Quote:
Originally Posted by Gayle
I'm puzzled as to how it will create jobs around here. Surely it will give more people the chance to get jobs in Manchester and commute out of here every day.
I'm not saying it wouldn't be a nice thing, to have a train service straight to Manchester as I could catch the train and do my Christmas shopping easily without having to park in the city.
But I'd love someone to explain where the jobs will come from.
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Quite right, Gayle. I suspect this figure has been plucked out of thin air in order to justify some consultant’s fees. You’re also right when you say there is both an up line and a down line with most railways and in a place like Accrington jobs are just as likely to migrate as they are to be brought in. Certainly, if you have an up and coming area with a new industrial estates and new office parks then a new or improved railway link is essential but if you have an area in rapid economic decline – such as Hyndburn & N E Lancs – then you’ll find that jobs may well go out.
There could, however, be a positive effect on property prices as people decide to use the area to live and to commute into Manchester. That’s certainly the case now with Todmorden and Hebden Bridge, which lie half way between Leeds and Manchester, the two largest financial centres outside of London. Lots of people choose to live there because it’s a half hour journey into either city, they have the advantages of small town life, and come winter and the snow falls they get, then they don’t have to turn up for work
Even that, however, may soon end if the EU succeeds in implementing a financial transactions tax on the UK. I do believe that Mr Jones is backing that idea.