Only 179 kilometres of railway track were electrified last year,
meaning it could take another 235 years to meet the Government’s
own net-zero rail target, analysis by the Liberal Democrats has
revealed.
It comes as the Government published its strategy today
confirming cuts to the HS2 high speed rail line in Yorkshire and
the East Midlands.
Today’s plan has announced the electrification of “around 180
route miles” (289km), which is just 2.2% of the Government's
target of electrifying 13,000km of railway track by 2050.
Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson, , said:
“These figures are a huge embarrassment for the Government as
they lift the lid on their shiny new rail plan. But it’s hardly a
shock - the Conservatives haven’t hit their electrification
targets in years.
“You only have to look as far as the new Oxford-Cambridge line -
planned to be net-zero, but downgraded pretty quickly to dirty
diesel.
“This is a record that speaks for itself: broken promises from an
out of touch Conservative Government that is taking people for
granted.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Electrification data from the Office of Rail and Road is
available here. Figures from the
Office of Rail and Road show just 179 kilometres of railway track
was electrified in 2020, less than half the 448 kilometres a year
needed to meet the government’s target of electrifying 13,000km
of railway track by 2050. In the past two years, the distance of
new electrified lines has grown by just 0.29%. If this rate of
growth continues, it will take another 235 years for the
government to meet its own net-zero rail target.
The Government's Transport Decarbonisation Plan is available
here.
Network Rail decarbonisation strategy, citing 13,000km of
electrification need by 2050, is available here.
The Integrated Rail Plan can be found here.
