Consortium presses governments for extra East Coast Main Line funding

Funding to improve the reliability of the East Coast Main Line

(ECML) is being demanded by the Consortium of East Coast Main Line Authorities (ECMA).

The consortium says money from both the UK and the Scottish governments should be handed to Network Rail to improve the ECML, claiming it could lead to significant economic benefits.

Keith Aspden, leader of City of York Council and chairman of ECMA, said: “Investment in the East Coast Main Line will bring better reliability and greater resilience to customers across the country from the Highlands to Hertfordshire.

“Currently, the line is vulnerable to major disruptions, which is why ECMA is calling on the UK and Scottish governments to secure additional funding for Network Rail to deliver a more reliable rail network.”

Dan Jarvis, mayor of Sheffield City Region, said investment in the line was crucial to reduce disruption to passengers in the short term, and to safeguard the route in the long term.

“For example, just five miles of new track would enable a new station to be built on the East Coast Main Line at Doncaster Sheffield Airport,” he said.

ECMA research has identified more than £60 million of economic benefits a year through improved punctuality and reliability improvements.

The consortium has sent a letter to the Department for Transport and Transport Scotland calling for the investment. It demands delivery of the promised infrastructure improvements to allow the full delivery of the 2021 timetable, as well as additional funding for Network Rail to invest in ECML reliability improvements. It also wants to ring-fence NR’s future funding for the East Coast Main Line improvements in Control Period 7 (CP7, 2024-29)

According to the ECMA, a third of the UK population lives within 20 minutes of the main line.

It also claims that in 2018, significant disruption on the railway across 12 major incidents cost the UK economy £46.28m, adding that if the number of delays on the ECML over ten minutes were halved, then an additional £62.8m would be delivered to the wider economy per year.

Under current plans in CP6

(April 1 2019-March 31 2024), some £780m is planned to be spent on the ECML. However, ECMA claims this will all be spent by 2021 and that there are no further plans for improvements, nor money or resources.