‘If we do not modernise our transport infrastructure, we will slide down the international scale’
KickstartingMcNulty
Paul Morgan and Robert Meakin look at some of the policy changes being considered as a result of the McNulty value for money study
T
he National Infrastructure Plan issued in November 2011 set out, amongst many worthy objectives, 12 transport projects earmarked as ‘priority infrastructure investment’. A progress update makes for mixed reading.
Kings Cross and Thameslink have been reaching long-expected milestones, and Crossrail has started burrowing its way under London, but the Battersea extension of the Northern Line is just as stuck at the station as it was two years ago. HS2 looks set to have caught a slow train – although most in the industry are simply grateful that it’s finally pulling out of its sidings. Despite plenty of industry optimism and apparent political drive, therefore, it’s worth asking: just what is the state of UK rail? Well, the prime minister himself had a pretty clear answer in his pre-Budget speech at the Institution of Civil Engineering on the importance of infrastructure – ‘Our railways are crowded and expensive. Compared to the French, Dutch and Swiss… our fares are 30 per cent higher, our running costs are 40 per cent higher and our public subsidy is double
theirs.Now, you have to
admit it is something of a miracle to achieve higher fares, bigger subsides and poorer performance all at the same time.’
This train will be stopping
The revelation that Britain’s railways cost 40 per cent more per passenger mile than their European equivalents is sobering, to say the least. The Rail Value for Money Study makes numerous recommendations as to how this should be addressed, and there is little need to repeat these here, but there is something of ‘chicken or the egg?’ to the debate that it has generated. The outlook for an industry anticipating reforms aimed at 30 per cent more efficiency is, predictably, challenging. This year will herald the beginning of the renewal of the UK rail franchises, and it’s fair to assume that this process is likely to involve some pain along with the gain. But that is not to suggest that the industry should be downcast. There are a number of positive acknowledgements in the current debate, which must be respected. continued, page 23
AUGUST 2012 PAGE 21
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