Midlands line 'to be electrified' - Paused.

[davieG]

BBC

A £500m scheme to electrify the Midland Mainline rail route is expected to be announced by the government.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening is set to outline plans to complete the electrification of the route between Sheffield and London on Monday.

At present the line is electrified only between St Pancras station and Bedford.

The new decision, if confirmed, would mean extending overhead wires to Sheffield via the east Midlands.

However, it is not yet known if track improvements will also be announced, especially at Derby and Leicester stations.

The decision comes after business groups and politicians in South Yorkshire and the East Midlands campaigned for the line to be upgraded.

BBC Radio Derby political reporter Chris Doidge said that the Varsity line linking Oxford and Cambridge could also be reopened; most of it was closed to passengers following the Beeching Report in the 1960s.

The Derby-based train-maker Bombardier, which was threatened with closure after missing out on a contract last year, is likely to be a beneficiary of the government's plans, Mr Doidge said.

'Political hot potato'

Rail expert Christian Wolmar said the expected announcement was "terribly good news".

"This implies that there might be trains that are transformed from diesel trains into electric trains," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"That work will be done either at Derby or Preston so there will be jobs for British workers."

He said it was not clear if the scheme would be paid for "by heavily above-inflation fares rises" or "more money from the taxpayer".

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

If the Midland Mainline is upgraded, the supply chain waits ready to meet the needs of the industry”

Derby and Derbyshire Rail Forum

"Fares have become a big political issue - they're supposing to be going up by 3% above the rate of inflation, which will be something like 6 or 7% in all, in January," he added.

"But I somewhat suspect this is a political hot potato so they might try and say: 'This investment is all happening, it's great news but I'm afraid that fare payers have to pay for it.'

"But there will be a lot of political flak over that."

A spokesman for the Derby and Derbyshire Rail Forum said: "If the Midland Mainline is upgraded, the supply chain waits ready to meet the needs of the industry.

"We hope it is not just electrification - there are great benefits to be found in upgrading the current infrastructure."

In June, Conservative MP for Kettering Philip Hollobone told MPs that while £12bn had been spent in recent years on Britain's rail network, just £200m had gone to the Midland Mainline.

[Fox92]

Good idea... When we go to London, we usually have to travel down the East Coast Line, faster route and all.

[The Year Of The Fox]

The fares really **** me off. How cam they.differ so badly depending on which website.you visit? T

[davieG]

The fares really **** me off. How cam they.differ so badly depending on which website.you visit? T

Because they've been put on the altar of the free market.

[sphericalfox]

Because they've been put on the altar of the free market.

I wonder which particular party is responsible for this. Is it possible to make a u-turn on railroad tracks? Questions? Questions?

[davieG]

I wonder which particular party is responsible for this. Is it possible to make a u-turn on railroad tracks? Questions? Questions?

It might be to pacify all those not on the HS2 route hence taking away some of the objectors to that.

[sphericalfox]

It might be to pacify all those not on the HS2 route hence taking away some of the objectors to that.

Are you saying that we'll have a two tier railroad system. All the working class travellers shunting along via electric lines on the right side of the country whilst the go-getting rich knobs speed along uber fast lines on the left? Clearly this metaphorical reality bears no resemblance to the truth. This hasn't been thought through. It'll disrupt everything on a symbolical level.

[MooseBreath]

I wish we'd just fully privatise the whole thing and let it play out in a natural, competitive, free market. At the moment the bizarre public/private mix is leading to poor efficiency and almost certianly office after office of high paid staff doing nothing but trying to convince thier boss that they really need to be there.

A brave government would privatise it all. There would be carnage for a few years, but once things had settled down you'd have the most efficient network feasible. The way things are at the moment, we're just spending all of our time and money on hiding the carnage. Lets bring it all out into the open and get on with moving on.

[Guest]

A wise government would make it all publicly owned again.

[Saxondale]

It might be to pacify all those not on the HS2 route hence taking away some of the objectors to that.

HS2 is almost nothing to do with reducing travel times between the Midlands and London, it's to do with increasing national trunk freight capacity - the most profitable railway operation at present.

As a side note, HS2 may not have been necessary had the Great Central Railway not had been ripped up - it was the most modern railway line in the country and the only one that met standards roughly equivalent to the Berne Loading Gauge, on which HS1 has been built.

[MPH]

This has been talked about for years....

It isnt really going to be the direct trains to london that will be replaced ( unless the track is upgraded) it will be all thos little tin cans on wheels that will be replaced...

[Out Foxed]

train fare prices are a joke

[Guest]

train fare prices are a joke

they're not fair prices but fare prices nevertheless.

[ADK]

I'm all for electrification, its cheaper in the long run and greener too.

We only have to look to Europe for better rail travel.

[Rincewind]

This has been talked about for years....

It isnt really going to be the direct trains to london that will be replaced ( unless the track is upgraded) it will be all thos little tin cans on wheels that will be replaced...

I quite like the little tin cans. Used to go on the Leicester Birmigham one when I went Nuneaton. Always got a seat friendly conductor and it was reliable. You knew how long it was going to take within a few minutes. With the big trains they are always being held up because of faults.

[MPH]

I quite like the little tin cans. Used to go on the Leicester Birmigham one when I went Nuneaton. Always got a seat friendly conductor and it was reliable. You knew how long it was going to take within a few minutes. With the big trains they are always being held up because of faults.

Well i didnt mean that they were giong to be replaced by the huge intercity 125's that go to London.... they will be replaced by the same size electrical ones ( i would imagine) as they waste so much fuel... The electrical ones ecelerate much faster so would be perfect for stopping at all the small little stations the smaller stations usually serve...

