Transport leaders give their thoughts on how the government’s £9 billion investment in the railways will impact on the regions.
Midlands
In the Midlands, the Chase Line between Walsall and Rugeley is to be electrified, a scheme costing in the region of £30 million and which Centro has calculated is worth £113 million to the West Midlands economy and will generate 1,370 jobs.
Centro chairman Councillor John McNicholas said:
This is very good news for the West Midlands.
The government has clearly taken on board the concerns Centro, along with local councils and Local Enterprise Partnerships, raised when the Initial Industry Plan was announced
The Electric Spine enables freight to be taken off the roads, which is good news for everybody, but we will continue to work in other areas such as the opening of the Walsall to Stourbridge line to open up other capacity-releasing schemes.
Cllr Kay Cutts, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council and EMC Executive Board Member said:
We have worked closely with businesses, Local Enterprise Partnership and MPs to build an unanswerable case for this investment, which will be of huge benefit to Nottinghamshire, and I am very pleased that our efforts have started to pay off. We now need to make sure implementation goes ahead quickly – I want to see contractors on the ground as soon as possible.
Cllr Rory Palmer, Deputy City Mayor of Leicester and EMC executive board member said:
Today’s announcement is a significant boost for the people and businesses of Leicester, and will help to raise the profile of the City with potential investors. The Midland Main Line badly needs this investment if it is to maintain the levels of passenger growth and improved reliability we have seen in recent years.
Cllr Jim Harker OBE, leader of Northamptonshire County Council and infrastructure lead for East Midlands Councils said:Â
Upgrade and electrification of the Midland Main Line is crucial for the economic future of towns of Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough, as well as for the wider East Midlands. The Government’s announcement represents a clear statement of intent to invest in our future – something that I very much welcome.
The government’s announcement on Monday confirmed funding for the restoration and electrification of the Oxford to Bedford section of the historic ‘Brain Line’ between Oxford and Cambridge.
Peter Hardy, chairman of the East West Rail Consortium Joint Delivery Board said:
This is fantastic news for the towns and cities that East West Rail will serve. In providing direct links between growth areas, East West Rail will allow for more sustained economic development for these communities, creating up to 12,000 jobs and increasing opportunities for businesses to invest.
Rodney Rose, deputy chairman of the joint delivery board said:
The East West Rail Consortium is committed to engaging with communities at every stage of this process. We seek to ensure that residents are fully informed of progress and that we maintain transparency as the project develops.
Dr Ann Limb OBE DL, chair of South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) said:
This is great news for the SEMLEP area. The Board of SEMLEP have committed £1m of its Growing Places Fund resources to enable this project to progress to 2014/15 when construction will now start. Improving east west links across the SEMLEP area is vital to enable growth in jobs and homes.
Yorkshire
Mick Jameson, chairman of the South Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority, said:
Upgrade and electrification of the Midland Main Line will boost connectivity and be great news for the travelling public of Sheffield and South Yorkshire. Today’s announcement is welcome, and we will work with the rail industry to make sure these improvements are in place as quickly as possible.
North West
Cllr Andrew Fender, chairman of the Transport for Greater Manchester committee, said:
Taken together, these investments will change the face of rail services in the north of England in a manner that has not been seen for several generations.
The Northern Hub and electrification programmes will be a catalyst to help drive economic growth across the north, so today’s announcement is fantastic news and testament to the hard work done behind the scenes by all our partners to make our voice heard by the government.
The projects covered will provide access to larger markets, enable businesses to recruit from a wider pool of talent, enable employees to commute more quickly, and lead to greater transport flexibility and improved business efficiency.
The programmes will also unlock further use of rail to carry goods sustainably and cost-effectively around the country – a single freight train can take 50 containers off our congested roads.
They will also significantly improve rail services through Victoria, Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations. Stations will also see improvements in passenger facilities, including in particular a new roof and much-improved concourse for Victoria.
This really is a fantastic day. It means we can now capitalise on the significant growth in patronage that we’ve seen on our rail services over the past decade, and passengers can now look to the future with real confidence that major improvements are on the way.
South East/London
Tim Shoveller, managing director of the South West Trains/Network Rail Alliance, said:
We welcome today’s news that the government has given the go-ahead to lengthen platforms and open up the international station at Waterloo for commuters by allocating £350 million to this crucial scheme. Waterloo is already one of the busiest stations in the UK with over 90 million passengers using it every year and this is set to grow.
The funding announced today means that we will be able to run longer trains on our suburban routes as well as on the South West Main Line. We have already announced plans to introduce 108 extra carriages by December 2014 and the further investment into London Waterloo will help to boost capacity even further.
The number of passengers we are attracting to our rail services has doubled in the past 15 years and this is set to grow.  Today’s announcement is great news for our passengers and will help to provide extra capacity for the 200 million customers who travel on our network every year.
