PM pulled plug on rail electrification
PRIME Minister Theresa May personally took the decision to cancel electrification between Cardiff and Swansea, it has been revealed.
Her decision, revealed in a National Audit Office report today, has been condemned as “indefensible” by a rail union and “incompetence” by a Swansea MP.
The revelation is contained in an investigation by the Audit Office into why the Government scrapped the electrification of the Great Western mainline to Swansea along with two other electrification projects.
It found that in March 2017, when the Department for Transport was proposing projects to cut in order to reduce the cost of its rail investment plans, the Prime Minister personally intervened to request an update on the economic case for electrifying the line to Swansea before agreeing to its cancellation.
Four months later, the investigation found she personally agreed to its cancellation before it was announced the same month by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.
Acccording to the Audit Office, the updated appraisal had found that the benefit-cost ratio of the scheme had fallen to 0.3:1, meaning it was expected that it would bring in only 30p of added economic value for every £1 spent.
“On gaining approval from the Prime Minister... the Secretary of state announced all three projects would be cancelled immediately,” it found.
At the time, Mr Grayling said the decision was taken because
electrification was not necessary to deliver passenger benefits.
However, the report concludes that the decision was financial because the level of investment required was not affordable.
It also found that “it is too early to tell the extent to which the Department will be able to deliver the benefits of electrification without electrifying”.
“The department decided to cancel projects in 2017 because Network Rail’s 2014-2019 investment portfolio was no longer affordable,” it found. “The Office of Rail and Road and Network Rail became concerned about the deliverability of the portfolio before the start of the five year rail investment period.
“Cost and schedule increases were apparent within the first year”.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said that the three projects chosen – Midland Main Line, Cardiff to Swansea and Oxenholme to Windermere – had poor value for money.
The report reveals that it was decided in March to cancel the Midland Main Line but that was not announced until July.
Swansea West MP Geraint Davies sits on the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. He said Mrs May should answer to his constituents.
He said: “It’s clear that she has intervened personally to break her predecessor’s promises.
“The people who are in the greatest need shouldn’t be paying the price of that incompetence and she should honour the word of the Conservative Prime Minister before her.
“The previous Prime Minister came to Swansea and promised electrification, and that would have brought an enormous economic benefit to an area that was historically underfunded in terms of infrastructure.
“Wales has 6% of the rail line but only 1% or 2% of the investment.”
A DfT spokesman said: “We are investing in the biggest modernisation of our railways since the Victorian era, spending billions of pounds across the country to deliver faster, more frequent, and more comfortable services with more seats.
“As this report makes clear, we are focused on delivering better trains and services to passengers more quickly, at better value for money for the taxpayer, without the significant disruption to services that electrification can cause.”
Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, said the decision was indefensible.
He said: “We welcome the results of this investigation into the DfT’s decision to cancel three major rail electrification projects – the Great Western main line in south Wales, the Midland main line, and the Lakes line between Windermere and Oxenholme – because the decision to renege on this Conservative Party pledge was as perverse and ridiculous as it was indefensible. This country needs a modern railway, and a proper infrastructure.
“It is clear from the conclusions of the National Audit Office investigation that Chris Grayling, the Secretary of State for Transport, lied. The truth is that the government didn’t want to find the money and made up a story about ‘sudden improvements’ using ‘state-of-the-art bimode trains’. It’s a fantasy, and Mr Grayling has been rumbled.
“The Prime Minister has her fingerprints on this as well. The NAO says she took the decision to cancel the Cardiff to Swansea project in July last year. So the Prime Minister, Transport Secretary and DfT are saying that the people of South Wales don’t count.”