IVERYmuchagree with your editorial concerning the lack of sensible thinking when it comes to railway investment. It is, after all, 40 years sinceSir Peter Parker proposedarolling programme of electrification thatcould have seen much of the network electrified by 2000. Many years ago,Iwrote areporton behalf of Sheffield CityCouncil at the time suggestingelectrification should be seenaspartofa‘levelling-up’ exercise,aswellasone thatdeveloped agenuine network of electrified routes. In my proposal mostmajor cities could have beenconnected upto an electrified network with universally high standards by 1990. Yet in 2020 we still have huge variations in standards between large citiesaswellasthe lack of anyelectrification to major cities such as Sheffield,Nottingham, Derbyand Leicester.
Fast and slow
As John Heatonillustratesinhis interestingarticle,there are four fast trains/hour between Leeds and Manchester with adesiretoimprovethis servicefurther.Yet between Leedsand Sheffield thereisjust one fast train/hour, similarly between Leedsand Derby. Between Leeds and Nottingham thereisone semi-fasttrain/hourand no through services between Leeds and Leicester formuch of theday.Yet this is also servedbythe M1 corridor that warrants an eight-lane motorway!
Thesituation in respectofManchester is even worse.Two fairly fast services between Manchester and Sheffield,one slowservicebetween Manchester and Nottingham, and no through services between Manchester and Derbyor Leicester.Thisis worse thanthat in the ageofsteam in thelast twocases. Thefundamental problem goes back to the run-down/closureofmuch of the Midland Railway’s network in the1960s (along with the closureofmuch of the GreatCentral,too)and thefailureto address this.