Posted 5th August 2009 | 12 Comments
UK Government plans to ground domestic flights with 250 mph trains
CONFIRMING that Britain’s next high-speed rail line from London to the North will operate trains at 250 mph (400 km/h) — as exclusively disclosed by Railnews two months ago — Transport Secretary Lord Andrew Adonis has now declared his aim of ending all domestic air travel in Britain.
“For reasons of carbon reduction and wider environmental benefits, it is manifestly in the public interest that we systematically replace short-haul aviation with high-speed rail,” Lord Adonis said in an interview with The Guardian newspaper on 5 August.
He said his first objective was to transfer domestic air passengers to rail, but later the focus would be on short-haul passengers to nearby Continental destinations, such as Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne.
Lord Adonis confirmed that plans for the first stage of a new route from London to the North and Scotland — initially as far as the West Midlands — would be produced by the end of this year. With cross-party support he said the line to the West Midlands could be built by 2020 — five years earlier than previous estimates.
He said he is considering the possibility of funding the London-West Midlands first stage, estimated to cost around £7 billion, with a public-private partnership. “Other countries which have made high-speed rail a priority have found it affordable by allocating long-term infrastructure funding to it. The French have decided to allocate €16bn (£13.7bn) to high-speed rail between now and 2020. It looks to me the more you build it the cheaper it becomes.”
He added: “I would like to see short-haul aviation – not just domestic aviation, but short-haul aviation – progressively replaced by rail, including high-speed rail,” Adonis said. “If we want to see [this] progressive replacement … then we have got to have a high-speed rail system that links our major conurbations and makes them far more accessible to Europe, too.”
Last month the government announced plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. Against that backdrop, Lord Adonis told The Guardian rail should take priority over air travel.
However, The Guardian reported, Lord Adonis’ high-speed rail ambitions would not undermine the Government’s aviation policy that calls for new runways at Stansted and Heathrow over the next decade.
“If you look at projections for long-haul air demand the third runway just on long-haul demand alone is justified,” Lord Adonis said. Air passenger numbers will nearly double to 465 million a year by 2030, according to UK Government estimates
Meanwhile, airlines were skeptical about Lord Adonis’ plans to shift short-haul passengers from planes to trains.
Michael O'Leary, the outspoken chief executive of Ryanair, Europe's largest short-haul airline, warned against making cross-Channel rail services the main conduit between the UK and Europe.
“It is insane,” he said. “The only link you have is one highly priced tunnel [the Channel Tunnel]. People are not going to travel to the UK regions including the Lake District and Cornwall on a train that only stops at Kent and London St Pancras,” he said.
Mr O’Leary added that profitable airlines were already being hit hard by air passenger duty while the rail network received billions of pounds in subsidies.
“On [return] domestic flights from Glasgow to London passengers are paying £20 in taxes while they continue to subsidise the shit out of the railways,” he said in characteristic style, adding: “Substituting one form of transport that is heavily taxed for a form of transport that is heavily subsidised is not the answer.”
The International Air Transport Association, which represents more than 200 major airlines worldwide, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, said a country that had taken decades to plan a third runway at Heathrow airport could take even longer to plan a high-speed rail network.
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
Ian East, Oxford, UK
The real point O'Leary makes is that we need a complete network once more, and one that raises the speed throughout. Otherwise, he is exactly right. A single fast line from Paris to Kent and London will only have a fraction of the value it could have had.
And why indeed must it cost so much and take so long; in a word (or rather two), Network Rail – the last remaining state monopoly, as inefficient and unaccountable as all the others were. Time to give the track back to the operator, or get some real competition going in rail infrastructure provision and maintenance.
Kai, coventry, england
sometimes i really hate this country, im only 16 and im already fed up of this country. im trapped in either coventry or birmingham because god forbid i ever want to leave and go somewhere they want to charge me £400 to get there. whoever runs the trains should be shot! whoever owns the railways should be shot and whoever's decision it was to not have the trains and the railways owned by the same company should be shot
Peter, Brighton, UK
It takes 40 minites to fly from Gatwick to Manchester. 1 hour to fly to Scotland. 40 minutes to fly to Paris. Though you would add in check in times and security at the airport flying is more conveniant and quicker. Why would you want to sit on a train for many hours, that is subject to signal delaysalong the whole length of the journey. I don't see that removing the domestic air network cill change that much for the better, just make people's journeys take longer. Airlines pay tax for the environment but does that money go into environmental policies, of course it doesn't its topping up the governments shortcomings in other areas like health and local spending. It's true what others say, that in the UK it would take forever to get organised. The UK should be able to make the most of all the latest technologies that would enhance it's citizens lives, but instead of being progressive like some other countries in europe, we are continually bogged down in redtape.
