FOLLOW RIA
It has now been 1,000 days since the DfT’s RNEP – the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) showing the status of rail enhancement schemes at different stages of development – was last published. This is despite the Government promising to update it annually. The initial RNEP was published on 21 October 2019, with the 1,000 day milestone passed on Sunday 17 July this year.
This milestone has been reached despite repeated assurances by Ministers that the RNEP would be published imminently:
Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Railway Industry Association (RIA), said: “It is incredibly disappointing to see this 1,000 day milestone being passed, when it comes to updating and communicating the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline. Despite repeated reassurances from several Ministers that the pipeline of rail enhancements projects would be published ‘annually’, or ‘soon’, or ‘shortly’, it is still almost three years since the first RNEP was published in October 2019, and we still don’t know the Government’s thinking on the rail schemes included in the pipeline. “Already, the delay to these plans has resulted in at least £1bn being cut from the rail enhancements budget to March 2024, so we do need to get on with these projects. If the DfT is not in a position to publish a national update, for whatever reason, RIA and the rail supply sector would welcome engaging in dialogue on how plans can be taken forward at a local level. “Rail suppliers appreciate there are pandemic and economic related challenges. But if the Government wants to secure the best possible value for money on rail spending it does need to give more certainty and confidence, so that businesses can plan and invest for the future, given the long-term and complex nature of railway infrastructure projects. At the very least, there needs to be more communication with the supply chain about enhancements projects.”