Is Devolution Of Rail Services Achievable?

In his first speech following the General Election, George Osborne promised "a revolution in the way we govern England". He chose Manchester as the venue for this speech as it gave him an opportunity to promote the Northern Powerhouse.

The Government's plans for devolution to cities are to be enshrined in the Cities and Local Government Devolution Act, which is currently a Bill being considered by parliament. What the Chancellor is offering is to hand power from the centre to cities to give them greater control, including over transport. But in order to go down this route a city must put in place a city-wide elected mayor to work with local councils. Of this Mr. Osborne has said, "I will not impose this model on anyone. But nor will I settle for less."