‘Take notice of the main line problems’
COUNCIL LEADER IN PLEA TO TRANSPORT MINISTERS
Local Democracy Reporter 2018, 12 major incidents occurred, costing the UK economy £46.28m.
Coun Gannon continued: “Make no mistake, the current problems on the route are a result of a lack of infrastructure investment, particularly on the fragile two-track section of the line in the North East.
“Given that recent analysis shows that London is set to receive seven times more per person in central government transport spending than the North East, it is vital that the Government sits up and take notice of the problems with the line in our region.”
The Labour councillor said that the Government needs to commit to providing more funding to the region’s railways.
He said: “The Government must commit to providing Network Rail and Transport for the North with major investment in the East Coast Main Line corridor as a matter of urgency.
“Investment in the East Coast Main Line will deliver economic benefits across the country from the Highlands to Hertfordshire and mean customers benefit from better reliability and greater resilience.
“Currently, the line is vulnerable to major disruptions, which is why ECMA is calling on the UK and Scottish governments to secure addition funding for Network Rail to deliver a more reliable rail network for customers.”
ECMA members are calling on the Government to identify additional funding to help tackle issues of capacity and resilience on the line, with Network Rail indicating that they have the capacity to undertake further work to improve the East Coast Main Line from 2021, if they can secure additional funding.
In the letter they called on the Government to deliver the promised infrastructure improvements to allow the full delivery of the 2021 timetable.
The group wants to secure additional funding for Network
Rail to invest in East Coast Mail Line reliability improvements.
Finally, it wants the ring-fencing of Network Rail’s future funding for the East Coast Main Line improvements in between 2024 and 2029.
By 2024, the Department for Transport says it will have spent £1.2bn in the biggest upgrade of the East Coast Main Line in a generation.
This is set to create capacity for up to 10,000 extra seats a day on long-distance services, see faster journeys and improve reliability for passengers.
The arrival of the state-of-theart Azuma trains along the East Coast earlier this year, as part of the £5.7bn InterCity Express Programme, is the next step in what the department says is one of the biggest transformations on the UK’s railway.
The department says it continues to work with stakeholders, including Transport for the North, to identify and assess further potential improvements for the route.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We are making the biggest ever investment to improve passenger journeys on the East Coast Main Line, including introducing new trains to increase capacity and reduce journey times.
“The East Coast Main Line could also be the first major route to benefit from digital signalling and the Government’s decision on this potential significant investment in this route will be made in due course.”