Rail & HS2 Minister outlines benefits of Network North

Huw Merriman has reassured the rail industry that the railways and its users will benefit following the cancellation of Phase 2 of the HS2 project.

Speaking at the Railway Industry Association’s (RIA) Annual Conference, the Rail & HS2 Minister spoke on rail reform, ticket office closure u-turn and the decision to scrap the building of a high-speed line from Birmingham to Manchester.

“I will always back the railways and the government will always back the railways,” he said. “140 miles of HS2 is being built that will get delivered with Euston in the mix and the railway being linked to the West Coast Mainline. 36 miles of Phase 2A does not get delivered, so there’s still an awful lot of HS2 that is being built right now and will be built and will be there for the supply chain.

“The miles that don’t go ahead, every pound will go into transport projects and I want to get those projects done early and properly. If we don’t learn lessons from HS2 will be a tragedy. The contracts don’t reward delivery.”

Instead of HS2 Phase 2, the government announced plans for Network North will a total of £36 billion in savings from the project reinvested in hundreds of transport projects across the country, delivering more buses, reopening railway stations and ensuring major funding for new and improved roads.

“Network North has the capability to deliver a series of projects which could connect an electrified North Wales line across to a Northern Powerhouse Rail project which takes us all the way to Hull,” he said. “Network North will bring the faster journey times, increased capacity and more reliable services that people want.

“It offers more tangible benefits quicker delivering the local proof that people need, and indeed when it comes to business cases, we know that they have a higher ratio and therefore a higher chance of delivery when we connect local communities together rather than further apart.”

He added that the industry needs to support the plans.

He said: “The key part for the delivery of Network North is not to knock it, it’s to hold me to account. I want to work with everyone, but quite frankly I need you to be the force that makes sure that all these great projects are delivered.”

This year’s Annual Conference theme focuses on ‘Promoting the case for rail and investment in uncertain times’. In the opening address, RIA Chief Executive Darren Caplan explained how it is more than four years since the latest update on the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline and more than 1,000 days since the last rolling stock order.

Commenting on this, Mr Merriman said: “To suggest the absence of Whitehall document representing an absence of commitment to rail projects is not right. The government has spent around £2 billion annually on our net scheme in every year since the first publication and RIA members up and down the country are involved throughout.

“Indeed, it’s an unusual one because in my time scrutinising government action, I’ve seen documents published but the delivery not being there. In this instance, I actually see the delivery being here, but I recognise the document has not been. But in Network North we have a document that does publish pipeline.”

The HS2 & Rail Minister also reflected on a recent summer rail tour in getting the opinions of the industry.

“This year I was in full listening mode and met many RIA members and away from the Westminster noise and the challenges you end up hearing from those that run the rail,” he said.

Mr Merriman spoke at the Annual Conference the day after plans to close ticket offices at railway stations were scrapped. More than 750,000 responded to the consultation organised by Transport Focus and London TravelWatch about the proposals, with 99 per cent sent to the latter being objections to the plans.

“It was right to put forward reforms with one in ten transactions across the ticket counter, compared to one in three a decade ago,” he said. “It only works if the design works so rather than a u-turn it has been a passenger body decision, which came to a view the closures wouldn’t work.

“If an independent body found it wouldn’t work we wouldn’t be finding anything different.”

The first day of the Conference comes as an annual Savanta survey of 200 rail leaders has found that over half will contract in the coming year (the highest negative rating in the last five years since the survey began) and less than half expect their businesses to grow.

Talking to the visitors to the event, Mr Merriman said: “Thank you for everything you do and I hope we continue to work as one industry united by a sense of renewal, regeneration and growth.

Photo credit: www.robfinneyphotography.co.uk

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