Posted 26th September 2022 | 10 Comments
Government names railway schemes for funding
The government has unveiled a Growth Plan which includes lower taxes, new ‘investment zones’ and investment in infrastructure.
This features 86 schemes to improve roads, and 10 for railways. The rail schemes included in the Plan have previously been proposed, and in some cases work on them has already begun.
They are Cambridge South station, the Northumberland Line, White Rose station, Thorpe Park station near Leeds. the Transpennine route upgrade, East West Rail, improvements to Leeds station and in the Manchester area, Midland Main Line Phase 3 and Northern Powerhouse Rail.
The Midland Main Line upgrade will see the electrification of a further 139km of the line from South Wigston, south of Leicester, to Derby, Sheffield and Nottingham.
The scopes of Northern Powerhouse Rail and the Transpennine route upgrade have changed more than once, and the latest Treasury documents about the Plan give no further details about what is proposed now.
Similarly, it is not clear how much of East West Rail will be going ahead, with the Bedford to Cambridge section sometimes said to be in the most doubt. Trains are running between Oxford and Bicester and restoration of the line from Bicester to Bletchley is already well advanced, while passenger trains have never been withdrawn between Bletchley and Bedford, in spite of closure proposals made in the 1960s and 1970s. The spur to Aylesbury along the former Great Central main line from Calvert seems less likely to go ahead in the foreseeable future, but EWR trains will be able to run through to Milton Keynes Central via a new junction at Bletchley on to the West Coast Main Line.
The new Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng said: ‘Economic growth isn’t some academic term with no connection to the real world. It means more jobs, higher pay and more money to fund public services, like schools and the NHS.
‘This will not happen overnight but the tax cuts and reforms send a clear signal that growth is our priority.
‘Cuts to stamp duty will get the housing market moving and support first-time buyers to put down roots. New Investment Zones will bring business investment and release land for new homes in communities across the country. And we’re accelerating new road, rail and energy projects by removing restrictions that have slowed down progress for too long.’
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
Greg T, London
"86 schemes to improve roads, and 10 for railways" _ THERE is your problem, that needs fixing, yesterday.
AND
Why is electrification cheaper in Scotland & almost everywhere else than here?
Michael T., Reading
We all KNOW what, where, how the issues are with the entire BR Network is in it's current state.
Why Not approve all and get a rolling programme in effect to have ALL bottlenecks etc etc started and completed in Five Years.
Look what the Chinese have accomplished in a single year. If is far more than the UK achieves in decades!
Tim Stevens, Peterborough
If the East West Rail route via Cambourne is unaffordable, why not go for a cheaper route making more use of existing railways? From the Marston Vale line at Stewartby via a new interchange at Wixams on the MML south of Bedford (avoiding controversial property demolition in Bedford), then eastwards to join the ECML south of Sandy. From there to Cambridge on existing railways, requiring just a short new chord at Hitchin.
This needs only 13 route-miles (21km) of new construction; surely the benefits would outweigh the costs?
Alan Francis, Milton Keynes
"but EWR trains will be able to run through to Milton Keynes Central via a new junction at Bletchley on to the West Coast Main Line." Interesting use of the word "new". The junction was built in 1950s when the original flyover was built.
[Yes, but at least part of that junction would have been lifted when the original flyover and any track was removed. Perhaps 'replacement' would have been better?--Ed.]
Derek Amitri, Anytown
(Comment deleted by moderator as writer concealed place of origin and also appears to be using a pseudonym)
H. Gillies-Smith, South Milford
Well I'm old enough to remember what happened to the WCML electrification. In comes a change of goverrnment and cancelled from Weaver Junction northwards. Will these schemes suffer the same fate if this happens again I wonder? A political ideology supposedly for the working man and takes work out from under their feet including those who voted for them. I leave others to make up their own minds on that.
david c smith, Bletchley
As an inhabitant of Milton Keynes since 1968 , i've lived through various east-west rail schemes that we in the end never get . The present one's Achiles heal seems to be the route from Bedford to Cambriidge ; proposed routes all are low BCR ones that ramble around so as to serve intrmediate villages, whiilst a cheaper , more direct routing oriented towards strategic through services would be more viable.
Terry Piper, Crewe
Lots of other projects should be on the list, rail should be a priority not roads.
East/West must be completed in full from Oxford to Cambridge (Shapp's hinted that they might drop the section from Bedford to Cambridge recently)
John B, London
Most of these will never see the light of day due to the oncoming financial tsunami brought about by the world-beating incompetent govt. Not necessarily a bad thing for projects like East West Rail whose BCR back in June 2018 was 0.85 and now must be close to zero with the effect of Covid.
Martin Marrison, West Sussex
Shame the 7 miles of missing track will not be infilled between Lewes and Uckfield has not been included, even at £2m per mile and a total of £14m this would have made a real difference. I assume that the governments "leveling up" agenda stopped any improvement in the southeast?
[Wouldn't you say that East West Rail is at least on the fringes of the south east?--Ed.]