FOR £33 billion ($49 billion) and a 20-year wait, Britain is to get a high-speed rail line connecting London to the north of England. For £32 billion-odd less than that sum, it gets the Northern Hub. Far less controversial or glamorous—the funding process was a bit like a church-roof appeal at first, says Chris Fletcher of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce—the project is a terrific example of the kind of infrastructure that Britain badly needs to build.

It consists of a series of schemes aimed at improving railway travel around Manchester, the north of England’s most successful city. One of them, the building of a short curved section of track known as the “Ordsall chord” (see map), might appear humdrum. But in providing the missing link in a loop between Piccadilly and Victoria, the main stations, it completes a direct line through the city that connects the airport in the south with suburbs to the north. New platforms will be built at Piccadilly and at the airport. Capacity will also be added elsewhere to cut journey times to cities such as Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle. Network Rail, the owner and operator of Britain’s railway infrastructure, reckons the Northern Hub’s £600m improvements will deliver a boost to the economy four times that sum. Whereas HS2, Britain’s planned high-speed rail line, will connect the north of England to the south, the Northern Hub cements lateral links between northern cities. Many of them need attention. Research by the London School of Economics found that around 40% less commuting journeys are made between Leeds and Manchester, the north’s burgeoning commercial centres, than their proximity and status would imply. Integrate them more closely, as the Northern Hub will, by adding two more trains an hour (making six in total) and reducing journey times, and the labour pool ought to grow, making it easier to do business. Two new electrification projects being undertaken in concert with the hub complement it. These run in the north-west from Manchester to Liverpool and to Blackpool, and across the Pennines from Manchester to Leeds. Electric trains allow for greener, cheaper travel than their diesel cousins, and have more seats. Because they can accelerate and stop more quickly, they also speed up journeys. All these projects should be finished by 2019, long before HS2. It is vital for the upgraded regional network to dovetail with the high-speed rail line, as the latter’s benefits are only fully realised if passengers can be efficiently delivered to its stations from local areas.

The Northern Hub may be a case study in how infrastructure spending can boost an economy. A 2006 study of Britain’s transport system by Sir Rod Eddington, a former head of British Airways, advised the government to prioritise congested urban areas, key inter-urban corridors and international gateways. The Northern Hub tackles all three.

It also demonstrates the importance of regional unity. The project can be traced back to 2004, when the north’s three regional development agencies (all since abolished) began a collaboration aimed at improving the area’s economy. This “Northern Way” ended up focusing on transport. Network Rail responded to its promptings with proposals to remove some of the bottlenecks around Manchester. It is often difficult for the north to get its voice heard, says Ed Cox of IPPR North, a think-tank. The consensus behind the Northern Hub made it hard to ignore.

The Northern Way’s success in pushing for better transport has led to calls for a permanent transfer of decision-making to a regional outfit. With the two northern rail franchises, Northern and TransPennine, due to be relet in the next couple of years, one option, already pitched to the Department for Transport, would be for their operations to be combined and devolved to a new body.

That is a question for the future. For now, there is broad satisfaction that a transport project designed expressly to invigorate the north’s economy is about to pull out of the station.