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FT.com:
'Crossrail of the North' suggested to boost economic integration

23 June 2014

Henry Overman, a London School of Economics professor who authored the report, has continued to lobby for ''agglomeration'' of big northern cities. Prof Overman said recently that reducing travel time between Leeds and Manchester would boost wages by attracting better quality workers. ''Our largest estimate - for a 20-minute reduction in train journey times between Leeds and Manchester - has average wages increasing by between 1.06 per cent and 2.7 per cent,'' he said. ''The composition of the workforce is different in larger, better-connected places.'' He has argued against the HS2 north-south high-speed rail line, pointing out that the impact of knocking 20 minutes off the Manchester-Leeds journey is estimated to be three times that of a 40-minute reduction for travel from Leeds to London.

This article was published in the FT.com on June 23, 2014
Link to article here

Related Publications
The economic future of British cities, Henry Overman. Article in CentrePiece Volume 18, Issue 1, Summer 2013
HS2: assessing the costs and benefits, Henry Overman. Article in CentrePiece Volume 16, Issue 3, Winter 2012

Related Links
Henry Overman webpage
SERC website

Read more... FT.com