Well it’s a start

Yet again, the DfT seem to be coming through and doing things to improve the lot of the frazzled commuter. At least in London they are anyway. This time they have made it possible for South West Trains to obtain an additional 60 vehicles that will be used to lengthen trains from eight to ten cars. This will be the implementation of the proposal that first came about in February 2010, which will see the Class 460 units formerly used by Gatwick Express integrated with the similar Class 458 fleet. This will allow five-car Class 458 units to be coupled into ten-car trains, which (it is presumed) will go to be used on Windsor Line trains, which can then allow a cascade of other rolling stock within the operator that can see other trains also lengthened. Of course, that’s not the only thing. To make room for these longer trains and planned extra services, Platform 20, part of the Waterloo International complex, will finally be brought back into regular use. There will be investment in South West Trains’ facilities, all of which will go to the creation of new jobs. All super duper. For not a huge amount of cost, potentially significant economic benefits are created – new employment, better frequency of services allowing more people to get into their workplaces quicker. Everyone’s happy. Is this what McNulty had in mind? Of course, investment in London and the South East is one thing – it does often seem that it is, to coin a phrase, “piss easy” to get more money for the commuter railways into London. The trick is getting money to stregthen the rail service in other cities that are (or have the potential to be) major economic drivers. The Northern Hub for example has been estimated at in the region of £550m, and will be a series of works all around the north of England aimed at improving services into Manchester and Leeds. £550m is around the same as is being spent on the refurbishment of Kings Cross, and yet the case for it is still having to be made. Thankfully, slowly, it is starting to move, with the various electrification projects and construction of the Ordsall Curve. One hopes that this will be the start of a snowball effect of investment, otherwise the government will lay itself open to accusations from the north of favouring London. Again.

“London commuters to benefit from longer peak-time trains”
“Old Waterloo International platform to be used by SWT”

Adiós al hombre los caminos

Obviously, the fallout of the resignation of Liam Fox as Defence Secretary as an isolated incident matters very little to the wider aspects of transport policy in general, and the railways in particular. But, because government is interconnected, we must take note of it as it has led to the departure of The Roads Man from the DfT to take over at the MOD. Of course, I still call Philip Hammond “The Roads Man”, a nickname I bestowed on him when he became Transport Secretary because I viewed him as being particularly akin to the roads lobby. However, as time has gone on, the nickname has taken on more of an ironic edge. While we could never say that Hammond had the same kind of interest in transport (and railways in particular) as his predecessor Lord Adonis, he does have an economic background and at least recognised the value of maintaining and investing in the transport infrastructure as part of the country’s wider economic development. And it is also fair to say that he has been a vocal champion for the construction of High Speed 2. So we wish him well at the MOD. And we wonder about his replacement. I will freely admit that I didn’t see that appointment coming – I was sitting in the Ashcroft Theatre at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon, in the interval of the play I was watching, and was scrolling through Twitter when it became apparent that Justine Greening had been promoted to the post. As with Philip Hammond, Justine Greening has an economic background (Hammond twice shadowed the Chief Secretary to the Treasury while in opposition) having served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury since the last election, so hopefully she will similarly be aware of the importance of the transport infrastructure to the economy. It will be interesting to see what her take on the issues are. Given the story that emerged yesterday, with a quote from Willie Walsh, the Chief Executive of British Airways, who claims that there is a conflict of interest given that her constituency, Putney, is under the Heathrow flightpath. As a consequence, based on Willie Walsh’s view, she will be even less inclined to look favourably on expansion at Heathrow. Never mind the fact that not expanding Heathrow is actually government policy. 

“New minister compromised over Heathrow expansion, says Willie Walsh”

Will she look upon the “Heathwick” idea favourably as a means of expanding capacity without building anew at Heathrow. This is an idea floated to build a high speed railway line connecting Heathrow and Gatwick, essentially to act as a people mover, turning the two airports into essentially a single hub. This is the last major story to come out of Hammond’s DfT, and naturally is something that Willie Walsh also disapproves of.

“Willie Walsh attacks ‘Heathwick’ plan”

The government has plenty on its plate as far as the railways are concerned, and Justine Greening is likely to need to display a sizeable pair of cojones to stand up to the various pressures that will no doubt be making their way across her desk from Monday morning.

What will Justine Greening do once she starts work as the new Secretary of State for Transport?