£1.1bn rail plan scrapped on promise of ‘fantasy’ trains
A GOVERNMENT decision to scrap plans to electrify the Midland Mainline was made based on the idea of ‘fantasy trains’, a Leicestershire MP has said.
The National Audit Office (NAO) has completed an investigation into Secretary of State for Transport Chris Graying’s controversial decision to axe a promised electrification of the route north of Kettering through Leicestershire towards Sheffield.
Mr Grayling axed the £1.1 billion project last summer to the fury of politicians across the East Midlands.
He insisted there was no longer a need for electric trains on the route because new ‘bi-mode’ trains - powered partly by diesel and partly by electric - could travel just as fast and increase passenger capacity.
The NAO’s report however says that type of train - dismissed by Leicestershire County Council leader Nick Rushton as ‘clunky, heavy, slow and smelly’, did not exist when Mr Grayling proposed them.
Loughborough MP Nicky Morgan described the report as extraordinary.
She said: “Now we see the decision to cancel it was based on fantasy trains that didn’t even exist and the Midlands being a guinea pig for an untested technology.
“This report justifies why people felt so shortchanged when it was cancelled and it makes me more determined to get the decision re-opened.”
The NAO report said: “In the case of Midland Main Line, bi-mode trains with the required speed and acceleration did not exist when the Secretary of State made his decision.
“When the Secretary of State made his announcement in July 2017, he specified that the next operator for the East Midlands franchise would deliver new bimode trains from 2022.
“The Department expects journey times with bi-mode trains to be only one minute slower between London and Sheffield than they would have been with fully electric trains.
“However, when the Secretary of State decided to cancel the project in March 2017, the Department had advised him that bi-mode rolling stock of the required speed and acceleration to meet the timetable of the route did not currently exist.
“The department told us that, although it did not include it in its written advice, it expected that manufacturers would be able to develop a bi-mode train that would deliver service improvements on Midland Main Line.”
The report adds: “The Department has not yet fully costed the environmental and future financial implications of its decision on Midland Main Line.
“It is uncertain about how much the new trains will cost, but in October 2017 the Secretary of State told the Transport Select Committee that completing electrification would “be more expensive” than buying other trains.”
It said bi-mode trains would be able to complete the Sheffield to London journey just one minute slower than electric trains.
The report concludes the decision to discontinue electrification was taken for financial reasons with ‘cost and schedule increases apparent’ within the first year of preparation work in 2014.
Nationally, by the end of 2016 the cost of work due to be carried out by the following March exceeded the cash available by £2.5 billion.
The Department for Transport estimated scrapping the three projects would save £1.49 billion up to 2024.
The report says £22 million was spent preparing for electrification north of Kettering before the project was axed - including £20 million spent elevating bridges in and around Leicestershire.
A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: “As this report makes clear, we are focused on delivering better trains and services to passengers more quickly, at better value for money for the taxpayer, without the significant disruption to services that electrification can cause.”