'It just makes no sense' - railway bodies protest against pause to electrification

JOINT LETTER IS WRITTEN TO RAIL MINISTER AFTER DELAY ANNOUNCED ON MIDLAND MAIN LINE UPGRADE

- By POST REPORTER

TWO rail industry bodies have urged action on Midland Main Line electrification after the government announced a "pause" on the upgrade.

The Rail Forum and the Railway Industry Association have written a joint letter to the Rail Minister, Lord (Peter) Hendy, responding to the surprise government decision.

Backers claim the Midland Main Line electrification would create up to 4,300 jobs, including many skilled roles, and over 100 apprenticeships, generating £61 million in economic value from jobs created in the East Midlands and nearly £18 million in social value.

The Department for Transport (DfT) announced last week backing for over 50 rail and road projects around the country including a plan to improve the A38 junctions in Derby, the A66 Northern Transpen-nine route, the A46 Newark Bypass extension, the Midlands Rail Hub and new stations, which it said amounted to £92billion of investment.

But at the same time, the DfT announced an indefinite pause on electrification of the Midland Main Line (MML) beyond Wigston in Leicestershire, the York Area Capacity Improvement, the final phase of the South West Rail Resilience Programme and the congestion relief scheme at Peckham Rye station.

The DfT has announced "investment will instead be focused on other schemes during this spending review period".