Geoff Steel, Northampton, United Kingdom
Further to my previous comment it is also worth noting that by the year 2020 whilst we in the UK can only hope to have a high speed line linking London and Birmingham the Spanish government have promised that ALL people living in Spain will be no more than 30 miles (50km) from a High Speed railway station. How do they do it? Action and not words but more importantly a lot of EU money towards the cost of providing the new infrastructure (see the web site of the Spanish railway infrastructure company - www.adif.es).
I would be interested to know given how much this country contributes to the EU why we don't seem to have access to this investment pot to build our much need high speed railways. Does anybody out there know why?
Grant, Liverpool
O'Leary and all airline industry are freaking out. They know that train is a better option.
O’Leary should focus and its company rather than talk everyday about something new, and he's really the last who could complain of taxes!! Extra charge is its speciality!
Matt, Manchester, United Kingdom
We shouldn't even be discussing plans for a high speed rail network in the UK we should be talking about how good it is because it should have been built years ago! Yet again we see the UK government planning this network yet who if anyone is confident it will be delivered? Sorry to speak like the glass is half empty but compared to France and Germany we are so far behind. Germany is already moving into a new era with plans for Maglev... something we might get when teleports are invented!! come on Britain keep up!!
A Wilkins, Witney, UK
Mr O'Leary conveniantly forgets that airlines pay no tax on their fuel whereas rail companies do. The air taxes are intended to offset the unfair financial advantage that air lines other wise have.
Martin, London, UK
Well I would like to see how the airline industry would cope witha true level playing field. Tax on airline fuel (at a similar level to cars and trains), VAT on services. While this runs into international issues with agreed treaties domestic tax could be introduce to almost immeadiatly.
This would significantly increase the cost of flights (at 56p per litre excise plus VAT of about 20p) this would increase the price of airline fuel - the main remaining cost of low costs airlines - by about 400%.
This money could be ringfenced into paying off the loans to build the new lines.
New raillines will add business to the UK while raising our profile in the world as a country that takes enviromental issues seriously.
leslie burge, leicester, england
Concentrate on our domestic internal flights (which are paying very little towards the environmental damage they cause)and the Continental destinations will follow. But it is imperative that we do get as many as our larger conurbations linked to high speed railway networks.
Geoff Steel, Northampton, England
What happened to choice? Whilst I am very much pro-rail what we need is a balanced transport system that gives us the choice of air; rail or road at competitive prices. I agree (only just this once) with Michael O'Leary regarding the bizarre way successful airlines are being taxed whilst subsidies are being handed out for non profit making modes of transport.
I hope we see high speed rail in Britain but I have my doubts as it strikes me of more talk from Ministers that are worried about their jobs with the General Election not too far away. It would also be interesting to hear what the Tory strategy is for HS rail given what a mess they made of the railways last time they were in power.
Rich, Canterbury, UK
Mr O'Leary: "It is insane, the only link you have is one highly priced tunnel [the Channel Tunnel]. People are not going to travel to the UK regions including the Lake District and Cornwall on a train that only stops at Kent and London St Pancras".
So why not do what was originally planned, and start running a few Eurostars from Birmingham, York or Leeds? You could do one a week to start with to show people it can be done, and to see what the demand is like. 1.5 hours from Birmingham to London, another 2 to Paris, meaning that you would be able to go from centre to centre in around 4 hours, even with the 30 minute checkin. It's 1.25 by air, but you've got longer checkin, and you have to get to & from the airports.
Robert Jones, Aylesbury
Well said, Lord Adonis. But why do we have to wait until 2020? And when is Mr. O'Leary going to stop bleating about air passengers having to pay tax? Every other thing in life in taxed, so air travel should not be the exception.