Forum Brief: Rail Investment

Britain's rail regulator has warned that spending on Britain's railways will have to rise substantially if real improvements are to be achieved.

In a draft report released on Friday Tom Winsor says spending should rise from £15 billion to £22.7 billion over the next five years - substantially more than the government initially planned.

John Thurso, transport spokesman, said: "The rail regulator has done the travelling public a great service by forcing the government to come clean and admit what every rail passenger knows - Britain's railways need more money.

"Since privatisation the rail network has been under-invested and over-regulated. Scarce money has been wasted on consultants and managers, while passengers continue to suffer.

"Now the public deserves to know who will be paying for this £8 billion black hole.

"Alastair Darling and Gordon Brown must look at alternative funding options, such as bonds, which will not pass the burden to the taxpayer."

Tim Collins, shadow transport secretary, said: "Yet again taxpayers are being asked to pick up the bill for the spectacular mismanagement of railway finances under this government.

"Costs have exploded while performance has slumped, and this stems directly from the ill-fated decision to create Network Rail without giving it any proper systems of accountability or incentives to control spending.

"Because of its own mismanagement, the government is now faced with choosing between fare increases, service cuts or taxpayer subsidies.

"Nowhere is Labour's record of tax and spend and fail more evident than in transport. Costs have soared, but delays have doubled. That is not the fair deal that taxpayers or passengers deserve."

Forum Response: Transport and Salaried Staff Association

Richard Rosser, general secretary of TSSA, said: "This increase in investment in the network is great news for the railway.

"Now NR have to make best use of the extra cash - and that means putting a stay of execution on their panic plans to randomly axe 700 of its key managers.

"Just a week ago, NR said it would be increasing its workload by taking all of Jarvis's maintenance contracts in-house. Now we know it has the money needed to employ the best people to fix the railway.

"There could well be staff savings to be made, but NR have insisted on using a completely arbitrary system for cutting jobs. Usually an organisationdecides what work it doesn't need to do and then cuts jobs accordingly. NR have decided to cut the jobs then decide what it can actually do with those left.

"NR's so-called 'efficiency programme' is a knee-jerk reaction that will ultimately backfire on the industry and its passengers."

"If the rail industry is to invest this new pot of money wisely, to the benefit of the travelling public, it can only be done on the basis of carefully-considered plans and not panic cuts."

Forum Response: Association of Train Operating Companies

George Muir, director general of ATOC, said: "Britain's railway are one of the fastest growing railways in Europe, and the network needs more money.

"How much Network Rail should get to spend on the network is a tough decision for Tom Winsor. He has to balance the need for investment with what the country can afford, but we think he has made the right decision.

"And it is going to be very tough indeed for Network Rail because Tom Winsor has allocated less than they say they need, but I think with good railway engineering, and there are good engineers in Network Rail, they can do it."

Forum Response: Institute of Directors

James Walsh, Policy Analyst at the Institute of Directors, said: "Today's news is yet further proof that the structure of our railways is not working. Yet again the tax-payer and the travelling public are being asked to foot the bill to keep the system running."