Regional investment but no HS2 commitment
THE Conservative Party has promised to invest £100 billion in “transforming the UK’s infrastructure” - but has given no firm backing for HS2.
Should it be re-elected to government on December 12, the party has pledged to provide unspecified amounts of funding for both Northern Powerhouse
Rail and Midlands Rail Hub.
But while both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have made explicit commitments to building HS2 in full, the Conservative election manifesto merely describes what would become Europe’s largest construction project as “a great ambition”.
This ambiguous stance on the future of the project comes despite a leaked copy of the yet-to-be-published Oakervee review into HS2 recommending that government presses on with the scheme, despite estimated costs having risen from £56bn to £88bn ( RAIL 892).
The draft review identified a number of potential cost savings, but said that the full network was needed in order to “realise the highest value for money economic return on the investment of HS2”.
Launched in Telford on November 24, the Conservative manifesto instead states that the line “will now cost at least £81bn and will not reach Leeds or Manchester until as late as 2040”.
It adds: “We will consider the findings of the Oakervee Review into costs and timings and work with leaders of the Midlands and the North to decide the optimal outcome.”
The manifesto commits to building NPR between Manchester and Leeds before then focusing on connections to Liverpool, the Tees Valley, Hull, Sheffield and Newcastle.
Midlands Rail Hub will also receive investment in order to strengthen rail links between Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham, Coventry, Derby, Hereford and Worcester.
The exact amounts of money that these two schemes will receive from the Conservative’s £100bn infrastructure fund would be revealed in a National Infrastructure Strategy to be published at the next Budget.
Meanwhile, other policy announcements include a pledge to extend contactless ticketing to another 200 stations in the South East, so that 50% of all rail journeys and the majority of commuter journeys in and around London can be completed using a contactless bank card.
City regions would also receive additional funding to upgrade bus, tram and train services to “make them as good as London’s”, while £500 million has been earmarked to restore a number of lines closed during the Beeching cuts of the 1960s - with routes to Fleetwood (Lancashire) and Willenhall (Staffordshire) specifically mentioned (see Tweetcheck).
In a move that is likely to anger members of the RMT, ASLEF and TSSA unions (see Industry reaction), a Conservative government would
also legislate for minimum service agreements to be introduced between operators and unions.
According to the Conservatives, similar agreements already exist in a number of other European countries including France, Italy and Spain. They would specify the number and type of staff who would remain at work during industrial action, and effectively ban all-out rail strikes.
It comes against a backdrop of RMT union members preparing to take 27 days of strike action during December, in a longrunning dispute over driver-only operation of new trains.
RMT members were also on strike in late November at West Midlands Trains over the same issue (see Network News, pages 18-19), while since 2016 more than 160 days of strike action have taken place regarding DOO on 11 franchises across the UK.
The Conservative manifesto states: “Rail workers deserve a fair deal, but it is not fair to let the trade unions undermine the livelihoods of others.”
Last but not least, the manifesto also hints that a Conservative government would incorporate many of the recommendations made by the root and branch Rail Review that is being independently chaired by Keith Williams.
Originally due to be published by the end of the year, the Review is widely expected to call for an overhaul of the current franchise system, and greater powers to be devolved to local and regional level from the Department for Transport.
The manifesto adds: “The railway needs accountability, not nationalisation. So, we will end the complicated franchising model and create a simpler, more effective rail system, including giving metro mayors control over services in their areas.”