The Friends of the Far North Line
Cairdean Na Loine Tuath
the campaign group for rail north of
Inverness - lobbying for improved services for the local user, tourist and freight
operator
At the Tory Party Conference at the beginning of October Rishi Sunak killed off the remaining extensions to HS2, leaving just the Old Oak Common to Birmingham section which is already partly built.
As Maggie Simpson, Director General of the Rail Freight Group writes: "Sunak described how the scheme no longer met the needs of the country, and proposed a string of alternative transport schemes that will be pursued in its place. However, and most critically, he also stated that HS2 trains would still serve Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland from Euston, running on the conventional network north of Birmingham, Although the details are far from clear, the prospect of new HS2 trains on the congested section through the Trent Valley and on the routes to Manchester raises real concerns over future freight capacity and the ability to grow freight.
"For those of us in the rail freight community, the promise of HS2 was not so much about faster journeys but more about increased capacity. Moving passenger trains onto the HS2 infrastructure would free up paths on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) - paths which could then be used by freight trains, The government has recognised that moving freight from road to rail is an important strategy in meeting Net Zero targets, but this decision has made growing rail freight volumes much more difficult."
The news is no better for passengers - once the new line is built, services to the North of England and Scotland will be provided by new non-tilting high-speed trains, which will unfortunately be limited to slower speeds than the Pendolinos on the winding sections of route in Northern England and Scotland - resulting in longer journey times than at present.
It's impossible to fathom either the UK's or the Scottish Government's current transport policy. The Conservatives down south seem to be spooked by the unwelcome reception environmental policies, such as extensions of ULEZ, receive in some quarters, and up here things don't look much better with the government looking over its shoulder all the time at the roads lobby.