NorthOnTrack

NorthOnTrack is an unfunded Think Tank organisation set up in 2021, originally as "CrossNorth Programme" which proposes an alternative integration of Northern Powerhouse Rail through Manchester. The concept proposes a 2.5 mile tunnel from Oldfield Road in Salford to Ardwick with two stations, forming the core section of NPR. This is intended to release the Castlefield corridor bottleneck, and allow S-Bahn style operation on the existing network by moving inter-city trains onto their own dedicated tracks through the city.

Proposed route and stations
The proposed route involves the connection of the Chat Moss line to the Transpennine Route Upgrade including two new stations: Salford Interchange and Manchester Piccadilly station (The city's main rail hub) Provision is intended to be left to connect to a new line to Liverpool and Leeds either side, completing the Northern Powerhouse Rail network. From west to east, the proposed route is as follows:

The existing Chat Moss line would diverge from its current route towards Ordsall Lane junction into the first of the proposed stations "Salford Interchange" which would be located on existing railway and Brownfield land close to where the existing railways intersect, creating an Interchange station where passengers from North Manchester would be able to access east–west inter-city services without the need to provide feeder services through the already congested Castlefield Corridor, which under previous NPR plans would have been necessary since Manchester Piccadilly station would have been the only Manchester station on the network.

Salford Interchange would consist of 6-8 platforms - 4 platforms for local services via the Atherton Line, Bolton, Manchester Victoria station (toward Rochdale) and Manchester Airport via Piccadilly, and 2-4 platforms for east–west inter-city services (currently operated by TransPennine Express and Transport for Wales Rail). The site is also intended to connect to a planned Manchester Metrolink line connecting Salford Crescent to MediaCityUK, providing rapid access to the growing knowledge economy of Salford Quays from Liverpool through to Leeds, contributing to the valuable agglomeration effects intended in the original "Northern Powerhouse" vision. Together these comprehensive connections are projected to lead to high density Transit-oriented development. It could be compared to Old Oak Common railway station on a smaller scale.

Heading east, the line is intended to drop into a Bored tunnel under the city centre and into a new 2-4 platform sub-surface station at Manchester Piccadilly station, roughly 260m in length on the site of the cancelled High Speed 2 400m terminus, parallel to the existing train shed. This would include a shared concourse with capacity to handle future HS2 passengers should a future government re-commit to building HS2 to Manchester and the associated 400m surface terminus. Fast and frequent connections to the South and Manchester Airport would be available from here, largely thanks to the extra capacity created on the Styal line for metro-style commuter services. This side benefit is also intended to increase rail patronage in South Manchester, reducing car-dependency and overcrowding on parallel bus routes.

From Piccadilly the line would enter a shorter tunnel toward Ardwick where it would surface onto the Guide Bridge line connecting with TRU toward Leeds and beyond, as well as the Hope Valley line toward Sheffield. Passive provision would be left to connect to a new, high speed trans-pennine line as planned by Transport for the North, completing the NPR network.

Proposed phasing
In phase 1 without the new lines toward Liverpool and Leeds, the core tunnelled section is intended to run 8 trains per hour, per direction, with select trains terminating at Salford Interchange or Piccadilly. In a 2 platform configuration, turn-back sidings would need to be located in the vicinity of Ashburys railway station and/or Eccles to allow time for services to be turned around. In a 4 platform configuration, trains would utilise one of the 4 platforms to terminate.

In Phase 2 with the new lines added, the core section is intended to run up to 10 trains per hour in each direction, with all trains running through.

Differences with previous proposals
NorthOnTrack's "CrossNorth" plan also offers the potential to connect Chester, North Wales, Cumbria and Sheffield to the Northern Powerhouse Rail network, which is a significant point of difference compared to the previous plans, which were limited to 6tph per direction from Liverpool to Leeds where services would split toward Kingston upon Hull and Newcastle upon Tyne (also planned to be connected to the proposed "CrossNorth" network).

Also, unlike previous NPR plans, CrossNorth does not intend to utilise High Speed 2 infrastructure as part of its route. The former proposed utilising the stretch of HS2 between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly station via an 8-mile twin-bore tunnel with a reversal at Piccadilly for NPR trains heading east, an element that was highly criticised by the Mayor of Greater Manchester and Transport for Greater Manchester, instead proposing a combined 4 platform station long enough for both HS2 and NPR trains. This, however, was highly criticised at Select committee (United Kingdom) in June 2023. The HS2 leg to Manchester was later dropped completely in September 2023 by Rishi Sunak at the Conservative Party Conference held in Manchester Central (a former railway station)

NorthOnTrack's "CrossNorth" plan remains conceptual in nature, and is yet approved by any state-funded transport body, however has gained a notable online presence and amongst public transport and sustainable transport advocates, as well as becoming policy of Enroute Group CIC (Previously Sustainable Transport Midlands CIC) in 2022. Its presence today offers a conceptual alternative to previous proposals which had complete reliance on HS2.