Environmentally friendly transport projects 'could be shelved'

28 May 10
Plans for environmentally friendly light rail schemes are likely to be shelved in the forthcoming emergency Budget because they are considered unaffordable, Public Finance has been told
By Jaimie Kaffash

28 May 2010

Plans for environmentally friendly light rail schemes are likely to be shelved in the forthcoming emergency Budget because they are considered unaffordable, Public Finance has been told.

Will McWilliams, transport partner at accountants Grant Thornton, said light rail schemes were more expensive to set up in the UK than in Europe because of higher utility and development costs.

McWilliams added that cost factors were likely to override other concerns across the spectrum of transport policy.

‘Affordability is the watchword across all projects,’ he said. Environmental factors, the wider impact on the economy and the effect on passengers are all going to be secondary to costs, he added.

Dave Powell, campaign manager at environmental charity Friends of the Earth, said such an approach would be short sighted. He acknowledged that the short-term costs of low-carbon public transport schemes are high. But he warned that spending money on new roads and airports would become ‘huge white elephants and a massive millstone around the government’s neck’ because of environmental costs in future years.

‘If you need to find some money, getting rid of some of the roads budget is certainly the way to go. Investing in public transport is win-win all round,’ he added.

The Queen’s Speech this week made provision for a second high-speed rail line to add to the existing route connecting Ashford in Kent to London. The coalition government has said the new line would provide an alternative to domestic flights, following ministers’ decision to veto additional runways at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports.

A Department for Transport spokesman told PF: ‘This will be a truly national high speed rail network which will include links to Heathrow and potentially other airports to provide an alternative to short-haul aviation.’

Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent rail watchdog Passenger Focus, welcomed the commitment to the high-speed line. But, he added: ‘New lines are needed in the long term and high-speed rail will also help to increase capacity by freeing up more space on the rest of the network to handle more regional and local trains. However, it’s important that new funding is found and not cut from the rest of the network.

A transport Bill from the government is expected shortly.

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