Transport
campaigners


have
expressed
their
dismay
after
Chancellor
Rachel
Reeves
told
MPs
that
the
£500
million
Restoring
Your
Railway
fund
had
been
cancelled,
as
part
of
a
wide
range
of
national
economies
to
deal
with
an
‘overspend’
in
the
national
budget
of
£22
billion.
The
decision
puts
projects
to
reopen
lines
and
stations
at
risk
in
many
parts
of
England,
from
the
south
west
to
the
north
east.

Ms
Reeves
told
the
House
of
Commons
that
the
railway
fund
is
one
of
many
budgets
which
had
not
been
costed
by
the
previous
government,
and
that
she
was
seeking
savings
in
transport
spending
which
will
also
involve
the
cancellation
of
road
schemes,
including
a
controversial
tunnel
near
Stonehenge.

She
explained:
‘The
spending
audit
has
revealed
nearly
£800
million
of
unfunded
transport
projects
that
have
been
committed
next
year,’
and
she
said
transport
secretary
Louise
Haigh
will
‘cancel
projects
in
the
“Restoring
our
Railways”
programme
which
have
not
yet
commenced’,
saving
£76
million
in
the
coming
year.
However,
projects
will
then
be
reviewed
individually,
and
could
still
go
ahead.

So
far,
only
the
reopening
of
the
Dartmoor
Line
to
Okehampton
in
Devon
has
been
completed
using
money
from
the
RYR
fund,
but
restoration
of
the
Northumberland
Line
between
Ashington
and
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
is
at
an
advanced
stage
and
the
line
is
set
to
reopen
‘this
summer’.

Another
project
which
is
under
way,
on
paper
at
least,
is
the
Mid
Cornwall
Metro
linking
Newquay,
Truro
and
Falmouth,
and
engineering
consultancy
Aecom
was
commissioned
in
March
to
launch
work
on
the
detailed
design.
However,
the
£56.8
million
budget
for
the
Cornwall
scheme
includes
almost
£50
million
from
the
Levelling
Up
Fund
rather
than
Restoring
Your
Railway,
and
it
is
unclear
whether
it
is
affected
by
the
Chancellor’s
cuts.

Schemes
which
are
set
to
be
delayed
until
they
can
be
reviewed
again
include
the
Barrow
Hill
line
between
Sheffield
and
Chesterfield,
the
Ivanhoe
Line
between
Leicester
and
Burton-on-Trent,
and
the
lines
to
Portishead
in
Bristol
and
Fleetwood
in
Lancashire,
as
well
as
stations
at
Meir
in
Staffordshire,
Haxby
in
Yorkshire,
Cullompton
in
Devon,
Wellington
in
Somerset,
Devizes
in
Wiltshire,
Ferryhill
in
County
Durham,
and
Aldridge
near
Walsall
in
the
West
Midlands.

Ben
Curtis
from
the
Campaign
for
Better
Transport
said:
‘This
is
a
hugely
disappointing
decision.
Rail
is
one
of
the
greenest
forms
of
transport
and
crucial
to
the
economy.
Growing
the
rail
network
is
vital
to
economic
growth
and
reducing
carbon
emissions.
The
Restoring
Your
Railways
Fund
was
key
to
getting
much-needed
lines
and
stations
reopened
like
the
reopened
Okehampton
station,
creating
an
additional
550,000
journeys
in
just
the
first
two
years
of
operation.
We
urge
the
Government
to
reconsider.’

Railway
Industry
Association
chief
executive
Darren
Caplan
said:
‘We
support
the
need
for
a
strategic
review
of
transport
schemes,
and
urge
the
government
to
make
sure
that
the
spending
review
takes
account
of
the
crucial
role
rail
investment
plays
in
supporting
jobs,
local
growth,
connectivity
and
decarbonisation
within
and
between
the
UK’s
nations
and
regions.
As
the
National
Infrastructure
Commission
recently
noted,
a
lack
of
rail
capacity
is
at
risk
of
holding
back
growth
in
key
cities.’