An alliance of South West councils has proposed using PFI (private finance initiative) deals to finance rail upgrades in the region, as well reforms to traditional franchise boundaries.
Proposals for billions of pounds worth of rail improvements have been outlined by the South West’s Peninsula Rail Task Force (PRTF), as well as calls for new funding models to support them.
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The Dawlish Line was brought down by winter storms
PRTF - a campaign group including Cornwall, Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay councils – made the calls in its draft 20-year plan for the region’s rail.
The plan states the creation of public and private sector partnerships, private finance initiatives or other models with ‘conditions attractive for investment’ would be ‘critical’ to making the necessary improvements.
It also calls for ‘porous franchise boundaries’ where ‘operators are encouraged to operate, almost by default, beyond traditional franchise boundaries where track capacity and opportunities exist’.
John Hillman, PRTF programme manager, told Transport Network: ‘After the Hendy review into Network Rail, we know money is limited. There is a small pot to go around. We need to identify different funding options or we will be waiting a long time. We will look to explore all opportunities.’
He went on to say that giving operators the flexibility to work outside traditional boundaries could make use of wasted capacity for the good of customers, but stopped short of suggesting it should be written into franchise arrangements.
Mr Hillman said the full proposals would require billions of pounds of investment however he also highlighted that an estimated £1.23bn gross added value could be added to the South West economy from the culmination of the improved journey times from Penzance to London.
The PRTF has also claimed that in the last 17 years rail passenger numbers in the South West have risen by 123% and capacity was likely to reached on key lines by 2026.
The plan is based around the three key principles of enhanced resilience, improved connectivity and faster journey times and more capacity, and quality and comfort for passengers.
It includes a list of desired schemes including a new line to provide a back up to the Dawlish Line, which collapsed due to extreme weather in 2014 causing large parts of Devon to be cut off and costing an estimated £1.2bn to the economy.
Following a consultation, which opens on 27 May, the task force will submit the plan to government in July. A total of 13 worksteams contributed to the draft plan, with all but one of them having been completed.
A final workstream report on journey time savings, which has been funded by operator Great Western Railway (GWR), has yet to report back.
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