The government is upping its attacks on Labour’s railways legacy, as the war of words over electrification continues. Coffee House has seen a letter from the Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin to Michael Dugher, his opposite number in Labour, which hits back at claims that the government mislead the public over its delayed plans to electrify railways. In the letter, McLoughlin directly pointing the finger of blame at Labour:
‘I am grateful for your sudden interest in our program of rail enhancement: in the many months between your appoint by Ed Miliband and the General Election you did not ask a single question about electrification, so allow me to set out the background.
‘The Government has the most ambitious programme of rail modernization since the Victorian era. It will deliver huge benefits to passengers and overcome decades of under investment.
‘By contrast, Labour’s failure to invest has had catastrophic consequences for the economy and for the industry. Between 1997 and 2010 only ten miles of track were electrified.
‘We began our work from a standing start. The supply chain needed for electrification had suffered from years of inactivity and was not strong enough. Simply put, when we started modernizing the railways there were not enough skilled people to deliver the work.’
The row began last month when McLoughlin announced that the electrification of parts of the Midland Mainline and the Trans-Pennine lines would be ‘paused’, following an ‘overly optimistic’ Network Rail schedule. Dugher wrote to the Prime Minister, accusing him of ‘shelving’ the upgrades and asked what he knew when, given the Tories’ manifesto commitments.
Although the letter from McLoughlin suggests the government has acknowledged they underestimated the number of resources to deliver the projects, the Tories are insisting they are not to blame. A source close to McLoughlin says:
‘Labour did nothing to prepare our transport network for the twenty first century and we won’t let them forget it. In infrastructure, as with so much else, we are still clearing up Labour’s mess.’
Given Andrew Adonis’ recent appointment to oversee the delivery of HS2, it appears that the cross-party good will in the Department for Transport only goes so far. Expect to see McLoughlin and Dugher slug this out over the Dispatch Box when Parliament returns.
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