OK ... I've just been on Radio Wiltshire to speak to this for TravelWatch SouthWest. Following ... not exactly what I said, but my preparatory write-up ... which was in front of me to keep me on topic
My own summary - A combination of Network Rail, the Department for Transport and the Office of Road and Rail are criticised by a select committee of
MPs▸ for getting the rail infrastructure program to upgrade the Great Western Mainline very wrong indeed. It's way over budget, underresourced in terms of available expertise, and going to be delievered late at the least bad.
"It is alarming that, in planning work intended to support these plans, its judgment should be so flawed. Our inquiry has found that the agreed work could never have been delivered within the agreed budget and timeframe. Yet Network Rail, the Department for Transport and the regulator ^ the Office of Rail and Road ^ signed up to the plans anyway." says Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee.
So ... what's going to be done about it? Three reviews are underway, the first - Sir Peter Hendy's assessment of how much work can realistically now be conducted by 2019 for the budget provided, is expected to be published next week.
It's a fair bet that electrification won't go as far / fast on the Great Western lines as has been planned - which was London to Windsor / Marlow / Henley, to Newbury, to Basingstoke, to Oxford, to Bristol via Hullavington and via Chippenham, and to Swansea. In turn that will delay the release of rolling stock to replace and supplement others across the south west for use on lines and services which were not due to be electrified. This need to supplement is a serious matter, as passenger growth on the rail network across the South West has been at a far higher rate than has been provided for, resulting in seriously overcrowded trains that are no longer able to carry all the passengers who wish to travel.
For some services, planned strengthening was already scheduled too late to prevent a significant loss of business, and the economic and environmental impacts of that loss, and actions are required to find alternative ways of providing more capacity across the South West, and in the shorter rather than the longer term.
For passengers in SWINDON AND WILTSHIRE and travelling to / from those areas, immediate issues include:
* Overcrowding on London trains between Reading and London
* Overcrowding into Bath and Bristol from Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge, Westbury, Warminster and Frome
* Overcrowding from Swindon on regional services via Stroud and via Chippenham and Trowbridge to Westbury.
(Note - this is part of a larger picture; there is also gross overcrowding all the way from the Thames Valley via Bristol and South Wales to Exeter and the far South West. My picture is looking specifically at the Swindon and Wiltshire economic area)
Great Western Railway - operators of the majority of these services - will no doubt be looking for solutions (operational and financial) in association with the government and other rail industry organisations already. It is very much in everyone's interest at this time not only to learn from what has happened but also and more importantly to fill the void that could be left with services in the short medium and longer term that are fit for current and future passenger purpose.
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