COMMENT: RIA’s Darren Caplan reacts to the Spring Budget

Commenting on today’s Spring Budget announcement Darren Caplan, Railway Industry Association Chief Executive, said:

“There are some positives related to rail in the Spring Budget announced today by the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. It is good to see aspirations for faster completion of East West Rail, news of additional East Coast Mainline services, and more information on the Network North schemes.

“However, overall the Railway Industry Association and our members will be disappointed that an opportunity has been missed to leverage rail to drive economic growth more widely – it is worth remembering that for every pound spent on rail, £2.50 is generated in the wider economy. Rail suppliers will be disappointed the Chancellor has failed to provide certainty or clarity on the outlook for network enhancements, and there is still a black hole on rail infrastructure pending following the scrapping of HS2 Phase 2 – the Network North schemes, whilst welcomed by rail suppliers when they go ahead, do not amount to the rail spending lost and those mentioned are subject to business cases, and the HS2 Euston proposals are far from certain.

“So we look forward to seeing more detailed plans from the Government in due course, whether related to infrastructure or trains, so that the railway industry can have the certainty it needs to get on with building world-class rail in the UK, whilst providing value for money for both the customer and the taxpayer.”