The recently published English integrated transport strategy has the laudable aim of promoting seamless cross-modal urban, suburban, and rural transport in England. Although it proposes many useful measures, it does not consider the need to enhance strategic UK transport links as recommended by the then Sir Peter Hendy in his 2021 Union Connectivity Review. Nor does this strategy consider the need for modal shift from congested roads. Yet other countries in the British Isles have transport strategies that address such issues.
The Welsh transport strategy states that modal shift is at its heart and sets a target of increasing public transport / active travel journey share from 32% to 45% by 2040. The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 also requires public investments to consider whole life costs.
The Welsh and Scottish strategies promote modal shift to public transport through a sustainable travel hierarchy in which cars are at the bottom. This includes electric cars which will not reduce congestion. Scotland also commits to an ambitious rail decarbonisation programme which recognises the need for electrification of InterCity routes that carry both passenger and freight services.
The Republic of Ireland’s National Sustainable Mobility Policy also supports modal shift through infrastructure and service improvements. It has a target to deliver at least 500,000 additional daily active travel and public transport journeys and a 10% reduction in kilometres driven by fossil fuelled cars by 2030. For rail, its focus is improving commuter services in Dublin and Cork as well as electrification as required by the All-Island Strategic Rail Review (AISRR).
As shown in our report on the Railway Industry Association’s (RIA) All Ireland Summit, the AISRR is an ambitious detailed £30 billion plan to double Ireland’s rail market share by 2050. It was jointly produced by the Republic of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Executive as part of a plan for an all-island economy that will significantly boost productivity throughout Ireland. It also provides a prioritised delivery framework which gives a visible project pipeline.
In addition, Dublin is to extend its tram lines and build an underground metro. Cork is also to get a tram line and is also to have the first Irish 25kV electrified railway. Delegates at the summit were advised that, with the use of the Network Rail led development of voltage-controlled clearances, Cork considers continuous electrification to be the preferred solution.
Leeds has a population four times that of Cork and is Europe’s largest city without a light rail system. Hence it was good to see that, according to the 2025 UK infrastructure strategy, construction of the West Yorkshire Mass Transit system was to start in 2028 and that £2.1 billion had been allocated to this project. Yet, in December it was announced that this tram system was to be delayed until the late 2030s. This was the result of a review, which Government refuses to publish, which apparently required consideration of bus rapid transit systems that have half the capacity of trams.
In 2023, HS2 was cutback so that it no longer alleviates West Coast Main Line (WCML) capacity south of Crewe. Yet there is still no strategy to maximise the benefits of HS2 which is now unlikely to connect to WCML until the late 2030s. Experienced rail operator Chris Gibb has a plan to make the best use of HS2 and we explain why he considers it would be a mistake to lengthen trains by varying the HS2 train contract and that by the time HS2 trains run on the WCML a new tilting HS2 train fleet will be required to replace today’s Pendolinos.
By summer, the Government is committed to publish a Long-Term Rolling Stock and Infrastructure Strategy (LTRS&IS). It is to be hoped that this will take account of how other parts of the British Isles plan to get the best benefit from their railways and take a whole system view to ensure that infrastructure and rolling stock investment considers whole life cost.
The Transpennine Route Upgrade must surely feature in the LTRS&IS. As Peter Stanton describes, when completed this huge programme will boost passenger and freight connectivity across northern England by a route that will be electrified and have ETCS signalling. Installing ETCS is a complex task as David Fenner explains in his update on the East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP) which is now two years behind its original programme as a result. No doubt there are many lessons to be learned.
No doubt the LTRS&IS will also show the long-term programme for ETCS fitment, as it will be many years before ETCS signalling is the norm. Until then conventional signalling renewals will be required such as the Cambridge and Kingmoor Signalling renewals on which we report.
The signalling system being installed on 150km of the London Underground sub-surface tube lines is a Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) system which provides moving blocks to maximise train movement capacity. As Clive Kessell explains, establishing an ultra-reliable radio link between trains and the control centre is a real challenge. ETCS and CBTC bring new cyber security challenges. As we explain, these will soon have to be addressed by new legal requirements and railway standards.
However good the equipment at the 5,500 level crossings on the mainline rail network, managing level crossing safety must take account of human behaviour. Amongst the measures to improve level crossing safety, Paul Darlington describes the work to understand how people behave at level crossings.
In his Railway 200 feature Mark Phillips explores the visible legacy of early railway civil engineering works. He describes how the British landscape was rapidly transformed by the construction of awe-inspiring structures and earthworks which required around a million workers. Though some of these structures are no longer part of a railway they are still awe-inspiring as Graeme Bickerdike’s book ‘Railway Wonders’ shows.
Whilst railway structures are carrying loads that their builders never imagined, other parts of the infrastructure are less resilient. For example, the breached seawall at Dawlish shut the railway for two months in 2014. Since then, as Bob Wright describes, the South West Rail Resilience Programme has reduced the likelihood of a future blockage. In January, Storm Ingrid hit the seawall with 60mph winds and 12-foot waves. Bob’s verdict was that the seawall performed well.
Providing a resilient rail infrastructure despite a changing climate was one of many issues considered at the Network Rail and RIA Scotland Engineering & Innovation Conference as we report.
Finally, we have a preview of the UK Rail exhibition at the NEC Birmingham on 13-14 May. We’ll be there. Do come to say hello.
Image credit: David Shirres