News / Politics

Government halts vital train upgrades

Friday, 26 June 2015 2:02 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 28 June 2015 9:13 AM ]

British Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin (AFP photo)

The Tory government has already backed out on one of their manifesto pledges as they abandon funding for key railway upgrades to major lines.

The planned train upgrades were to take place in the Midlands and the north of England. The decision taken to scrap the much needed upgrades were taken despite having spent much of the campaign promising to distribute power and wealth across England and to create a ‘Northern Powerhouse.’

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has insisted that the plans are only ‘paused’ at the moment, but did shift the blame onto railway chiefs, saying they went over budget and failed to properly plan for the future.

“Electrification is difficult. The supply chains for complex work needs to be stronger. That is no excuse. All of these problems could and should have been foreseen,” he said.

But Mark Carne, Network Rails chief executive, has hit back saying that people knew of the uncertainty and complexities involved in a massive railway project.

“If you had a fully specified design and the builder gave you a quote, and came back and said you couldn’t do it for that, you’d be annoyed…but if you went to a builder and said I’d like an extension, and that’s the degree to which you’ve specified it, you’d have less cause for complaint...People knew perfectly well there were high levels of uncertainty about this, it was widely flagged at the time, and it would be not fair for people to forget that today,” Mark Carne argued.

Campaigners and union chiefs, including TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady, have slammed the breakdown, saying it is bad for jobs and bad for regional growth. They say that the government can’t reasonably expect to create a ‘Northern Powerhouse’ without putting in place the necessary funds.

LM/HA

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