News

West Anglia Routes Group Meets with Secretary of State and MPs

Author: WARG Administrator
Date: 10 Aug 2009

In July the annual WARG Politicians’ Meeting took place.  Four MPs from along the route attended along with Lord Adonis, Secretary of State for Transport.  There was a lively discussion with key points including:

• Issues remain with the allocation of new rolling stock and whether cascaded rolling stock will be fit for purpose.  The use of rolling stock is determined by the train operator - National Express East Anglia - and they are consulting on their proposals.
• Options for increasing capacity need to allow for phasing and be future proofed.  The DfT indicated that improvements to Tottenham Hale, and a solution to level crossings, would be important elements of any plans.
• Network Rail will be asked to complete their work to look at options for improvements by spring 2010, with a view to having a robust business case ready to feed into discussions towards the end of 2010.
• The DfT have made a reasonable business case for larger scale investment but partners need to work together to build the strongest case possible and prepare for scheme delivery to start in 2013/14 (including agreeing preferred options and solutions to level crossings).  To progress this, the DfT are keen to engage early on with local authorities to discuss potential planning issues, particularly around level crossings.

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