The Rail Discussion board (RF) and the Railway Business Affiliation (RIA) have written a joint letter to Rail Minister Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE, responding to the Authorities’s resolution introduced final week to ‘pause’ the Midland Major Line electrification improve.
The letter highlights that the selection to maintain this key rail enhancement underneath overview might price taxpayers between £50mn and £70mn, and danger financial advantages of almost £400m in addition to the creation of almost 5,000 jobs.
Elaine Clark OBE, Chief Government of Rail Discussion board (RF), stated: “We’re extraordinarily disenchanted on the Authorities’s resolution to pause Midland Mainline Electrification, a choice that can have a direct affect on provide chain companies now. We danger dropping additional extremely expert people and jobs from the sector, which can finally add to prices for future electrification tasks.
“While current bulletins and affirmation of different tasks have been welcomed by our members, stopping Midland Mainline Electrification has induced extensive concern and is senseless. It’s a shovel prepared mission that would ship tangible advantages this parliament with different tasks unlikely to even get off the beginning blocks in that timeframe. Taking into consideration possible demobilisation/remobilisation prices we imagine it’s a nasty resolution for the UK taxpayer and a nasty resolution for customers of the MML with a number of of our bigger cities now condemned to utilizing diesel traction for the foreseeable future. Moreover it doesn’t show the entire system pondering that’s core to Authorities’s agenda of ‘bringing observe and practice collectively’ by means of rail reform.”
Darren Caplan, Chief Government of the Railway Business Affiliation (RIA) stated, “Railway suppliers, while welcoming among the current Authorities bulletins about rail schemes within the June Spending Assessment, can be involved about this sudden resolution to ‘pause’ electrification of the Midland Major Line, and preserve it underneath overview. This resolution will delay the advantages of the mission and undermine regional financial progress within the Midlands, in addition to price taxpayers cash and threaten 1000’s of jobs.
“The choice threatens to proceed a boom-and-bust strategy to rail electrification within the UK, and is clearly a fear for the various companies which have delivered the earlier phases of the scheme on time and on finances. And it demonstrates a scarcity of whole-system pondering, inhibiting operational efficiency and income progress in addition to offering additional uncertainty for the rolling inventory provide chain.
“So we urge the Rail Minister Lord Hendy to contemplate to make sure that is solely a brief ‘pause’ so work can start promptly inside the subsequent 12 months. And we restate our provide to convene a cross-industry group to develop a decarbonisation technique and resourcing plan. This might affirm the minimal further electrification to ship Internet Zero for passengers and freight by 2050.”
