Government plans new ‘pipeline’ process for enhancements

Paused electrification on the Great Western route may now only go ahead once it is “properly worked through”, according to the Government.

Rail Minister Jo Johnson told Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald in a Commons Written Reply on February 2 that funding for enhancements deferred from Control Period 5 (CP5, 2014-19) has been carried into CP6 (201924).

But he warned: “In line with the new process for enhancements, these schemes will continue to be subject to ongoing consideration, to ensure they deliver the best results for both rail users and taxpayers.” Network Rail had been expected to electrify from Didcot to Oxford, Bath Spa to Bristol Parkway and Cardiff Central to Swansea, but all were ‘paused’ last year. This has meant planned electric services from Paddington to Oxford terminate at Didcot Parkway, with passengers using a Great Western Railway shuttle between there and Oxford. Class 800 bi-modes provide power on other routes, but do not perform at the planned levels. Johnson wrote: “These enhancements will be taken forward through a new process in the form of a pipeline, designed to ensure investment best addresses the needs of passengers and freight, and that funding commitments appropriately reflect the stage of development of enhancements.

“Under this process, we will only commit enhancements for development, design or delivery when they have been properly worked through, to avoid the problems of the past where schemes were committed to too early.”

He said Government would be setting out more details shortly.