Cumbria is in line for major road and rail improvements in preparation for a potential £25bn investment in large-scale energy, defence and manufacturing projects.

But those same projects – including NuGen’s plans for nuclear new build at Sellafield – will mean the county’s population needs to grow by around 50,000 to provide the skilled workers to deliver them.

That is the view of Graham Haywood, CORR director of Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), who is confident that the county will soon secure a devolution deal from the Government.

This could bring a multi-million pound investment fund, new powers over skills and training, and greater control over control over transport, housing and planning.

In its discussions with ministers, the LEP has made the case for a £50m-plus upgrade of the Cumbrian Coast railway, and for £25m of improvements to the A595 between Carlisle and west Cumbria.

Mr Haywood said: “The coastal railway doesn’t have the necessary capacity. With a modest amount of investment we can improve it significantly so we can move as much freight as possible by rail.

“NuGen would like to use the Port of Workington to bring in materials and equipment and then move it by rail to Sellafield.”

The LEP also wants to see the reinstatement of rail tracks allowing freight trains to avoid Carlisle’s Citadel station.

Regarding the A595, Mr Haywood said: “Upgrading the whole route to dual carriageway is unrealistic but there are key bottlenecks where junction improvements and widening can bring benefits. We have consultants looking at that.”

Manchester, Liverpool and other major cities have already secured devolution deals. James Wharton, the Northern Powerhouse Minister, hinted Cumbria would get one imminently when he visited in November.

Mr Haywood said an announcement had been delayed by the floods, which had diverted the attention of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

When a deal is announced, he hopes that some of the cash can be used to make Cumbria’s infrastructure more resilient to flooding.

He said: “Storm Desmond was unprecedented but people will say we have to get used to more unprecedented weather events.

“It’s an opportunity to make long-term changes to build in resilience for our roads and railways.

“One or two businesses might benefit from relocating to more sustainable locations. With these funds we might be able to help them achieve that.”

He is optimistic about Cumbria’s prospects.

NuGen is due to make a decision in 2018 on what would be the UK’s largest nuclear power station at Moorside, Sellafield.

This would provide 3.6GW of electricity and create up to 21,000 jobs during the construction phase.

Elsewhere, Carlisle will get an enterprise zone in April, BAE Systems is investing £300m in Barrow to build submarines to carry the replacement for Trident and pharmaceuticals giant GSK is investing £350m in a new factory at Ulverston.

Further ahead, there are also proposals for tidal energy off Workington and an underground nuclear waste repository.

Mr Haywood said: “We have potentially £25bn of private-sector investment, more than anywhere else in the north. 

"We have a massive contribution to make to low-carbon energy security, nationally-important projects such as the submarine programme, as well as a massive tourism economy and manufacturing.”

One of the key challenges will be finding the workforce for these projects.