20.07.15
DfT ‘very concerned’ about funding IEP trains if GW electrification late
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin and DfT permanent secretary Philip Rutnam have been grilled by the Commons transport committee this afternoon on the delays to the electrification of the Great Western Main Line (GWML).
Asked why the government has prioritised the GWML at the expense of the now ‘paused’ Midland Main Line (MML) and TransPennine electrification, Rutnam explicitly said the costs of the incoming InterCity Express Programme (IEP) fleet made the GWML the “top priority”.
He said the government is “very concerned” to ensure the DfT does not end up paying for trains that cannot be used because the infrastructure is not ready. The production of electric trains and electrified infrastructure need to be synchronised, Rutnam says, and “someone has to bear the risk of that synchronisation” – in this case, the DfT.
McLoughlin was asked repeatedly to be specific about costs and dates, but refused to give clear answers until he sees the report from new Network Rail chair Sir Peter Hendy.
He also suggested the Office of Rail & Road (ORR) has “questions to answer” about its role as regulator, considering the now-delayed and over-budget schemes were signed off by it, but acknowledged these sign-offs came at an early stage and that a number of very complex programmes were being delivered at the same time.
McLoughlin says Network Rail has been responsible for some tremendous successes recently (citing Dawlish, Reading station and Nottingham station, among other projects), but refused to give a simple answer when asked whether it was “fit for purpose”. He said: “Well….look, it’s trying to do a vast job.”
McLoughlin suggested that the £12bn enhancements programme during CP5 was forecast to be £2bn behind as of September 2014, though said a number of ‘de-scopings’ and ‘re-scopings’ since then had changed things.
“Overall there is [still] a positive business case for Midland Main Line electrification”, McLoughlin said. “It should have been done a long time ago.”
He also confirmed that Oxford-Bletchley electrification as part of East West Rail is "not paused".
Follow @rtmnews on Twitter for live updates from the session, which is still going on as of 6pm.