Rail electrification a betrayal, says MEP
Shropshire MEP Jill Seymour has accused the Government of betraying rail travellers by scrapping plans to electrify lines across large parts of the UK.
Plans to modernise three busy lines – from Cardiff to Swansea, the Midland Main line and tracks in the Lake District – have been scrapped amid concerns over the spiralling budget.
But Mrs Seymour said the cost of electrification was just a drop in the ocean compared with the sums being spent on the HS2 high-speed link from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said that because of new technology, the electrification works between Cardiff and Swansea, Kettering, Nottingham and Sheffield, and between Windermere and Oxenholme, would no longer be needed.
He said modern “bi-mode” trains which can switch from electric to diesel mid-journey would be used on the Great Western and Midland Main lines, with passengers in Wales benefitting from new Intercity Express trains which would deliver 130 more seats and faster services.
But Mrs Seymour said: "While the electrification projects would benefit commuters across large parts of the country, and help the environment too, HS2 will be used by just a tiny minority, and decimate huge swathes of our countryside.
“This is a betrayal which makes no logical sense. The Government is taking rail travellers for a ride – and leaving a trail of broken promises behind."
She added that the Government had been promising to electrify the lines for the past five years.
Mrs Seymour, who is Ukip's transport spokesman, accused the Government of sneaking out the details a few hours before the summer recess.
She also accused the Government of double standards.
“On one hand, they are demonising drivers of diesel vehicles with ever-increasing financial penalties, and on the other they are now indicating that diesel-powered trains are here to stay, for the foreseeable future," she said.
