MPs support the electrification of county rail link to London

TRANSPORT leaders have told the Government that electrification of a rail line into South Yorkshire should be a "top priority", predicted to generate nearly £20m a year for the region's economy.

The House of Commons Transport Committee said electrifying the Midland Main Line between London and Sheffield has both economic and environmental benefits including faster journey times, greater reliability and lower carbon emissions than diesel equivalents.

In a report published today, the committee also warns the Government that investment in new high-speed rail infrastructure must not detract from necessary medium-term investments on the "classic" rail network.

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Electrifying the line would cut journey times, bringing Sheffield within two hours of London.

Sheffield Attercliffe Labour MP Clive Betts said: "I am absolutely delighted.

"Obviously it is very important to do this given the concerns about climate change.

"And crucially it is about making Sheffield an attractive place for business and having a fast, high-quality service into London is very important to achieve that."

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The news comes after Transport Secretary Lord Adonis backed a campaign led by the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive and the Sheffield City Region to electrify the route. The campaign claimed it could generate 19m per year for the region's economy.

Lord Adonis said electrification of the line "is just a matter of dates" and was clearly going to happen.

The committee report states: "The case for electrification of the Midland Main Line between London and Sheffield was said to be particularly strong.

"The Government has confirmed it is currently considering the case, and Network Rail's electrification strategy was supportive of electrification of the line. The Secretary of State agreed that there was a "strong business case" for electrification and the Department for Transport was continuing to look at this option."

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The study concluded that the value-for-money of electrification of the Midland Main Line was "technically infinite".

The committee also found that the Government needs to focus on the wider electrification of the network and make efforts to address capacity problems across the north of England, calling for a realignment in the balance between investment in London and the South East and elsewhere in the country.

Launching the report, chairman Louise Ellman MP said: "It's paramount we do not deprive future generations of a lasting legacy of good transport services.

"Investments made now or in the near future should reflect long-term needs of the economy and society."

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She said tough decisions would have to be made about priorities for the network and said priority must be given post-2014 to addressing the capacity constraints at the Manchester Hub, the main rail bottleneck in the North that critically affects the operation of both passenger and freight services to Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle.

The report comes before an expected Government White Paper on high-speed rail.