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This morning felt like groundhog day in Manchester:

Another party conference season was looming, and another northern rail project had seemingly hit the buffers.

At 2023's Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Rishi Sunak saw fit to time on the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the HS2 line.

Last year it was Labour's turn. Then-transport secretary Louise Haigh revealed government money for Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham’s Liverpool-Manchester line was ‘practically unavailable’.

Both developments led to hastily-organised press conferences where local leaders lamented that, once again, Greater Manchester was being held back.

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And on Wednesday (September 25), it looked like similar noises would be made after it was revea

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