Road System Growing 15 Times Faster Than Railway Line Network

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Britain^s road network is growing 15 times faster than the rail network, according to official figures which undermine the Government^s claim that it is helping people to switch from cars to trains (link below.)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3525695.ece

On the eve of what ministers are hailing as their ^green Budget^, statistics seen by The Times show that more than 405 miles of motorway and trunk road have opened since 1997 compared with just 27 miles of railway.

In five of the past eleven years, no track was added to the domestic rail network, and in the peak years for rail growth, in 2001 and 2002, the network grew by only six miles a year.

In contrast, the system of main roads has increased by up to 85 miles a year and is forecast to grow steadily. Last week, Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, announced plans for opening the hard shoulder as a running lane on up to 500 miles of motorway.

The figures, obtained from parliamentary answers by the Liberal Democrats, were revealed as Alistair Darling prepares to deliver what is being promoted as the greenest Budget yet.

The Highways Agency has 40 large-scale road schemes in various stages of development but the only significant new rail line being planned for England is Crossrail, which has been debated for more than 20 years and will not open before 2017.

[Andy]

Although totally unsurprising, this makes for heartbreaking reading.

 

[miniman]

Considering how much more traffic there is on the roads now compared to a decade ago, 405 is a pretty pathetic amount of new road laid (considering something like 20% of that is probably accounted for by the M6 toll). Just goes to show that despite the amount of revenue generated, be that in tax, fares or fines, investment in UK^▸ (United Kingdom) transport infrastructure is pretty pathetic across the board.

[TerminalJunkie]

According to the official statistics, the length of available railway has actually gone down over the last ten years!

  Length of National Rail route (kilometres)
                                    Open to
               Total Electrified  Passenger
    Year       Route       Route    Traffic
    1991/92   16,588       4,886     14,291
    1992/93   16,528       4,910     14,317
    1993/94   16,536       4,968     14,357
    1994/95   16,542       4,970     14,359
    1995/96   16,666       5,163     15,002
    1996/97   16,666       5,176     15,034
    1997/98   16,656       5,166     15,024
    1998/99   16,659       5,166     15,038
    1999/00   16,649       5,167     15,038
    2000/01   16,652       5,167     15,042
    2001/02   16,652       5,167     15,042
    2002/03   16,670       5,167     15,042
    2003/04   16,493       5,200     14,883
    -------        *           *          *
    2004/05   16,116       5,200     14,328
    2005/06   15,810       5,205     14,356
    2006/07   15,795       5,250     14,353
* break in series due to change in methodology

[woody]

Here in Devon and Cornwall the government talks green but the only major infrastructure investment is associated with the areas roads and airports.With so called main line speeds as low as 55/60mph between Newton Abbot and Plymouth how does the government expect rail to compete effectively with the regions constantly improving road and air links in the 21st Century.Last year a 9 mile section of the A30 at Goss Moor in Cornwall opened dramatically improving road links to mid/west Cornwall.This year the Dobwalls bypass on the A38  between Plymouth and Bodmin opens removing another bottleneck while the Government looks set to give the go-ahead to the long mooted Kingsteignton bypass removing another bottleneck into Torbay.
 The railways have always had to compete in this part of the world with one hand tied behind their backs now increasingly its two hands a situation that cannot go indefinately as the government must know.
 

[tom-langley]

This comes as no surprise to me, the Government needs to invest heavily in the rail network to bring us inline with the rest of Europe. The government is now spending more on the rail network now than it was when it was British Rail. Rather than spending money on expanding Heathrow/Stanstead, the money should be put into the rail network. How much opposition is going to found to the airport expansion, adding millions to the bill. For a start the money could be spent on starting to electrify the rest of the network. I am not sure of the cost involved for this compared to airport expansion, perhaps someone can enlighten me.

[Andy W]

In 1961 the conservative Minister of Transport Ernest Marples appointed Dr Richard Beeching to review / restructure the railways.

The Beeching report is well known and while the rail system was in need of changes he raped the network with many famous lines going as well as under used branch lines.

What many people miss is that Marples own company Marples Ridgeway was a road construction company building motorways!!!!

Of course he did the decent thing and divested himself of his shares --- to his wife !!!! No conflict of interest there then.

Roads have always come first from that day to now. even the Green politicians don't really back the railways to the extent they deserve.

[Lee]

In 1961 the conservative Minister of Transport Ernest Marples appointed Dr Richard Beeching to review / restructure the railways.

The Beeching report is well known and while the rail system was in need of changes he raped the network with many famous lines going as well as under used branch lines.

What many people miss is that Marples own company Marples Ridgeway was a road construction company building motorways!!!!

Of course he did the decent thing and divested himself of his shares --- to his wife !!!! No conflict of interest there then.

Roads have always come first from that day to now. even the Green politicians don't really back the railways to the extent they deserve.

Here is a useful related link.
http://www.beechingreport.info/

[Lee]

Britain^s road network is growing 15 times faster than the rail network, according to official figures which undermine the Government^s claim that it is helping people to switch from cars to trains (link below.)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3525695.ece

Response from Campaign For Better Transport :

Britain's road network has grown 15 times faster than the rail network under Labour.

Government figures show that since 1997, 405 miles of motorway and trunk roads have been built, compared to just 27 miles of railway tracks. This is despite the fact that in the last 10 years, the number of rail journeys has increased by 45%.

Building roads encourages people to drive; building new railway lines encourages people to travel by train. The Government needs to reopen railway lines and stations to give people low-carbon transport options. It needs to look at the 'missing links' in our rail network, identified by Railfuture.

The Government also needs to look at the increasing number of people travelling by train, and start planning for the long term. This means safeguarding key lines for the future.

In the adjournment debate on Woodhead yesterday, Angela Smith MP^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post (a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London), depending on context) reminded Transport Secretary Rosie Winterton that rail links in the North are not good enough, and talked about the need for a trans-Pennine 'crossrail for the North' on the Woodhead route. Rosie Winterton said that 'should a significant challenge be identified' which meant the route would be needed, the department would work with National Grid to ensure it could be reopened.

A significant challenge has already been identified. It's called climate change and it means the Government needs to encourage people to use trains instead of cars and planes wherever possible. Our rail network should be growing 15 times faster than our road network - not the other way around.