Sparks!

Good news today, very good news!

I was amazed to discover this morning this article on the BBC website: £1bn plan to electrify rail line - a £1bn plan to electrify the main rail route between London and Swansea has been announced by the government.

This is the government giving the go-ahead to electrify the Great Western Main Line, which, significantly for me, runs through Didcot Parkway and branches off to Oxford. The new policy, which one could argue should have been pursued decades ago, makes even more sense nowadays for a whole host of reasons. Electric trains are faster, quieter, cleaner, cheaper to build and maintain, more efficient, and can carry more passengers. There's even a name for the surge in patronage due to the improved performance on lines that are electrified, it's often referred to as the "sparks effect".

It seems that government has finally, in the context of transport, grasped the meaning of the old schoolboy question: "Option A costs £10 to start and £2 a year, Option B costs £20 to start but £1 a year. What is the better choice over 30-40 years?" The answer is blindingly obvious but it requires one to look beyond a 5-year time horizon, which is difficult for many politicians.

Indeed it seems that Andrew Adonis, Secretary of State for transport, has written this article in the Times today. Most notably he says:

"The nation that pioneered the train has squandered the legacy of Brunel and Stephenson. It’s time to say ‘all change’"

This coming from someone in government is unheard of in the last few decades! In the past we have always had individuals who have taken no particular interest in making real improvements and who have moved on at the first opportunity. What a change!

"At present rail accounts for only 6.3 per cent of journeys, half the proportion of Switzerland and a fifth of that in Japan. There is no good reason why Britain should not aim for much higher proportions."

Were this from another man it would be reminiscent of John Prescott's announcement about reducing car traffic that never stood up to the test of reality. The difference with Adonis is that he's already supporting his rhetoric with action, as anyone who has been following the story of high speed rail development in the UK and the huge leaps and bounds it has made in the last year will know well.

I think transport, especially public transport, has long been a Cinderella department in government and to have someone who is a visionary and a genuine enthusiast running the DfT making the case for change and improvement rather than seeking excuses for inaction and parroting the party line is absolutely brilliant.

It almost gives me a reason to hope that the otherwise long overdue general election doesn't come too soon. I want Adonis's pet projects like this and high speed rail to gain so much momentum so that it becomes incredibly difficult for a future Conservative government to pull the plug, which they will undoubtedly want to do.