Fresh doubts over West Coast scheme

Exclusive by Carol Millett



Rail regulator Tom Winsor has decided to consult on six alternatives to the full-blown upgrade of the West Coast Main Line, fuelling fears he is about to cave in to Railtrack pressure to ditch the £5bn upgrade scheme.

Seven options have been drawn up by the rail regulator in response to Railtrack's claims that soaring costs have made the two-stage upgrade too expensive.

The alternatives range from doing no more than basic maintenance of the existing line; increasing the speed of the line to 125mph; adding 42 additional slow lines; or sticking to the original contract which would see tilting trains running at 140 mph with the addition of 42 slow lines and two fast paths.

Winsor is putting the seven options out to consultation this week. He is calling on rail operators, contractors and users to give their opinions on which of the seven options Railtrack should follow. The rail regulator will consider the industry's responses before recommending to Government which option Railtrack should follow. The consultation period which will close on 11 July.

Some observers fear that the Rail Regulator is about to cave in to Railtrack by allowing it to provide a scaled-down improvement package on the West Coast Mainline.

"Railtrack's shareholders are not prepared to carry out this contract. The costs are soaring and they are drawing a line in the sand. They won't do this without substantial financial help from the Government," said a source.

Rail contractors believe the rail industry will call for Railtrack to honour its commitment to Virgin Trains. One commented: "We have no interest in letting Railtrack off the hook. That would be the thin end of the wedge. The upgrade is essential to bring the WCML up to standard and the problems with the signalling system are just a red herring. The additional costs can be met with extra Government and EU funding."

Railtrack claims that the WCML upgrade has increased from £2.3bn to £5.8bn since the deal was signed. The additional costs, say Railtrack, come from its decision to install conventional signalling rather than the state of the art moving block signalling system, which will not be ready in time.

A spokesman for the Office of the Rail Regulator said: "We are expecting a lot of responses from the industry, which the rail regulator will then have to sift through before he makes his decision. We expect him to make an announcement on this by September."