Transport Insights

One of the things that irritates me about over-hyped government announcements, particularly from Labour, is the way that the hype provides cover for not doing very much while pretending to do a lot. The latest ludicrous announcement from the Department for Transport (DfT) is one of the most egregious pieces of hype it has delivered for a while.

A press release announces:

New British-built trains to transform railways and reindustrialise Britain

faster and more frequent train journeys across the North as government supports a £1 billion investment in 29 new British-built trains on Great British Railways (GBR)

So you are saying that a purchase of just 29 trains will simultaneously transform the railways and reindustrialise the whole country?

Not only that but

The new fleet of 29 battery-electric TransPennine Express trains, set to be built at Derby’s historic Litchurch Lane Works, is a clear example of what Great British Railways can deliver by bringing track and train together.

And:

Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, said:

“It’s exactly what Great British Railways is all about – taking back control of the basics and getting Britain believing again.”

This is (or should be) a routine purchase by a private rolling stock company, with its own (borrowed) money, from a private, largely foreign-owned train builder, with the stock then leased to a train operator.

This model has been in place for decades, with the state’s contribution being to underwrite the train operator’s revenue. It has nothing to do with Great British Railways bringing track and train together; in fact, the DfT is largely responsible for the longstanding procurement gaps and loss of capability that this order begins to address.

The only thing that has changed is that the train operator is now publicly owned.

The decision to use battery-electric trains, which can charge on the move, over a trans-Pennine route that would be very expensive and carbon-intensive to electrify entirely seems sensible to me.

But we might have to wait a while for a move that will transform the railways and reindustrialise Britain:

The trains are due to be built from 2028 and enter service from winter 2034.

In the circumstances, it should surprise no-one that the image in the press release is a mock-up.