MAJOR £1.1bn INVESTMENT
IN ELECTRIC RAIL BOOSTS TRAVEL, THE ECONOMY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
The Government
will announce a major programme of modernisation and investment
today to help create a 21 st century railway, improve passenger
journeys, cut carbon emissions and boost the economy.
The Prime Minister and Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis will
unveil £1.1bn plans for the first big electrification of the rail
network since the late 1980s, involving the London to Swansea and
Liverpool to Manchester lines. It will mean the first electric
main line trains ever running in Wales.
Work will start immediately on these two railways as this
significant investment in Britain’s infrastructure brings real
benefits for passengers, including travelling on faster, greener
and more reliable electric trains with more seats.
Electrification will stimulate further intercity and regional
transport improvements across the country. For example, it will
enable electric train services to run from Manchester and its
airport to Glasgow and Edinburgh and open up the option of
extending Crossrail to Reading.
Completing work on the first two railways will increase the
proportion of electric train journeys in Britain from 60% to 67% -
currently only 33% of Britain’s rail network is electrified. There
were about 21 million passenger journeys on the Great Western line
alone in the last financial year and over 1 million passenger
journeys on the Liverpool-Manchester railway.
Work will start immediately and for Liverpool-Manchester will be
completed within four years and for London-Swansea within eight
years, although stages in between will be completed earlier.
The Great Western electrification will include the lines to
Oxford and Newbury. It will also make possible the direct
replacement of the ageing Intercity 125 fleet by electric Super
Express intercity trains, and by hybrid diesel/ electric Super
Express trains to serve destinations beyond the electrified
network. This, and other replacements of diesel by electric
trains, will yield significant savings in train leasing and
operating costs, as well as benefiting passengers with more
reliable and quieter trains.
First Minister for Wales Rhodri Morgan will also join the Prime
Minister and Transport Secretary today at Cardiff to mark the
announcement which will significantly strengthen the rail
connection between England and Wales.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said:
“To build a better Britain, we must be bold, innovative and
forward-looking and invest with confidence in our country’s
transport infrastructure, jobs and industry. This electrification
programme is vital to building a 21st century transport system.”
Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said:
“It is essential that we invest in our railways now and over the
longer term. This is the biggest electrification programme for a
generation and a vital part of our rail investment and carbon
reduction strategies. It will be of huge benefit to passengers who
will gain from faster, cleaner and more reliable trains.
“Electrification of the Great Western Mainline will bring
significant new strategic opportunities for developing rail
services. In particular it would be possible to run Crossrail
services west of the existing proposed terminus at Maidenhead,
through to Reading. I look forward to discussing with the Mayor of
London, Boris Johnson, the potential for developing new services
and integrating these major Crossrail and electrification programmes.
“Electrification of the Liverpool to Manchester line also makes
possible the through-running of electric trains from Manchester
Airport and Manchester to Scotland. At present these services are
diesel because the last stretch of line into Manchester is not
electrified. This will be a major strategic benefit to passengers
in the north of England and Scotland.”
First Minister for Wales Rhodri Morgan said:
“I’m delighted that this major modernisation, the first rail
electrification in Wales, will boost travel links to and within
Wales. It will improve connections between London, Cardiff and
Swansea and make a rail journey between London and Swansea almost
20 minutes shorter. We need to work closely now to ensure these
exciting plans dovetail with our own National Transport Plan.”
The Government will in the coming months consider the case for
further electrification, particularly in respect of the Midland
Main Line (between London, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield) and
routes between Manchester and Preston and Liverpool and Preston.
The Government also announced today that a new rolling stock
deployment plan, taking into account the new electrification, will
be published in the autumn.
Notes to Editors
1. Britain’s Transport Infrastructure - Rail Electrification is
available at http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/pi/
2. Benefits of “going electric” not diesel
Electrified tracks are essential to getting maximum
efficiency and capacity from a modern railway, so that train
operators can match rolling stock to meet the demand from
passengers and give them a better service than diesels.
Compared to diesels, electric trains are:
Faster; Quieter;Greener as they produce less CO2 and emit no air
pollution at the trackside;More reliable;Lighter and cause less
wear and tear on the tracks;More cost-effective for carrying
freight loads; Provide more seats; andCheaper to buy, operate and
maintain.
3. Boost to economy
It will also be good news for jobs and industry including tourism
and freight, Britain’s competitiveness with our European partners,
and provide excellent value for money for the taxpayer. The
electrification programme will boost hundreds of jobs across the
country and reduce the business costs of unreliable trains and
workers arriving late.
The electrification programme will pay for itself over the long
term through lower train leasing, maintenance and operating costs.
The short term cost of Network Rail’s financing will be met by the
Government, and there will be no impact on other Network Rail
investment programmes in the five year investment period to 2014.
4. Benefits for the passenger
Electrification, combined with other improvements to track and
signalling on the line, will mean that minimum journey times
between Liverpool and Manchester will be reduced from 44 to 30
minutes and between London and Swansea by 19 minutes.
Electrification will also mean making rail more reliable and
quieter for commuters, reducing the potential cost to the economy
of workers getting in late.
It is also expected that introducing the new Super Express on the
London to Swansea line will increase capacity on intercity
services during the morning peak hour by at least 15% and also
mean more space on trains generally during the day and evening peak.
5. Greener journeys
Rail electrification is an important part of the Department’s
carbon strategy. Typically an electric train emits between 20% and
35% less carbon per passenger mile than a diesel train. This
benefit will only improve as the electricity generation industry
reduces its carbon levels. Electric trains also have zero
emissions at the point of use, of particular benefit for air
quality in pollution hot spots like city centres and mainline stations.
6. Rail renaissance
Today’s announcement is part of a wider Government rail strategy
to meet future increases in demand, promote a move from other
transport modes to rail and ensure Britain has the world-class
infrastructure it needs. Major projects on the agenda include the
£16bn Crossrail scheme, the £5.5bn Thameslink modernisation and
evaluating the case for a new high-speed link between London and
Scotland.
The electrification of Great Western Main Line now creates the
option of extending Crossrail further to Reading, with Reading
station also getting a £425m major upgrade which will cut
bottlenecks and delays.
The Department for Transport and Network Rail will work closely
with the Welsh Assembly so that plans for electrifying the Great
Western Main Line are coordinated with the Assembly’s own rail plans.
7. Minimising disruption
Electric trains are more reliable than diesel. An electric
intercity train will travel 40% further than an equivalent diesel
train before a technical failure and an electric commuter train
will travel well over twice as far.
Network Rail will use newly developed construction techniques
which minimise the inconvenience to passengers of work on the
Great Western line through utilising high-tech factory trains and
extensively using overnight closures of less than eight hours.
Passenger Focus will be given a key role in representing
travellers’ views.
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