Inconsistent thinking

Once again, we witness muddled thinking within the Government.

On July 26, we heard that all new cars will be electric by 2040 because diesel and petrol emissions are harmful to health and the environment.

Nothing wrong with that, except that the timescale is far from ambitious. What is wrong, however, is that a few days earlier we learned that railway electrification schemes promised for the north of England are being scrapped, because bi-mode diesel electric rolling stock is now available and pre-empts the need for additional electrification.

So now it is alright to continue pollution on the railways for the next 30-or-so years because it will save spending money in the next year or so on a more efficient electric railway.

Apparently, it is also alright to add to infrastructure costs by using heavy diesel rolling stock on tracks, when lighter weight electric vehicles would substantially reduce wear and tear as well as being more environmentally friendly. Or maybe it is because EU regulations regarding overhead line clearances were waived through without thought for the consequential cost to our electrification programme.

Why should the nation, particularly those in the North, have to suffer because of Westminster cock-ups? This state of affairs could easily be put to rights by rescinding these inappropriate EU regulations as one of the first amendments to the Great Reform Bill, probably as early as 2019.

In the past couple of years, the north of England has enthusiastically welcomed all the hype about the Northern Powerhouse initiative, albeit with much trepidation.

This was the way forward (so the Government told us) in rebalancing the North/South divide. A big part of this initiative was about rail electrification and speeding up journey times between the great cities of the North.

What are we to think now, particularly as an extremely expensive Crossrail 2 in the South East seems to be immune from policy changes involving funding cut-backs in the short term?

We seem to have an undue amount of Government interference in a ‘so-called’ privatised railway, with all the stop/ start, muddled thinking and inconsistent policies we see coming out of Westminster. Perhaps the railway has been re-nationalised by stealth over the years and we need to claim it back so it is largely out of the hands of politicians.

Cedric Green, West Kirby