Thanks for this.
Missing in action is mention of electrification. Perhaps next year's report could drop the photo of the prime minister of the day unveiling a custom 'Green means green' train livery in favour of a section outlining where the railway is with electrification, what the next steps are, and the timescale.
It's beyond embarrassing that the wires have not reached Bristol and is there something to be said for an island of infill electrication Newton Abbot to Plymouth?
It must be encouraging that research and development has resulted in ways to reduce clearance particularly beneath steel structures (Brougham Hayes bridge in Bath, looking at you for starters, and then there's that iffy little footbridge in Sydney Gardens - among the long list of other delights and challenges elsewhere...)
Mark
Mark - I don't know why you expect
GWR▸ to say anything useful about the subject, since it's Network Rail's to do and they are saying nothing. However,
NR» have been planning away on the quiet, and they do now have a plan for implementing "traction decarbonisation" in the Wales & Western Region. Since a copy has been "liberated" and its content has just
appeared in Modern Railways, that may apply a bit of pressure on NR to come clean on those plans. (Article appears to be public at the moment')