We should always welcome potential improvements to Blackpool’s transport infrastructure, but people are right to say “I’ll believe it when I see it” when they hear the Government committing to electrifying this stretch of rail. This has more than a whiff of pre-election desperation to it. Yes, we need electrification to Preston, but we need to think about what routes are most important for the local economy – and that means better connections with towns in Lancashire and West Yorkshire to attract visitors, and that means resolving the bottleneck in the middle of the Manchester – which the Government have been noticeably quiet on. If you ask anyone with an interest in transport in the North, they will tell you that solving that is the big challenge. This isn’t a serious solution to Blackpool’s rail problems.

Careful readers might note that no date was set by which the track would be electrified. No mention was made – at all – of any plans to restart direct rail services to London. No indication from Virgin that electrification at some unspecified point in the future might see them restart the service. So all that hot air about a direct service to London is just that – hot air.

All we got was a distant prospect that one day the line would be electrified – and we had that anyway!

The Conservative Party will be launching a blueprint for transport in the North in the New Year. I think you will find it a little more substantial …