This August was less tranquil than usual thanks to the Government's decision to cancel the electrification of the Manchester-Leeds train-line, while giving the go-ahead to Crossrail 2 in London.

This caused anger and dismay in the North, with mayors and other leaders uniting to call on the Government to ‘honour in full' its commitments to transport. Northern leaders should be lauded for bringing this debate to national prominence. However, there's a danger that in placing so much importance on big-ticket projects like this, we end up taking a piecemeal, project-led approach to policy that overlooks smaller ‘everyday' interventions.