Environment Monday - Why are British governments so addicted to mega schemes when there is so much that could be done quickly and cheaply

A new runway at Heathrow is once again being talked about. In the UK, nothing frustrates me more than the fact that it takes forever to do even the most basic necessary things. The reason for this is that Central government is addicted to mega schemes, which take decades even to get off the ground, when there are such simple, cheap and obvious ways to deliver real improvements in transport, with a positive environmental impact that could be delivered almost immediately. 

Let me give one example. There has been a proposal on the board to build a passenger rail service called the West London Orbital (WLO) from Hendon to Hounslow via Old Oak Common and Brentford. The railway is already there, it is a lightly used freight line. It only needs resignalling and stations building. It will enable 14,000 homes to be built in London with good transport access, relieve congestion on the North Circular, and bus crowding. The economic case is as sound as any project can be. It was first proposed in 2017, yet they are still doing feasability studies and there is no cash. It will be a real benefit for Londoners

You ask Sadiq Khan which project he'd prefer. I think, I'm no expert, that WLO would cost half a billion quid and the benefit to London would pay for itself in fifteen years, if I understand the business case properly. Anyway, my point is all the public enquiries etc, we've had over the last 50 years would have paid for WLO five times over.

Now I hear you saying "But that is whataboutery, WLO will not deliver new airport capacity, when I want to fly to Benedorm, I can't take the WLO".  Take a step back and consider the bigger picture in UK transport, something the Government seems incapable of doing. Whilst you can't take a train from London to Benidorm, there are plenty of trains from London to Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh. A huge chunk of capacity is used providing these local flights. This traffic has been fuelled by the low cost of air travel. Whilst the cost of air travel has come down, the cost of train travel has gone through the roof.  The simple economics mean that many take an Easyjet or Ryanair for a short haul flight, than a train. Given that train travel has a miniscule impact compared to flying, it is ridiculous that governments have a blind spot for this. Since the channel tunnel opened, a large chunk of air travel between Paris and London has moved to rail. This shows that it can work. Opening up local routes like WLO make access to rail link easier. My view is that the WLO should use battery powered trains and run through the Thameslink core. Whilst there is not capacity in rush hour, there is during the rest of the day. For people in West London, having easy access to Central London in off peak hours, would make a huge difference to travel planning. It would make getting a train to Paris or Brussels more attractive and also make it easier for people working shifts to get in and out of town. The trains could also continue North to Luton and Luton Airport. Making Brent Cross West a fully integrated chaning point with East Midland Trains would also improve access to the North. 

I am not anti air travel, but we should build the best sustainable transport links we can, and we should be looking for creative ways to move people around. A big part of that is giving people cheap fares, especially when the network is quiet, so that we change the way we plan our travel. The owners of Easyjet and Ryanair have made billions by recognising that putting bums on seats at quiet times works. Why don't our rail companies? What I find particularly galling is that when Labour came in, they cancelled a swathe of schemes to reopen rail lines in the UK. Why? It was a Tory project. To me that was plain irresponsible and they should be looking at creative ways to raise finance for schemes that improve public transport.