Posted 11th April 2012 | 7 Comments
More spent on car parks than key main line
The Midland Main Line is already electrified as far as Bedford, but intercity services rely on diesels
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS is to debate the delayed upgrade to the Midland Main Line next Monday, against a background of rising concern that electrification of the route could again be placed on the back burner.
The electrification of the MML between Bedford and Sheffield, including the spurs to Corby and Nottingham, are part of Network Rail's plans for its next five-year Control Period from 2014, but the budgets for CP5 are still being negotiated with the Office of Rail Regulation and no decision is expected for several months.
Campaigners in the East Midlands have pointed out that the business case for Midland electrification was better than that for the Great Western Main Line, but allege that the GWML was chosen by the previous government partly because of the number of marginal constituencies on the route.
The issues will now be discussed by the House of Commons on 16 April in an adjournment debate sponsored by Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan, who has also organised a letter to transport minister Theresa Villiers signed by 20 of the region's MPs.
The letter makes clear the case for investment in the line, saying that it would reduce the cost of the railway by up to £60 million per year, cut carbon emissions, and lead to significant reductions in journey times between London and the East Midlands.
Mrs Morgan said: "Upgrading and electrifying the Midland Main Line is imperative for economic growth. It would reduce travelling times between key cities, meet business demand for rail freight, improve performance, and deliver £450 million in wider economic benefits.
“There is a large amount of cross-party support for this proposal and I am delighted that MPs from across the East Midlands and South Yorkshire are united in their support for this crucial investment."
The recent record of DfT support for the Midland route is not impressive, according to Simon Carr of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership.
He said: "Upgrading and electrifying the Midland Mainline is essential in connecting the Sheffield City Region to London and the East Midlands. It is a project long overdue – more money has been spent on improving car parks on the West Coast Main Line in the past five years than on the whole of the Midland."
The upgrade is also being backed by the Rail Freight Group as well as the Derby and Derbyshire Rail Forum, which represents about 100 rail-related businesses in the Derby area.
But electrification, if it happened, could then trigger a further debate about the type of rolling stock to be used.
The present Intercity Express Programme does not cater for the MML, and although the DfT is planning to electrify some Voyagers by inserting a pantograph car in each unit, there is apparently no intention to upgrade the similar Meridians which run between London and Sheffield.
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
stuart smith, derby
For too long the Midland main line has been a musical hall joke when it comes to route infrastructure and linespeed improvements. The line has always been treated with a "cinderella" image in both LMS, BR and Railtrack days and it doee not look that Network Rail are doing any better than their predecessors. Electrification is not of paramount importance to your writer as no doubt it will be too costly and any excuse made not to do so, but route improvememnts e.g. realignments and linespeed increases would be more beneficial with tilting trains and then perhaps we could see the long awaited and equally long overdue improvements.
(The report on this page does not include any editorial view about the merits of MML electrification, and 'our writer' has expressed no opinion on the matter.—Editor.)
Geoff Steel, Northampton
I think that in spite of government assurances, the reluctance to proceed with the MML electrification to Sheffield is a clear indication that the huge cost of HS2 (which will eventually reach South Yorkshire albeit not before 2032) will result in less investment on the rest of the network. Hence the reason why GWML has got the nod over MML
Lutz, London
There are no firm plans for electrification of the MML. It is currently an option pending availability of funds, albeit a top of the list option.
Realistically, work on electrification of the MML can not start until towards the end of the work on the GWML, which would I think be in the 2017-2019 time frame.
Not sure where the figures for the spend on car parks vs spend on MML comes from- I suspect they are selective on what is included in the MML spend.
Also, I think part of the costing of the MML electrification was based on conversion of the existing rolling stock, but this is not likely to happy, so alternative vehicles would have to be allocated, and thus the BCE would change.
John Gilbert, Cradley
Obcviously the MML is a line where tilting trains are essential as it has a high proportion of curves, e,.g,.at the approach to Wellingborough station. That the fools in Parliament are vacillating about the electrification scheme as a whole is appalling but no surprise, vacillating is about all they are good for - that and cancelling, e.g. Cardiff to Swansea, the two largest cities in Wales. (If Cambridge to King's Lynn is already wired; then how much more should the two Welsh cities be similarly equipped.)
The MML scheme is simply a no-brainer, except to the Parliamentarians.
T Price, Nottingham
Either order more IEP's or introduce tilt technology on the route and order more Pendolino's. Then cascade the existing Meridiens onto the Liverpool - Norwich services. Job done!
It's high time the East Midlands received some serious rail investment. We always seems to be forgotten about in favour of projects in the South and North, but we pay our taxes and contribute just as much to the economy.
By the time the wires do go up (if they do!) the existing Sprinters that work the local services will be in need of replacement so serious consideration should be given to electrifying some of the local routes around Derby and Nottingham as well.
Paul Geary, Leicester
Were there not plans to re introduce the goods loops between Mkt harborough and Desborough?
David Faircloth, Derby
Remember the APT?
BR had plans to introduce it on the WCML; the reasons the project didn't go ahead was financial, not technical - it just couldn't get through BR's investment appraisal process.
As part of this, an exercise was undertaken of key routes to determine what benefits - if any - would result from tilting trains. From memory, this showed that tilting trains would result in longer journey times on the ECML, that the WCML would only benefit on the northern portion through the Northern Fells and in Scotland, but that significant journey time benefits could be achieved on the Midland Main Line.
So a combination of electrification and tilting trains could produce significant journey time benefits for trains between St Pancras, the East Midlands, and South Yorkshire; however, such higher speeds for passenger trains could result in an overall reduction in capacity on the route, particularly on the two-tracked section between Kettering and Kilby Bridge (near Wigston).
It will be interesting to see how the debate goes.