The
Railway
Industry
Association

has
criticised
the
continuing
absence
of
an
updated
Rail
Network
Enhancements
Pipeline,
which
the
Government
promised
to
publish
annually
but
which
last
appeared
more
than
four
years
ago.

RIA
points
out
that
today
marks
four
years,
four
months,
four
weeks
and
four
days
since
a
version
of
the
Plan
last
appeared,
accompanied
by
a
promise
of
12-month
updates.

As
recently
as
last
month,
rail
minister
Huw
Merriman
was
quoted
as
saying
that
he
would
give
a
‘definitive
view’
on
the
future
of
the
Plan
‘in
a
very
short
timescale’.

RIA
says
that
a
‘quartet’
milestone
has
been
reached,
and
that
it
has
four
questions:
which
rail
schemes
are
under
business
plan
development,
what
business
plan
stage
have
the
schemes
reached,
what
funding
has
been
approved,
and
what
are
the
potential
timescales
for
delivery?

The
Government
is
facing
a
new
deadline
in
October,
when
the
Procurement
Act
becomes
active,
requiring
the
publication
of
pipelines
and
contract
notices.

In
fact,
the
Government’s
own
‘Construction
Playbook’
from
2022
states
that
‘One
of
the
most
important
things
we
can
do
is
to
prepare,
maintain
and
publish
comprehensive
pipelines
of
current
and
future
government
contracts
and
commercial
activity.’

RIA
chief
executive
Darren
Caplan
said:
‘Given
the
budget
for
the
RNEP
is
roughly
£10
billion
over
five
years,
there
should
be
a
clear
and
visible
plan
for
how
this
money
will
be
spent.

‘Piecemeal
announcements
have
been
made
on
individual
projects
but
there
is
no
comprehensive
view
on
future
enhancement
plans
for
the
railway.
The
Government
should
set
out
which
rail
schemes
within
the
RNEP,
the
new
Network
North
proposals,
and
the
Integrated
Rail
Plan
for
the
North
and
Midlands,
will
go
ahead.
It
should
also
make
clear
if
it
intends
to
change,
scrap
or
replace
the
RNEP
process.
Rail
suppliers
need
clarity
on
which
enhancement
projects
will
proceed
to
deliver
best
value
to
passengers,
freight
and
taxpayers
in
the
long-term.’