The transport secretary has defended train companies that charge more than £300 for peak-time fares, as he launched the biggest overhaul of Britain’s railways in a generation.
Chris Grayling said passengers should book in advance to avoid paying fares in the hundreds of pounds. A standard Manchester to London peak-time fare is £338 return. The first off-peak train from Manchester doesn’t arrive in London until 11.40am.
“It is no different on the railways to the airlines,” he said. “Walking up at the last minute on a principal business route will cost you a lot more than booking a month in advance … You don’t always have to spend a fortune travelling from London to Manchester if you plan in advance.
“We want the fairest possible fare system, but it’s also reasonable that the people travelling on the railways are contributing to the cost of running them.”
The minister was in York at the launch of Network Rail’s national digital railway strategy, which will replace the 150-year-old signalling system used by most of the nation’s trains outside London. The government has pledged £450m from the National Productivity Investment Fund towards the £20bn project.
By the end of 2018, around 200 trains will have been fitted with digital in-cab signalling systems, including Thameslink Class 700s and Hitachi trains in the south-west of England and the Great Western line, Grayling said.
Mark Carne, the chief executive of Network Rail, said the project was essential. “There isn’t a ‘do nothing’ option. Well over half of Britain’s signalling system will be life-expired in the next 15 years,” he said.
“Today, 45% of Europe’s congested railways are in Britain. Our railways are increasingly full, up and down the country. And train reliability has been declining for six years as our railways have filled up.”
The replacement of the old stop-start traffic light and semaphore system would allow trains to run closer together in greater safety and with more reliability, Carne said.
“The benefits, if extended across the network as a whole, are enormous; for passengers, for railway workers and for our economy.”
Carne claimed the move to a digital railway would be cheaper than conventional re-signalling “when the whole industry cost is considered over a 20-year timeframe”.
Grayling said passengers would not pay for the upgrade at the ticket office: “There isn’t suddenly going to be a hike in the fares to pay for this.”
Last year, Grayling was criticised for breaking a manifesto pledge to electrify the Midland Mainline, plus lines in Wales and Cumbria, and then almost immediately lending his support to Crossrail 2, a £30bn line across London that begins in his Surrey constituency.
Asked if he understood why this angered rail users elsewhere, Grayling said: “I have not cancelled a single project in the north of England. All the passenger benefits that we promised are going to be delivered. Every train is going to be replaced. The TransPennine upgrade is going to be a huge project for the country.
“I would challenge anybody who said we are not doing the right thing for the north of England. We are spending more money on transport upgrades in the north of England than any other government for decades.”
He said the government could support both Crossrail 2 and a new trans-Pennine line, dubbed Northern Powerhouse rail.
“Crossrail 2 and Northern Powerhouse rail are marching in lock-step together. Crossrail 2 is no more advanced than Northern Powerhouse rail. We have plans for both.”
