Rail reopenings
Campaign for Better Transport proposes 33 rail reopening schemes using mothballed and freight-only lines.
MOTHBALLED and freight railways could be brought back in to use and others reopened at a cost of around £4 billion to £6.4bn, but generate social and economic benefits of up to £12bn in Gross Added Value over 50 years.
That’s according to new analysis by Campaign for Better Transport (CBT). In The Case for Expanding the Rail Network, published on February 5, CBT argues that 33 schemes could add 343 miles to the passenger rail network (166 miles of reopened route and 177 miles of freight-only converted to passenger standards), generate up to 20 million additional passenger journeys per year, create 72 stations, and bring more than 500,000 people within walking distance of a railway station. Routes cited include MarchWisbech, Totton-Hythe-Fawley, and the Ashington, Blyth and Tyne.
However, it warns that bringing such a programme to reality will require a “proactive and strategic approach” to expanding the rail network.
This would include a clear national policy on reopenings, setting out the social, economic and environmental benefits of an enlarged network; charging the National Infrastructure Commission with identifying where new and reopened lines would support national objectives across transport, housing, geographic balance and low-carbon growth; a national development pool of priority projects with a streamlined implementation process; a new assessment of value for money taking in direct and indirect benefits; and a firm commitment to expanding rail (including freight capacity).
CBT has identified 33 schemes which met its criteria for investment based on their viability and social, economic and environmental benefits (see panel). These in turn are split into two categories: Phase 1 for schemes which could be implemented by 2025 (mostly conversion of freight-only lines); and Phase 2
which encompasses larger and more complex schemes such as reopenings.
It argues that local authorities and sub-national transport bodies should have the ability to formally recommend reopening and new rail schemes for adoption as part of a national programme, and that the detailed development of priority schemes should be undertaken by working groups involving the Department for Transport (DfT), Network Rail and local authorities.
Network Rail’s Governance for Railway Investment Projects (GRIP) process should be reformed to address the speed, cost and fragmentation of the current system, and a streamlined process for the development of projects should be adopted where nationally significant proposals are being considered.
In those cases, development and implementation should be overseen by the DfT. Value for money, meanwhile, should “be judged as an investment in national infrastructure with direct and indirect benefits being used to assess overall value”.
CBT Chief Executive Darren Shirley said: “Expanding the railways would transform the opportunities for people living in some of the most deprived areas of the country, giving them greater access to employment and services and providing a much-needed boost to local economies.
“The Government should invest in a nationally led programme of expansion of the railway to help disadvantaged communities and tackle regional inequalities; reduce carbon emissions and air pollution; and create better and healthier places to live.”
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash supported the programme, saying: “For years politicians have been talking up the benefits of reopening lines but few reach construction due to a lack of a national approach and public investment.
“That needs to change because there is an overwhelming case for a Government-backed national programme of public rail reopenings to help meet the huge economic, environmental and social challenges facing the UK. These reopenings will ultimately pay for themselves via the benefits they generate for society.”