The new 1,300 rail carriages promised by the Labour Government to ease passenger congestion may not be delivered on time, according to a senior rail representative.
Speaking at the Vision for the Future of Rail conference in London on 19 November, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) chief executive Michael Roberts said that he was concerned that the government wouldn’t be able to deliver on its promise.
"The government's progress on delivering these train carriages is proving torturous," Roberts said. "If there is any hope of meeting the government's High Level Output Specification [HLOS] plan to increase capacity on the network then the department needs to start placing orders now."
"I would encourage the department to work quicker on this."
In March 2008 ex-Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly announced that the department would be investing £10bn in 1,300 extra carriages to increase capacity along the network.
But an update on the HLOS delivery plan published by the Department for Transport (DfT) in July indicated that only 317 orders had been placed. The department did however maintain in the report that they would be on track to deliver all of the carriages within the set date.
In response to Roberts' comments, shadow Minister for Transport, Theresa Villiers MP, said that the department needed a more cohesive response to procurement.
"The DfT's day-to-day control of rolling stock procurement is slowing progress and getting in the way of deliveries," she said.
"Meanwhile, trains across the UK are unbearably overcrowded and the problem is likely to intensify. We need to improve the system by taking a more cohesive approach to tackling the procurement of new rolling stock."
By Daniel Garrun.
