common feature is that they each perform wider strategic roles, as well as bringing local area benefits. East-West Rail is leading the pack, having gained Government support after strong campaigning. Its full cost has been estimated at £5bn (2019 prices). The campaign to re-create the ‘northern’ route between Exeter and Plymouth is compelling6. Even since 2015, when Austin and Faulkner spoke about addressing the challenges on the existing coastal line, awareness of the significance of sea level rises on the coastal route has grown. Northern route reinstatement costs were estimated in 2014 at £875m for a railway designed to intercity standards and with measures to protect the initial part of the route west from Exeter (shared with the Barnstaple line) from flood risk. Just like East-West Rail, the second main line between Exeter and Plymouth offers substantial connectivity gains across a wide geography. But it also provides a unique network resilience bonus. Unlike the Oxford-Cambridge arc, Devon and Cornwall are not areas of high prosperity. The adoption of this west country scheme by Government, and the allocation of proper funding to it, is a real test of Government’s commitment to levelling up parts of the country doing least well economically. Half of England’s most deprived areas lost their railway stations in the Beeching cuts, a new report has found. Research by Campaign for Better Transport found that 88 of 175 stations in the poorest areas of the country have closed since 1960, with 23 areas losing two or more7. Many of these areas are in the North of England, but the local authority with the overall lowest level of productivity/head (income and profits) is in the West Country: Cornwall. Its rail connectivity depends on a single, vulnerable, line along the south Devon coast being kept open. As we have seen, East West Rail and StratfordCheltenham main line re-instatements both have
some relevance to a wider aim of getting the most from HS2 investment. Exeter-Okehampton-Tavistock-Plymouth provides long term assurance in dealing with perhaps the most pressing case of a global warming threat facing the national rail network.
One more missing link
Whereas it could be said that HS2’s Eastern Arm is a modern version of the northern part of the (lost) Great Central Main Line, in practice an even more significant main line loss could be the North Midland Line which linked South and West Yorkshire (Sheffield-Rotherham-NormantonLeeds). This line was overlooked in the Austin-Faulkner book, and is now substantially built over, making its re-instatement all but impossible. The ambition for a better and faster link between Sheffield and Leeds – and better connections to the key places between them (notably Barnsley and Wakefield) – remains. The corridor is relevant to both Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2, but a firm plan that can be prioritised is not yet apparent. Yet here there is a strong case for new, electrified, rail capacity, able to overcome slow journey times and network congestion. Sometimes rather than re-instatement, new build can be a better approach.
References
1: Greengauge 21 provided technical support to the relevant train operating company, GWR, examining the wider social benefit from a restored railway for the Okehampton catchment area 2: Published by OPC, 2015. ISBN 978 0 86093 664 0 3:http://www.greengauge21.net/challenging-regioninequalities-the-transport-element/ 4: http://www.greengauge21.net/rail-investment-for-thenorth-midlands-how-to-make-it-happen/ 5: WS Atkins et al report to Strategic Rail Authority, 2001 6: https://northernrouteworkinggroup.wordpress.com/ 7: Daily Telegraph, 1st April 2021
Solent to Midlands Multimodal Freight Strategy ABP Southampton has welcomed the publication of the first phase of a strategy by Network Rail and Highways England that explores how to make even better use of the rail and road infrastructure between the Solent and the Midlands. The Solent to Midlands Multimodal Freight Strategy recognises the role played by the Port of Southampton as a gateway to the Midlands, which is home to many economic hubs and distribution centres, while principally exploring how greater use of rail could free up vital road corridors like the A34 and help achieve Net Zero goals. “This study comes at a very good time, as the country focuses on economic recovery and a more sustainable way of working,” said Alastair Welch, Director of ABP Southampton.
46
“It’s positive to see this collaboration between Network Rail and Highways England recognising the role we can play in keeping Britain trading and moving,” he added. “As a vital node in many global supply chains, the Port of Southampton supports jobs around the country.”
Great Western Star Summer 2021
