The Government has rejected the premise of a select committee inquiry that rail investment has been subject to systemic ‘boom and bust’, other than in respect of rolling stock.
In its response to the Transport Committee’s Rail Investment Pipelines report, the Government acknowledged that “the perception of such cycles is clearly felt by parts of the supply chain,” but insisted there is no evidence of boom and bust in overall rail funding.
It also stated that Government “shares the Committee’s ambition to reduce unnecessary volatility and strengthen long-term clarity in rail investment”. However, very few of the Committee’s specific recommendations for how to do this have been accepted.
While the Committee had proposed revamping and keeping updated the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) – which hasn’t been publicly updated since 2019 – the Government set out an alternative structure. This included a “potential pipeline” of schemes capable of being progressed should funding become available, but the planned format or timing of this information was not divulged.
Transport Committee Chair Ruth Cadbury said: “The rail industry needs certainty in the supply chain but the response to our report does not fill the Committee with confidence that the Government is seized with the necessary urgency to address this.
“Firstly, I’m disappointed that Government does not recognise something that we heard throughout our inquiry – namely that investment in the railways has frequently been characterised by boom and bust cycles which create damaging uncertainty for the supply chain.
“Secondly, while I’m pleased that Government shares the Committee’s ambition to strengthen long-term clarity in rail investment, it’s clear that more detail is needed about how this will be achieved. The Government leans very heavily on the integration to be achieved under Great British Railways as a way of addressing these issues, but we can’t rely on a smoother, more efficient investment pipeline arising simply as a by-product of those reforms.
“This is not just about the supply chain, but about the delivery of more reliable services at a lower cost: erratic investment in electrification over decades is a stark example of how boom and bust has damaged the railways’ service to passengers.
“The Committee will now be looking for further details about exactly what will be done to inject much-needed certainty and steadiness into rail investment. As we do so, I look forward to hearing what the industry makes of the Government’s response to our report.”
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