The biggest programme of electrification in the history of Britain^s railways could get the green light next spring ^if the sums add up^ according to the government^s most senior railway civil servant (link below.)
http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/westminster-watch/2008/10/08-villiers-electrification.htmlDr Mike Mitchell, Director General-National Networks at the Department for Transport, was speaking to a conference of The Railway Forum, the industry^s top-level pressure group.
Without referring directly to last year^s government White Paper on the future of the railways ^ which seemed to ignore electrification and suggest trains in future could be powered by hydrogen cells ^ Mike Mitchell said the benefits of electrification, including gains for the environment and lower train operating costs, ^are not lost on us ^ but there only finite sums of money available.^
But he said the Department for Transport was working closely with the industry on developing a possible rolling programme, and on driving down the costs of installing electrification.
But Dr Mitchell was more downbeat about development of new high-speed lines, pointing out that Britain was a more compact country with less distance between major centres than others, such as France and Spain, that have developed high-speed services.
He added that high speed was not necessarily the right solution because ^ as speed increased ^ energy consumption also increased. But he said Network Rail was looking at the options ^and we are ready to listen.^
Click on the map to explore geographics
