Going Nowhere Fast

With the Coalition’s deficit reduction plans failing to reach targets and controversial reforms within education and the NHS firmly on the agenda, you would think transport policy would chug along quietly in the background. Time to think again. Transport issues have dominated the headlines in the past few months, leaving behind a maelstrom of head scratching in Westminster.

Whether it be big decisions with huge economic ramifications that need to be rethought, or failed bidding processes causing major embarrassment for David Cameron, transport is the issue that simply will not budge.

The railways seem to be costing government and commuter alike a fortune. The current system of franchising is criticised for encouraging over-optimistic bids, leading to companies not fulfilling their commitments and the government having to pick up the pieces. Eastern Main Line is one such perpetrator. Whilst the trains may run largely on time and be relatively clean, passengers are sick and tired of rising rail fares (due to rise on average 6.2 per cent from next
January), and want evidence of the government having done something about it. Indeed, noises over rail re-nationalisation have re-entered the discourse. Mr Cameron will be forced to defend his railway policies and convince people that the current system still offers value for money.

Most recently, the government has come under fire for its chaotic handling of the West Coast Main Line. The franchise, which means the ability to run services on the line, was awarded initially to FirstGroup, and then withdrawn abruptly. Civil servants were alleged to have miscalculated the results of the auctioning process. The immediate cost to the taxpayer in this ‘fiasco’ – as inveighed Ed Miliband – will be at least £40 million, in compensation payments to the bidding companies. The government moreover could face legal action from FirstGroup, whose stock value plunged 15 per cent on the announcement and has since sunk further.

{{quote Cameron must convince commuters that the current system still offers value for money }}

The immediate political damage to the government is that it appears as yet another U-turn. That bureaucrats were deemed unable to accurately predict future financial revenues generated by the rail services furthermore threatens to re-open the High Speed 2 (HS2) debate; itself driving a
wedge between disgruntled residents in nearby Kenilworth.

This is certainly the last thing on Mr Cameron’s Christmas list.

The nation’s airports are another area for controversy. Critics claim that every day without a decision on airport expansion in London, the Exchequer loses billions in foregone trade. Mr Cameron is under pressure from constituents in affected areas, the Mayor of London (his political adversary) and business leaders to make certain decisions, and they all come with large political costs. He’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.

It seems that every time that transport hits the headlines, the government ends up looking clumsy and indecisive. The government may have hoped that with all the other issues it has to deal with this parliament it would prefer not having to take any divisive stances on transport. It is becoming increasingly evident however that there are fundamental decisions to be made. For the sake of the UK economy and its own political fortunes, the government needs to get a grip on the big issues in transport. Just like too many of Britain’s commuters, these issues are going nowhere fast.