Grayling to go back on rail promises

TRANSPORT: Chris Grayling has suggested he is ready to downgrade the Government’s promise to transform rail travel across the Pennines.

The Transport Secretary said the Government is looking at running ‘duel fuel’ trains between Leeds and Manchester, meaning full electrification would not be necessary.

TRANSPORT SECRETARY Chris Grayling has suggested he is ready to downgrade the Government’s promise to transform rail travel across the Pennines.

Mr Grayling revealed the Government is looking at running ‘duel fuel’ trains on the transPennine route between Leeds and Manchester.

The Minister argued the move would mean full electrification of the route would not be necessary.

Trans-Pennine electrification has long been promised by the Government and was originally due to be completed in 2019.

However, two years ago the Government was forced to admit its plans to upgrade railways were in trouble and the project’s completion date was put back to 2022.

Mr Grayling last year used bimode trains, which can run on both diesel and electric, as the reason to scrap plans to electrify the Hull-to-Selby line.

And on Thursday, he said bimode trains would be used on the Midlands Main Line from 2022, making planned electrification of the route from Nottingham unnecessary. Mr Grayling told the Financial

Times: “If there are bits of the trans-Pennine network that are complicated to do and we have a bi-mode train we can say, ‘Here is a section we can have a diesel’.

“We will be electrifying transPennine but we can do it in a smarter way.”

Mr Grayling was yesterday forced to defend his decision to ditch plans to electrify the whole of the Midland Main Line, which connects Sheffield to London, was well as rail links to Wales and the Lake District.

He said: “What we’ve got on the railways is technology we didn’t have five or six years ago.

“We are not abandoning electrification, what we are doing is using electrification where it makes a difference.

“But when you have got a train that switches seamlessly from diesel to electric, there are places on the network you don’t actually need to start digging everything up and putting in place overhead cables, because you don’t derive a benefit to passengers.”

Transport experts say electric trains are greener, deliver faster journey times and quieter so offer more comfort to passengers.

Routes with electric trains also see rises in passenger numbers, suggesting they are a good way of attracting people off the roads.

But Mr Grayling insisted bimode trains could offer comparable benefits.

He continued: “It’s not about not doing the right thing by passengers, it’s about actually using technology in a way that provides the quickest possible improvement and the best possible journeys.”

Hull North MP Diana Johnson has criticised the Government’s use of ‘duel-fuel’ trains to justify the scrapping of plans to upgrade Yorkshire rail lines.

Ms Johnson said that “bi-modal trains are not some modern technology – they were first patented in 1989”.

The Hull MP pointed to figures suggesting that the Crossrail project in London is costing £202m per mile while HS2 will cost £403m per mile.

“By contrast, rail electrification between Selby and Hull would cost only £3.2m per mile,” she said.

Following the Midland Main Line announcement, West Yorkshire council leaders said they were seeking reassurances the electrification of the trans-Pennine rail link will still go ahead.

Plans for high speed rail services across the Pennines, known as Northern Powerhouse Rail, are due to be published this year.

What we are doing is using electrification where it makes a difference. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.