In an unprecedented move never precedented before, the Government has announced radical plans to address Britain’s Transport Crisis to defend against possible post-Brexit unintended unforeseen outcomes. The £55 trillion Modernisation Plan will commit the Government to reinstating every line closed following Grouping in 1923, Nationalisation in 1948 and as a result of the Beeching Report of 1963. The Somerset and Dorset, Borders Line, Woodhead Route and Matlock to Buxton Line will all be unclosed.
In addition, the high-speed network will be expanded to include HS4 (London – Bristol – Penzance), HS5 (Fishguard – Swansea – Cardiff – Bristol – Birmingham), HS6 (London – Peterborough – Doncaster – York – Newcastle – Edinburgh) and HS8 (the Isle of Wight). No decision has been made yet on HS7.
The fares structure will be overhauled to have a single ticket type on all routes based on distance, and freight services will be incentivised by the amount of traffic carried.
The proposals will be funded by a retrospective Windfall Tax on Marples Ridgeway Construction (owned by former Transport Minister Ernest Marples who commissioned the Beeching Report on Reshaping Britain’s Investment in Marples Ridgeway), full recovery of HGV road costs and a new tax on disposable plastic things.
A spokesman for the Opposition criticised the proposals, saying they lacked vision and didn’t go far enough.