Anger as Minister pulls plug on rail upgrade

Councils seek assurance on other electrification plans

MINISTERS WERE accused of backtracking on their pledge to close the North-South divide yesterday after plans to electrify a key rail route between Yorkshire and the capital were scrapped.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling insisted the upgrade to the Midland Main Line to Sheffield, which already faced delays, was no longer needed because better trains would achieve improvements to journey times.

Plans to electrify routes in Wales and the North West were also binned, raising new questions about the Government’s commitment to electrification.

West Yorkshire council leaders said they were seeking reassurances the long-promised electrification of the trans-Pennine route will still go-ahead.

Mr Grayling said: “We are making the biggest investment in the railways since the Victorian era and upgrading services across the country, including in Wales, the Midlands and the North.

“Passengers expect and deserve high-quality rail services and we are committed to using the best available technology for each part of the network, delivering significant benefits for those who use our railways.”

The Department for Transport said trains that can run on both electric and diesel would be used on the Midland Main Line from 2022, delivering a 20-minute reduction in journey times between Sheffield and Nottingham and making 1,000 extra seats available on peak services to London.

York Central MP Rachael Maskell, Labour’s shadow rail Minister, said: “The decision to scrap swathes of promised rail electrification in South Wales, South Yorkshire and the Lake District represents the abandonment of the Government’s commitment to support economic growth in the countries and regions of the UK. The cancellation of works means passengers will be denied the faster, greener, more reliable train journeys they were promised, and millions of people miss out on the economic benefits which improved rail services deliver.”

Midland Main Line electrification was originally due to be completed in 2020 but two years ago it was delayed until 2023. TransPennine electrification was also delayed from 2019 until 2022.

It is understood the Department for Transport is still working towards a December 2022 completion date for improvements to the trans-Pennine route.

Keith Wakefield, chairman of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s transport committee, said: “While we welcome the Government retains its commitment to upgrading the trans-Pennine route, we will be seeking reassurance that the Government’s plans for are still based upon the electrification of the line, which will provide the optimum improvements in terms of journey times for people travelling between Bradford, Huddersfield, Leeds York, Manchester and beyond.”

THE GOVERNMENT’S cancellation of the planned upgrade of a key railway line between Yorkshire and London represents nothing less than a £500m broken promise to this county and its long-suffering train passengers.

Four years after it was announced with great fanfare that such an investment would be made in electrifying the main line between Sheffield and the capital, the decision to shelve a project that was intended to result in faster, more environmentally-friendly trains was slipped out the day before Parliament’s summer recess begins.

In 2013, the county was told electric trains would be running between Sheffield and London by 2020. Two years later the project was “paused” but then-Transport Secretary Sir Patrick McLoughlin continued to insist the Government wanted the work to be “done and done well”.

Now his successor, Chris Grayling, has cancelled the scheme, justifying the decision by claiming more modern ‘bi-mode’ trains, which can operate on diesel or electric, will be introduced on the route from 2022 and thereby eliminate the need for electrification work to take place.

The Department of Transport heralded the news it was cancelling the project by claiming it simply meant “disruptive works” on the line won’t be needed. It is yet another slap in the face for already put upon rail passengers.

Given the Government’s record on the issue so far, and taken alongside the failure to provide South Yorkshire with a dedicated HS2 station despite running the line through many of the county’s homes and businesses, it is fair to greet Mr Grayling’s claims with some cynicism.

Even if the Minister is to be taken at his word that the new plan will be an improvement, commuters will have to wait five more years for them to start operating. The people of Yorkshire deserve better.