[Lamby]

Well i didnt mean that they were giong to be replaced by the huge intercity 125's that go to London.... they will be replaced by the same size electrical ones ( i would imagine) as they waste so much fuel... The electrical ones ecelerate much faster so would be perfect for stopping at all the small little stations the smaller stations usually serve...

The HST's only run between London and Nottingham (sometimes to Leeds via Doncaster). The Meridians (pic below) run between London and Sheffield/Corby and these are enabled with Pantographs. I don't think they'd be getting rid of the HST's any time soon as there isnt any other viable Class of trains to use.

[Saxondale]

I think 125s will be gone by the time electrification is complete, which will be ages. They are quite old and I'm sure East Mid Trains will already be looking at either getting some more Meridians or leasing some Class 90s and DVTs (as used on WCML). Most of the trains are leased anyway.

[Rincewind]

If you want to know about trains (or buses) go in the Ale Wagon

Plus there is the wonderful Daphne behind the bar you could chat up.

[davieG]

Delayed

 

 

Network Rail upgrade delayed by government

 Carne, Network Rail CEO: "A lot of those targets just aren't achievable"

The government says it will delay or cut back a number of modernisation projects planned for Network Rail.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin says rising costs and missed targets make the £38.5bn plan untenable.

He blamed Network Rail, saying it should have foreseen the improvements would cost more and take longer.

Labour said it had warned the government needed to change how the railways were run but had "dithered" over taking action.

Network Rail said the plan, which was launched last year as the "largest modernisation of the railways since Victorian times", was too ambitious.

Network Rail controls 2,500 stations as well as tracks, tunnels and level crossings.

Mr McLoughlin said electrification work would be "paused" on the Midland mainline and on the Trans-Pennine route between Leeds and Manchester.

But he said that "electrification of the Great Western Line is a top priority and I want Network Rail to concentrate its efforts on getting that right".

He also announced Network Rail's chairman, Richard Parry-Jones, would leave the group after his three-year term and told MPs none of the executive directors would get a bonus for the past year.

Mr Parry-Jones will be replaced by Sir Peter Hendy, the current commissioner of Transport for London.

Satisfaction falling

The announcement comes as the latest rail passenger satisfaction survey is released.

Travellers in London and south-east England are the least happy with their service,according to Transport Focus (formerly Passenger Focus).

The proportion of passengers satisfied has fallen from 82% last year to 80% this year.

Satisfaction on First Hull Trains was highest at 96%, while Southern was the lowest at 72%.

Michael Roberts, director general of the Rail Delivery Group which represents train operators and Network Rail, said: "Too often many passengers are not getting the service they deserve, and for this we are sorry.

"The survey reflects the challenges we face to run trains punctually on an increasingly busy network."

'Broken promises'

The shadow transport secretary, Michael Dugher, said the government had known the upgrade could not go ahead as scheduled: "We have been warning time and time again there needs to be fundamental changes in how our railways are run. You spent the election campaign repeating promises you knew you would break after the election.

"Ministers may try to shift all the blame to Network Rail, but this happened on the government's watch and the responsibility for this mess lies squarely with the government."

Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: "This... follows years of above-inflation fares increases, crowded carriages and engineering works. Passengers have put up with much inconvenience in the expectation of a better, more reliable, and more comfortable rail service.

"What passengers will want now is a clear plan of action, setting out exactly when Network Rail will start to deliver some of the promised improvements."

'Significant challenges' 

The chief executive of Network Rail, Mark Carne, told the BBC the challenges of delivering myriad improvement projects while still running a railway seven days a week were simply overwhelming.

"Over the last year, it has become obvious that the challenges of operating, maintaining and enhancing the railway are significant," he said.

"I think it's time to level with the public and say that some of these extraordinary projects that we absolutely need are going to take longer and are going to cost more than we originally thought.

"We are going to take the summer to re-evaluate the extension of the programme - we need to do that properly with the Department for Transport and, of course, looking at the impact on trains as well."

He said it would not be possible to estimate the impact of the delays on the final cost.

 

 

Analysis: Kamal Ahmed, business editor

To be clear, much of the investment will still happen. It will just be slower and more expensive.

And significant Whitehall sources have also told me that spending £38bn over five years is still the plan.

Which means that, according to those officials, the Conservative Party is not about to break its manifesto pledge to spend that amount.

What does appear to be the case - according to senior people in the rail industry - is that the Department for Transport was warned last spring that the five-year plan was at risk.

But the government has waited until after the election before announcing the change.

All bets off for £38.5bn rail plan

Mr Carne said it was important to be honest with the travelling public: "Rather than beating ourselves up over some rather arbitrary target, I think we should level with people and reset expectations around what we can deliver.

"Our railway is a great success story, passenger numbers have doubled in the last 20 years - but it's a huge challenge to transform the performance of our railway while still providing a great service to the four-and-a-half million people that use our railway every day."

[Voll Blau]

Well, as long as the south's OK eh?

[Frank to be]

I can't say I'm surprised at all that one of the government's major plans for improving the country's infrastructure has been shelved weeks after the election.

[Rincewind]

I feel for those that voted Tory because of the plans expecting them go full steam ahead with them.

[MPH]

Is it netowrk rail who are to blame for those  well high prices of them dodgy danish pastries at Leicester train station?

 

 

 

 

Thats a bigger crime if you ask me....

[sphericalfox]

I wonder which particular party is responsible for this. Is it possible to make a u-turn on railroad tracks? Questions? Questions?

 

First time I've quoted myself, but I'm starting to agree think I was right...