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New transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan takes on the role at a time when key decisions on multiple major projects hang in the balance.
Trevelyan was announced as prime minister Liz Truss' transport secretary on Tuesday and she inherits a number of projects awaiting planning and funding decisions.
Stonehenge Tunnel
Previous transport secretary Grant Shapps was in the process of “re-determining” his decision on the planning application for the Stonehenge Tunnel after a High Court judge ruled his original decision to approve the scheme as “unlawful”.
The current plans are for a 12.8km dual carriageway and a 3.2km tunnel underneath the world heritage site (WHS), closely following the existing A303 route. National Highways estimates the scheme will cost £1.7bn to deliver, but opponents have suggested that a longer tunnel would help avoid damaging the historic site.
As part of the planning process, Shapps asked National Highways to conduct a comparative analysis which looks at extending the tunnel.
In a report submitted to Shapps Unesco emphasised that, while the proposed tunnel and removal of the current surface highway would have a "positive impact" on the WHS, the construction of dual carriageway in cuttings at either end of the tunnel would "adversely and irreversibly impact" the WHS' integrity.
Hammersmith Bridge
The Thames crossing between Barnes on its south bank and Hammersmith to the north was closed to motor vehicles in April 2019 due to concerns about the integrity of the structure, which is owned by Hammersmith & Fulham Council. It was also closed to pedestrians and cyclists in August 2020 after cracks in the cast iron pedestals widened.
It was deemed safe to reopen to pedestrians and cyclists last summer but remains closed to motorised vehicles. FM Conway began stabilisation work on the bridge earlier this year after Mott MacDonald drew up an alternative plan to speed up the work and cut costs.
However, as yet no agreement has been reached on a temporary crossing nor how the bridge's eventual full restoration will be funded.
In December, the council released £8.9M for stabilisation works rather than wait for the Department for Transport (DfT) and Transport for London (TfL) to sign off on their governance processes.
However, there is hope: the terms of TfL's £3.6bn funding deal with government come with conditions relating to the bridge.
The DfT stipulates that “given the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic, during the period of this agreement, we expect to finalise a memorandum of understanding between the government, TfL and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to ensure all parties’ commitment to the reopening of Hammersmith Bridge on a permanent basis – initially to pedestrians, cyclists and river traffic and, depending on cost, to motorists”.
The council alerted contractors to the £130M contract to restore the 135-year-old structure at the end of May, ahead of formal procurement which will begin later this year.
High Speed 2
The HS2 Phase 2b bill, which will grant the power to construct the high-speed line from Crewe to Manchester, has already passed through two reading in the House of Commons, but a contentious third reading is bubbling away. Stakeholders and affected parties have been submitting their petitions on what they would like to see changed in the bill before it receives Royal Assent.
Part of this is the debate over whether or not to build an underground through station at Manchester Piccadilly. It is not yet finalised, even though the Department for Transport has continually said it is and that the plan for a turnback surface station is decided.
The bill is now in the committee phase, where affected parties have their final opportunity to make a case for change before it has its third reading. Manchester City Council has revealed that it will be petitioning for an underground through station at Piccadilly, and it expects petitions from other Greater Manchester authorities and Cheshire East Council are also expected to throw their support behind this motion.
The Transport Committee’s report on the Integrated Rail Plan, published in July (after the second reading of the bill) said “there is a need for a renewed, transparent conversation about the risks and benefits of the underground station option at Manchester Piccadilly”. If handled correctly, this could take place as part of the petitioning before the third reading, and it could be up to the new transport secretary to then convince her party to agree to the change – if Trevelyan, indeed, agrees with it herself.
Another section of HS2 that has a question mark over it is how high-speed trains will get to Scotland now that the Golborne link has officially been scrapped. The government has promised to look at alternative ways to facilitate this link, but so far it has not revealed any progress or ideas on this front. It will now be Trevelyan’s remit to ensure the DfT gets to work on this.
Leeds will also be looking to the new transport secretary to instruct HS2 to begin the promised study into how to get high speed trains to the Yorkshire city. During the campaign, Truss ruled out the chance of reinstating the chopped eastern leg of HS2, which would have taken it to Leeds, but the Integrated Rail Plan promised £100M towards figuring out an alternative. As of this summer, HS2 reported that the DfT had not instructed it to begin.
Northern Powerhouse Rail
The new prime minister made a big promise to build Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) while on her campaign this summer. While it’s unclear which version of NPR Truss is intending to build, she has promised to sit down with her new transport secretary and local authorities in northern cities including Leeds and Bradford to “create a plan to move forward with this really important project”.
Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe has already said she will “hold [the prime minister] to account” and has called for a meeting with her and the transport secretary.
The councils have the Transport Committee’s report into the Integrated Rail Plan to back up their position. It was scathing on the government’s cut of NPR, saying: “By underserving the rail needs of the North of England it is letting down those who require change the most.” It also called for the government to properly assess the original NPR’s benefit-cost ratio, as there was no evidence this had been done.
As Trevelyan is MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed, there is a hope that she will support the building of NPR in full – with new high-speed lines connecting Liverpool to Leeds. While it would not reach her constituency, it would improve nearby connections and could be the start of a higher quality rail network in the North.
East West Rail
The East West Rail project is intended to create a new train line between Oxford and Cambridge that will connect up underserved towns in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. This is seen as an area of potential growth as there are world leading research centres in the area and it is hoped it could become the UK’s equivalent of Silicon Valley. The DfT even set up a special delivery body – East West Railway Company – to speed up its construction, as it was seen as a priority.
However, while the first connection phase for the project is well underway, outgoing transport secretary Grant Shapps explicitly stated that he would cancel the last two sections during an interview with LBC, saying it would be a way to save money.
The situation was made graver when the Infrastructure and Projects Authority deemed the project “unachievable”. This was then followed up by Shapps granting National Highways a development consent order for its A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet – a major new road that will run along the same corridor as East West Rail. In the letter delivering his consent, Shapps stated there was “uncertainty and lack of detail around the East West Rail project” and that it was unclear whether it would be delivered.
The DfT said during the summer that future of East West Rail “will be a decision for the next prime minister to make”. Truss has made economic growth one of her flagship promises, and East West Rail has the potential to bring in international investment and stimulate population growth in the area if built. It will now be down to the new transport secretary to help the prime minister decide if it is a project they want to pursue.
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