Source · Select Committees · Transport Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Paragraph: 60
The scale of change required to meet the 2040 and 2050 rail decarbonisation targets is...
Conclusion
The scale of change required to meet the 2040 and 2050 rail decarbonisation targets is considerable. We believe it would be beneficial to start the electrification programme as soon as possible, rather than wait for the start of the next control period in 2024. This would also enable the industry to retain the workforce skills and experience it has developed through recent electrification schemes.
Paragraph Reference:
60
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The Government partially agrees with this recommendation. We agree that a visible pipeline and smooth delivery profile of electrification schemes will help to enable Network Rail (and subsequently Great British Railways) and the supply chain to deliver electrification more efficiently, and so we will endeavour to deliver that pipeline of schemes over the next 30 years. However, having learned the lessons from Network Rail’s Control Period 5 where we overcommitted to a number of electrification schemes before they had been sufficiently developed, we now have the RNEP process in place to ensure that future schemes can be properly developed before we commit to them. It is right that we both continue to develop schemes through the RNEP process, to ensure that future schemes are affordable and provide value for money, but also that we balance this with the need to give the rail industry the sufficient pipeline of projects, and the certainty, that it needs. We will seek to balance both of these needs in our future approach towards decarbonising the railway between now and 2050.