MPs press city’s case for rail upgrade in meeting with Minister

DISCUSSED OPTIONS: From left, Emma Hardy MP, Rail Minister Lord Hendy, and Diana Johnson MP at yesterday’s meeting

By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

A mixture of battery-powered trains and the partial installation of overhead lines is among the options being considered for the long-awaited upgrade of Hull’s railways.

The system, known as “discontinuous electrification”, is seen as a less costly alternative to full electrification which requires overhead lines to be installed across an entire route.

The option was aired at a meeting yesterday between Rail Minister Lord Hendy and Hull’s three MPs, Dame Diana Johnson, Emma Hardy and Karl Turner.

The MPs, who along with business leaders have long called for the electrification of the line between Hull and Selby, have been pressing the city’s case since it was excluded from the planned £45bn upgrade of railways across the North of England through the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project announced earlier this month.

The Labour MPs have also said private funding could help deliver any upgrade for Hull after its omission from the NPR scheme.

They also said they would keep pressing the city’s case “for as long as it takes”.

In a joint statement following the meeting with Lord Hendy in London, the MPs said: “In today’s meeting with the Rail Minister, Hull MPs welcomed the recent confirmation from the Department of Transport that electrification of the rail lines to Hull remains under consideration and discussed the options now available to make progress on it.

“We noted that there is currently an opportunity to end the use of polluting and expensive-to-run diesel trains on TransPennine rail routes and boost capacity through a scheme of discontinuous electrification and new battery bi-modal trains.

“This would honour the Government’s commitment in the Hull and East Yorkshire Devolution Deal and boost the Humber economy.

“Following today’s discussion, we are confident that the Rail Minister, unlike the Tory Government ten years ago, is on the side of the builders – not the blockers. There is a clear commitment to build on the Government’s recent Northern Powerhouse Rail announcement. This is a scheme that Reform UK wants to axe.

“Along with business and other stakeholders around the Humber, we will continue making our case for as long as it takes, including through a meeting in the near future with Government representatives in Hull.”