Munro reflects more cautiously, as a public servant and not a politician, on McLoughlin’s 2017 goal for ‘spades in the ground’. Her focus is on getting the legislation through, balanced by the mitigation measures and the smaller (but nevertheless important) changes to the design for Phase 1 that have been requested by communities along the route. With the procurement process beginning this year for major contracts to construct the route, there will be no time to lose when Royal Assent is given. “If we keep up this rate of progress we should be finished next year,” she believes.
Aside from the glittering big-money projects, there will remain pressure to address other politicised issues relating to the railway.
From a revenue point of view, the proposed freeze on commuter rail fares is likely to have the biggest impact on train operating companies. Fares momentarily became an election issue the week before manifestos were published, before hotter topics such as immigration, the European Union and the NHS took precedence.
Under Conservative plans, there will be no flexibility for TOCs to raise some fares above the cap if corresponding discounts are made on other routes. The Government is also keen to continue promoting smart ticketing, with a perhaps optimistic view to phasing out paper ticketing by 2020 (and with a particular emphasis on discounted part-time season tickets, bearing in mind current commuters’ travel habits and general household outgoings).
The Tories appear to be going further than the Labour plans, targeting a key demographic of their own voters - freezing all fares for as long as one year at the specific expense of upgrades of the A27 and A358 roads. There is also a point about value for money and the extent to which train operators engage with their passengers, not just emotionally but also monetarily - there is a pledge to improve compensation arrangements for delayed passengers (something that will doubtlessly be reflected in future franchise awards and the rollout of smart ticketing).
But until salaries rise sufficiently in line with the general cost of living, or until operators can promote cheap or advance fares to an extent that cost no longer appears an issue, it is clear that rail fares have (at least in public perception) risen seriously out of kilter to the price of everything else. Ministers will need to keep a close eye on how their flagship fares policy works out in practice.
McLoughlin has also pledged that the North will be empowered to shape conventional rail services, by devolving power away from Whitehall. By the autumn, Transport for the North (TfN, the body established by the Government to work with it on delivering a Northern Transport Strategy) will have a new independent chairman to speak on behalf of the region.
The DfT has given its blessing to one voice that can speak for improved train and bus services, rolling out smart ticketing, looking after passengers, reducing road congestion, and speeding up links to ports and airports. Replacement of the much-maligned Pacer diesel multiple unit, as stipulated in the Northern franchise documents, has already set the tone for what the North expects.
The impact on the DfT of Osborne’s latest round of efficiency savings is as yet unknown - some £545 million has been cut from its budget for the year ahead, including property at King’s Cross (through DfT-owned developer London and Continental Railways). Quite what that means for big rail projects remains to be seen. n
