Greenwood hits out
Transport Select Committee chairman criticises Government‘s electrification policy and handling of rail upgrades.
THE head of the Transport Select Committee has claimed there is a “disconnect” in the Department for Transport’s strategy for upgrading the country’s railways.
Speaking exclusively to RAIL, Lilian Greenwood, Labour MP for Nottingham South and chairman of the cross-party group, criticised the Government’s handling of rail upgrades and its decision to ban diesel trains from the network by 2040.
“As someone who’s sitting in the East Midlands, as someone who is served by the Midland Main Line that’s been wanting electrification for a long time in a city that has a major air quality challenge, the idea that bi-mode trains are the answer is absolutely astonishing because a bi-mode train is a diesel train if it isn’t running under wires. There seems to be a disconnect in the Department for Transport’s strategy,” Greenwood told RAIL.
She questioned whether the DfT has a clear strategy about getting to where it wants the railways to be in 2040.
“I’m not yet convinced that’s in place,” she said. “Obviously there is an interest in alternative modes of traction; they’re interested in battery technology and hydrogen, but those are somewhat unproven, whereas we know what the benefits of electrification are.”
Referring to enquiries the group held into the cancellation and delays of several electrification schemes in January, when Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling was grilled by MPs, Greenwood continued: “We’ve already expressed a concern as a committee at the way in which electrification has been scaled back.
“We’ve had the Secretary of State in front of us twice on that issue. That was around the cancelled schemes, but it seems to us that there was a strong case for electrifying our railways in terms of passenger benefits as well as environmental benefits. It wasn’t lost on me that it was only very recently we heard they were intending to eliminate diesel trains from the network.”
She has challenged the DfT to ensure freight isn’t forgotten when planning for the future
without diesel: “Freight often gets neglected and yet it is critically important - critical in tackling congestion on our motorways, critical in improving our environment towards sustainability and same from a safety perspective as well.
“I’d like to see much more freight travelling by rail and it is important that in planning future infrastructure and the needs of the network that freight is properly taken account of.”
Greenwood also called for more research to be conducted into the impact diesel trains have on the public’s health, claiming it is “inconceivable” that HSTs don’t have a localised impact on health in the country.
“When I go on the train at St Pancras, the fast trains are almost all HSTs and you can see the diesel fumes as you walk down the platform,” she told RAIL.
“I believe there has been little analysis of the impact of diesel trains on local environmental quality.”