UK: Rail industry groups have expressed disappointment at the decision to pause the Midland Main Line electrification programme, and called on the government to ensure ‘this is only a short pause so work can commence promptly within the next year’.
Phase 3 of the programme would extend 25 kV 50 Hz electrification from the Leicester area to Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield. However, on July 8 the Department for Transport and HM Treasury said ‘given the existing trains in use on this stretch of railway and the costs and time needed to electrify the route, we are focusing our investment on other schemes over the Spending Review period. We will continue to keep the potential for full electrification of the route under review.’
Responding to the announcement through a joint letter to Rail Minister Lord Hendy on July 14, Rail Forum and the Railway Industry Association said the decision could cost taxpayers between £50m and £70m and risk economic benefits of nearly £400m as well as the creation of nearly 5 000 jobs. They said the loss of jobs across the supply chain would undermine capacity to undertake efficient electrification in the future, and impair East Midlands Railway’s ability to replace its diesel multiple-units which would ‘exacerbate the challenges faced by rolling stock manufacturers and financiers and the supply chain’.
Rail Forum Chief Executive Elaine Clark said stopping the ‘shovel ready’ scheme ‘has caused wide concern and makes no sense’. She said the decision ‘doesn’t demonstrate the whole system thinking that is core to government’s agenda of bringing track and train together through rail reform’, and would have ‘a direct impact on supply chain businesses now. We risk losing further highly skilled individuals and jobs from the sector, which will ultimately add to costs for future electrification projects.’
RIA Chief Executive Darren Caplan added that ‘the decision threatens to continue a boom-and-bust approach to rail electrification in the UK, and is clearly a worry for the many businesses which have delivered the previous phases of the scheme on time and on budget. And it demonstrates a lack of whole-system thinking, inhibiting operational performance and revenue growth as well as providing further uncertainty for the rolling stock supply chain.’
Separately, East Midlands Councils and Transport for the East Midlands expressed dismay at the decision, saying it came almost exactly 10 years after a previous Conservative government also decided to pause the scheme, before cancelling it in 2017 and then resurrecting it as part the Integrated Rail Plan in 2021.
They said work to extend electrification to Market Harborough and South Wigston and to upgrade the wires south of Bedford had been completed on time and on budget, but the stop-start approach has driven up costs compared to other countries and the expertise gained will now be lost as teams are demobilised.
Sir Peter Soulsby, Chair of TfEM and Mayor of Leicester, said ‘electrification is not just a technical upgrade, it is a critical investment in the capacity, reliability and sustainability of our railway. It reduces carbon emissions, lowers operating costs, and provides the infrastructure that could transform local as well as inter-city rail services across the East Midlands. The Midland Main Line is now the only main line route that remains largely non-electrified. This puts our region at a disadvantage compared to others and undermines the national ambition to deliver a cost effective, reliable, low-carbon railway.’
He urged the government ‘to set out a clear, funded timetable for completion of the project, and to work with us to deliver the rail infrastructure this region needs and deserves.’
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said ‘there’s frustration in the region. After decades of national underinvestment in our transport network, we’re having to wait longer for vital rail improvements that would create jobs, opportunities and economic growth. It feels like one step forward and two steps back. We were told HS2 would come to Sheffield. That was cancelled. Now electrification of Midland Main Line is being paused. All we’re asking for is a fair deal.’
