Railway at a Junction
We welcomed Fraser Pithie to our Milton Keynes Branch meeting on 4th July, an auspicious date for also being the date of the UK General Election. For the members that attended, they enjoyed an engaging evening as Mr Pithie took us on a brisk history of the railway in Great Britain and contemplated what might be next for our railways. The outcome of the aforementioned election would have a bearing on this with new visions from the main political parties for the structure and running of the railway network.
As Mr Pithie outlined, the history of the railways in this country since 1945 had been one of near constant change, directed or influenced by politicians, or less frequently by events such as industrial action and the Covid pandemic. Great upheavals followed the 1955 Modernisation Plan and the Beeching Report in 1963. A 17-day ASLEF strike in 1955 had a profound impact on the country and the railway – at the time 95% of goods were moved by rail. The disruption resulting from the strike caused businesses and passengers to seek alternative means of transport, and freight levels have never recovered. The rushed privatisation of John Major’s government in the early 1990s, led to a franchising system, that eventually collapsed, with moves now in place to renationalise the railway.
Mr Pithie cited the IC125 – HST – as the railway’s saviour in the 1970s. It was in his view the beginning of a new ‘golden age’ for the railway. Mr Pithie reflected on a ‘flawed’ privatisation, the collapse of Railtrack and the causes that led to disaster at Ladbroke Grove – not directly caused by privatisation but symptomatic of a railway that was fragmented, suffering from constant political interference and had lost many of its talented leaders and managers.
In conclusion, Mr Pithie noted that there were tough challenges ahead, for example the railway contributing towards the UK’s net-zero carbon target in 2050 with the current glacial progress of electrification. There are also funding constraints, and with recent projects such as HS2 and Transpennine Route Upgrade, shifting scope and ambition. One will see in time what difference a change of government will make in real terms to the railways. Certainly, as per the title of Mr Pithie’s talk, the railways are at a junction with an uncertain destination.