Will it ever happen?

ATOC, the negotiating body for the train operators issued a call for greater electrification in a statement issued on the 19th October this year

Electrify more lines between cities to cut carbon and congestion says ATOC

Proposals to electrify up to 400 miles of railways, to fill in the network’s ‘missing links’ and provide better connections between some of the UK’s biggest cities are set out today by train companies.

The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) is keen to see work done which prepares for the electrification in the long term of a relatively small number of strategic routes, bringing significant benefits to the UK economy. The proposals would cut carbon emissions and journey times and reduce overcrowding on some of the busiest parts of the network, that at the moment carry around a quarter of a million passengers every day.

ATOC’s proposals have been developed in the context of industry-wide discussions about a long-term strategy for network electrification, due to be published shortly by Network Rail. ATOC’s proposals identify a ten-year rolling programme of work to be completed by 2024 costing around £50m a year.

Once finished, the schemes would allow electric trains to run along one fully electrified route between Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Leeds and York; as well as linking Birmingham to Bristol, Reading, Swindon and Gloucester, benefitting regions which are home to well over five million people.

Most lines in London and the South East and routes running from North to South, such as the East and West Coast lines, are already electrified. However, no lines that run across the width of the country are electrified at the moment.

A rolling programme of works would promote efficiency and value for money through the continued use of equipment and workers. In the long-term, the work would pay for itself as electric trains are much more cost effective than diesel and would generate considerable passenger growth and benefits. ATOC’s proposals would complement and build on the welcome recent announcement that the London to Swansea and Liverpool to Manchester lines are to be electrified.

The ten schemes identified by ATOC are:

– Liverpool to Manchester via Warrington Central
– Manchester to Leeds via Huddersfield
– Basingstoke / Reading to Birmingham via Oxford and Leamington / Coventry
– Birmingham to Bristol via Cheltenham (including Gloucester)
– St Helens to Wigan
– Leeds to York
– Preston to Manchester via Bolton
– Crewe to Chester
– Ipswich to Felixstowe
– Swindon to Cheltenham