than it was supposed to do the overspend would have been met. If it’s the north of England, it doesn’t happen.”

A Network Rail spokesman said: “While the Transport and Works Act application to the Secretary of State to build two additional platforms at Piccadilly remains live, the DfT asked us to undertake an additional piece of work to assess the long-term infrastructure capability across Greater Manchester.

"The first phase of this study has been passed to the DfT for its consideration."

A DfT spokesperson said: “We want to improve journeys for passengers across the network, and are currently reviewing an interim report undertaken by Network Rail to identify a range of options that could improve rail capacity in Manchester.

“Our focus is to deliver a reliable railway and developments have already commenced to help us achieve this, including the recent and significant timetabling improvements, and the introduction of more modern trains.”