Rail line set to be electrified next year - but the trains won't be ready
The £76 million rail project to electrify lines between Rugeley and Walsall is set to be completed next year – but passengers will have to wait for up to a year for improved trains to travel on them.
The project to make journeys quicker and more comfortable on that stretch of the Chase Line was started in 2013 but it has emerged better rolling stock might not be ready to travel on it until late 2018.
Cannock Chase District Council's leader George Adamson criticised Network Rail for the project, which has seen costs on the electrification spiral from £30 million to £76m and train operators London Midland for providing a 'second rate service'.
He told councillors at a meeting in Cannock: "They couldn't organise a bun fight in a bakery."
Delays could mean that although electrification could be completed by December 2017, second-hand trains from the north of England to be used on electrified tracks won't arrive until between six and 12 months later. Cannock Chase District Council is urging MP Amanda Milling to meet with the transport secretary to ensure the lines are properly used.
The council's deputy leader Councillor Gordon Alcott said: "We will have electrification by 2017 but as of yet they will not have the rolling stock to use on that line. It was agreed at a meeting that we wrote to Amanda Milling to meet with the secretary of state Patrick McLoughlin to discuss this issue and we have done that."
It is hoped passengers will be able to travel at speeds of up to 75mph on the line. Trains travel on the Chase stretch at about 45mph. London Midland is set to battle with another provider, West Midlands Trains, for the franchise to run lines in the West Midlands, London and the north-west.
A decision on that is set to be made next summer, with the new franchise starting in October 2017, so it is likely the acquisition of the new trains will be on hold until that is decided. A London Midland spokesman said: "We have an obligation and are committed to preparing the line for an electric service in 2018 and we are working hard with the Department for Transport and Network Rail to achieve this."
A DfT spokeswoman said: "We are in the process of seeking a new operator for the franchise from October 2017, and will set out our plans for services on the route in due course."
