Great Western Coffee Shop

RAILNEWS has been told that the Department for Transport has no contingency plan for the railway industry if the Scottish people vote in favour of becoming independent today. The admission has come from a transport minister.

There are numerous unanswered questions about how a division of the United Kingdom would affect the railway, including the management of border security and its implications for operators as well as passengers, the position of Network Rail and how the reclassification of Scotland as a separate country could have an impact on rolling stock leasing.

Railway suppliers are also concerned about how a 'foreign' Scotland would affect them, particularly the large concentration of railway supply chain companies in Derby. Those with Scottish customers could then become exporters, but if Scotland does not succeed in its bid to become a standalone member of the European Union, cross border transactions could become vulnerable to new tariff regulations.

Although there are are many potential changes on the horizon if Scotland votes 'yes', the Department for Transport has not prepared a 'Plan B', according to rail minister Claire Perry.

She told Railnews: "There is no contingency plan. There might be some secret proposals in a box somewhere, I suppose, but if there are I haven't seen them."

...