Nov 25, 2010
Lib Dems Wary of New Rail Investment
Reading Train Station
Reading Lib Dem Transport Spokesperson, Cllr Ricky Duveen, welcomed news of more major investment in the rail network following the announcement by the government of plans for a further £8bn of investment in Britain’s railways. Although much of this will go into new rolling stock for Crossrail and for Thameslink there will be clear benefits to Reading commuters.
However, Cllr Duveen, was disappointed to see that no firm decision had yet been made on electrification of the main Great Western line through Reading. The commuter routes through Reading to Oxford and Newbury would indeed be electrified but not the whole mainline through to South Wales and Cornwall. This left the government with difficult decisions as to what rolling stock would be best, given that trains on the First Great Western line would need both diesel and electric power. This difficulty had been the cause of a delay in plans to replace the 40 year old HST trains that currently carry FGW passengers, slam doors and all.
‘Previous governments have left our country’s public transport outdated and underfunded and out of control after botched nationalisation schemes. It is good to see a much increased level of funding from the new government, especially given the chronic state of public finances left by the last Labour government.’
Cllr Duveen also criticised Network Rail for amassing half year profits of £300m whilst supposedly providing a public service. ‘I do not think that making fat profits at the commuters expense is necessarily the most efficient way to run a rail network and I wonder what passengers think of the impending fare rises recently announced which will soon begin to bite. I think passengers would like to see real improvements in standards and less overcrowding on commuter lines before being asked to subsidise rail companies profits. How much longer do we have to stand on overcrowded trains every day whilst paying the highest rail fares in Europe?
Creative Commons image of Reading Station by mattbuck4950
Article updated 30/11/2010
