Wales seeks cash from cancelled OLE schemes for local projects

More than £430 million saved by cancelling overhead line electrification west of Cardiff should be used elsewhere on Wales’ transport network, according to the Welsh Affairs Committee.

Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling announced the cancellation of OLE from Cardiff Central to Swansea last July. It was one of three schemes to be axed (the Midland Main Line north of Kettering and the Windermere branch were the others), and was the only one where Prime Minister Theresa May was involved in the decision process.

Chairman of the committee, David T.C. Davies MP said it was calculated that the cancellation saved £433m, which had risen from the initial 2012 price of £156m. “This money can’t simply go back in the pot,” he added.

The Committee claimed that while Wales has 11% of the UK rail network, it has received only 1.5% of the total spend on rail enhancements in the past seven years. It also claimed that the knock-on effect of HS2’s economic boost in England would be a reduction in employment growth in Wales by 21,000.

The Committee wants a revised route study for Wales, and all options for improved rail connections in South Wales to be examined - including straightening parts of the Swansea-Cardiff route.

Introducing a Swansea Bay Metro is another option, with a new route via Baglan which the Committee says would cut journey times from 55 minutes to 30 minutes. If the proposal is deemed viable, it says a full business case should be developed.

On electrification, the Committee said: “Planning work and project management undertaken by Network Rail and the Department for Transport was superficial, and lacked detail in vital areas. Surveys did not provide an adequate picture of the work that would need to be undertaken.

“Network Rail had failed to anticipate which bridges along the route would need to be raised to accommodate the required electrical infrastructure. DfT did not develop a consolidated business case for the Great Western Modernisation Programme until a year after work had begun, and two years after new trains for the route had been procured.”

An NR spokesman told RAIL: “As we outlined in our evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee, key lessons have been learned as a result of the planning and delivery of the electrification of the Great Western mainline. We are capturing the learning from this programme and this will help improve all aspects of how we deliver projects in the future.”

A DfT spokesman told RAIL: “Thanks to this investment passengers travelling to South Wales on the Great Western Main Line are already benefiting from modern faster trains with more space and better facilities like WiFi. We will respond to the report in due course.”

The Committee said lessons must be learned regarding the failures in planning and execution of the Great Western Electrification Programme (GWEP), for which the cancelled Welsh leg was a part. It said that in future, schemes must clearly demonstrate value for money before approval.

Davies added: “Projected costs and benefits were completely out of sync with reality. Delays and watered-down proposals mean that even the introduction of much-needed new rolling stock has left a sour taste.

“However, we now must look forward from this point and work out how we can improve

Welsh transport after decades of underinvestment.

“We have heard interesting proposals, such as the Swansea Bay Metro, but it is essential that a full assessment on the state of the South Wales network is carried out, and any future plans properly costed and the true impact understood. We must put an end to grand infrastructure projects promising much and delivering little.

“Wales cannot have the only stretch of the line not to be improved, then see the money saved go towards Crossrail 2 or the Northern Powerhouse. The money saved must be spent here in Wales.”

Davies highlighted Virgin Media moving jobs from Swansea to Manchester, and that when HS2 opens, journey times from London to the northwest city will be 1hr 8mins, while London to Swansea will be 2hrs 45mins.