South West does not want franchise fragmentation
If he lived in the West Country, Industry Insider would not find it “strange” that both Devon and Cornwall Councils object to the fragmentation of the Great Western franchise ( RAIL 849).
One reason for this is explained by MP Luke Pollard, in the same issue. The far South West has been completely omitted from the upsurge in rail investment, despite many government promises to the contrary. And a smaller franchise will mean even less notice is taken of our very real needs.
The South West local authorities recently combined to produce the all-party Peninsula Rail Group report. Ostensibly a response to the Dawlish crisis, it is in fact a sensible and reasoned blueprint on the needs of the region’s rail network over the next 25 years.
But central response to this is instructive. Network Rail nearly torpedoed it just before work began, by last-minute withdrawal of its offer of £500,000 towards writing it, but was bailed out by our ‘over-big’ franchisee - GWR!
Nevertheless, a draft was completed by summer 2015, and the completed report in 2016.
It has since gathered dust on the shelves of the DfT until some West Country MPs threatened a Parliamentary revolt to torpedo the HS2 Bill. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling duly promised to respond (a fortnight ago), but has angered the West Country by (again) a lack of substance.
It is clear that unlike in devolved Scotland and Wales, there is not enough political ‘clout’ hereabouts to put our case. The alternative is a strong voice from the franchise, but this will not work if operators see our railways as a second-order sideshow, as they inevitably will be if they are detached from the remit of a more powerful player.
Nor will the ‘market-led’ economy help, as the DfT seems to think. No one will want to invest in a region where, largely due to lack of transport investment, manufacturing industry has fallen by 30% in the last decade, which boasts the two highest insolvency rates in the country, and where government transport investment per head is a quarter of that in London. Richard Giles, Exmouth