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Tony Lodge: We need leadership and vision to enter new age of the train
ISAMBARD Kingdom Brunel, one of the greatest railway engineers in history, died 150 years ago at the age of 53. Brunel's death was followed, a few weeks later, by that of Robert Stephenson, a household name who had risen from humble origins in the Northumberland coalfield to the highest echelons following his building of the world's first modern steam locomotive, Rocket.
Both Brunel and Stephenson's mastery can still be admired today, but as Britain again looks to embrace high-speed rail, we will need both the leadership and vision of such pioneers to deliver a new age of the train to all corners of Britain, which must include high-speed rail through Yorkshire and directly connected to Britain's main airport at Heathrow.
Yorkshire's great railway towns dominate our railway heritage. Seventy years ago, the London North Eastern Railway, with its centres of excellence at Doncaster and York, dominated our global leadership on the railways. The county built the Flying Scotsman and the Mallard, the latter still holds the world speed record for steam locomotives at 126mph. The challenge then was to provide the fastest, cheapest and most comfortable journey between London, Yorkshire and Scotland for businessmen, traveller and holidaymaker alike.
This was a time before cheap internal flights and deep concerns about climate change, but the essence of the then so-called "race to the North" stands today, as Britain again looks towards the railways to solve our transport quandary.
Taking a train may not be much fun over the next decade. Trains are already full and Network Rail has shelved nearly a third of the track renewal projects it had scheduled for next year. Some trains are now carrying 40 per cent more passengers than they should, and year after year commuters are subject to soaring fares. Network Rail's own forecasts predict passenger numbers rising nearly 45 per cent by 2030 on some main lines. In Yorkshire alone, there has been a staggering 60 per cent growth in rail passenger journeys in the past nine years.
The answer to this question is clear. In order to get people out of their cars, off internal flights and on to better and faster trains, we must be both radical and ambitious with regards to the future of the railways.
This means that all corners of Britain must be served by new high-speed rail and that this service must be directly connected to Britain's main hub airport at Heathrow, irrespective of whether a third runway is built. The benefits of this access for Yorkshire's large urban centres like Leeds and Sheffield would be enormous. As with the excellent Trains Grande Vitesse (TGV) across the Channel, all major urban areas of France are linked by high-speed rail, interconnected with airports.
Britain already has one high-speed rail line. It runs from the Channel Tunnel to St Pancras in London and is a great success. The big question is where it should go next. I argue that this is something of a "no brainer" in light of where our main conurbations are located and where our major airport stands. We must extend high-speed rail from London direct to a new station located alongside Heathrow so to maximise high speed rail and aviation. This could then allow the new station to accommodate existing trains to Wales and western England, the new Crossrail services from Reading to London, and – importantly for Yorkshire – the new high-speed line can then run up to Birmingham and eventually through the Midlands onto Sheffield, Leeds, York and beyond.
Passengers will only leave flights, for example, between Leeds Bradford International and Heathrow when the rail option is better and cheaper. We have a long way to go and Network Rail must understand that this huge project must be nationwide like the TGV, as set out by the Yorkshire Post's excellent Fast Track to Yorkshire campaign.
The next stage of high-speed rail development will connect London with Birmingham, but it is still not clear whether this line will run through a new Heathrow station or avoid the airport altogether. This vital decision is looming. The latter choice would represent an abandonment of joined-up transport planning alongside economic and environmental folly.
To connect high-speed rail into Heathrow would have huge benefits. For a start the airport is Britain's largest generator of road traffic. We must reduce the 65 per cent of Heathrow passengers who choose to arrive at the airport by car.
Of more importance to Yorkshire commuters is that high-speed rail connection into Heathrow would allow, in the first phase, travel to Birmingham on existing Cross Country services and then a change to catch high-speed trains direct to Heathrow. This could take just 37 minutes from Birmingham to the airport for check in.
As the line is extended north to Leeds, high-speed trains travelling at 200mph could connect the city directly with Heathrow in just over an hour. After all, TGV trains travel direct into Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris en route to destinations hundreds of miles away.
At present, travel to Heathrow by rail from Yorkshire means having to go into King Cross, then enduring a short journey to Paddington by underground or taxi and then a journey back out to the airport by either tube or Heathrow Express, all adding extra expense and time.
High-speed rail would allow Heathrow-destined passengers from Yorkshire to avoid London altogether. The present situation is unacceptable and does not in any way replace in one's conscience the train over the plane which is what our political masters must and can achieve with the right decision. Political rhetoric about integrated transport strategies or eliminating internal flights to be replaced by trains can – and will – only work when policymakers embrace the basic concept that in order for one transport choice to beat another it must be better, easier and cheaper.
Railway pioneers like Brunel and Stephenson would recognise the challenges faced by high-speed railway planners today, albeit with different priorities and budgets. But I am sure they would agree that to omit Europe's main hub airport from future national high-speed rail would render the exercise pointless. I trust Yorkshire's political leaders will make their voices heard on this vital topic as we enter a new age of the train.
Tony Lodge is chairman of the Bow Group transport committee. His pamphlet, Getting Britain Back on Track – Why High Speed Rail and Aviation are Inseparable is published today by the Conservative think-tank.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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