Another week, another U-turn

Grayling is backtracking again

EVEN THOUGH Transport Secretary Chris Grayling’s special advisor emailed MPs at 11.12am to reassure them that improvements to the trans-Pennine railway would still take place, his subsequent no-show in the House of Commons – and the obfuscation of his deputy Jo Johnson – once again raises more questions than answers.

Unlike London and the South-East where the most complex infrastructure improvements are commonplace, it now appears that the Government no longer intends to fully electrify the route between Leeds and Manchester despite promising to do so during the past two elections. In response to West Yorkshire MPs, Mr Johnson repeatedly highlighted the importance of ‘value for money’ and a range of methods to cut journey times.

Yet while Mr Johnson in his utterances to Parliament, and Mr Grayling in his letter to MPs, suggested that they were awaiting for a final report from Network Rail before determining the best options for this £2.9bn upgrade, they clearly gave the impression that this decision has already been taken and that the newly formed Transport for the North will be circumvented.

And at a time when public trust and confidence in the Department for Transport is at an alltime low following a succession of scandals, broken promises and policy mishaps culminating in the chaotic timetable changes, perhaps the most telling observation is that neither Mr Grayling – or his deputy – spoke about the opportunities, and economic potential, of a world-class line.

Frankly, this won’t change until Transport for the North receives the necessary financial and policy powers to take charge. After all, Mr Johnson is conflicted – he’s also Minister for London – while Mr Grayling said last week that he doesn’t run the railways. So who does? After this latest intervention, no one is any the wiser.