Serious concerns remain for local MPs in their bid to extend the electrification of the First Great Western main line into Paddington south to Westbury and possibly further into Wiltshire.
This has been made clear by Claire Perry, Tory MP for Devizes, in reaction to the announcement by Department of Transport consultants Arup that there is no economic case beyond extending electrification to Bedwyn.
Simon Burns, Minister of State for Transport, has announced that the electrification extension review study concludes that there are strong positive benefits for extending rail electrification to Bedwyn.
But, disappointingly, no further. The study showed that the business case for extension beyond Bedwyn to Westbury, including Pewsey does not make economic sense given very high capital costs to electrify an additional 85 miles of rail track.
Mrs Perry and neighbouring MPs, Richard Benyon (Newbury) and Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) have now written to the Minister seeking clarification and assurance on a number of outstanding concerns.
Mrs Perry told Marlborough News Online: “Funding for the electrification extension from Newbury to Bedwyn is now being sought but it is not yet clear if this will be available to enable the work to be completed concurrently with electrification of the route from Reading to Newbury in 2016. “And if in the intervening period, stations between Newbury and Bedwyn might see a reduction in the number of through train services.”
She adds: “Concerns still remain that if electrification from Newbury to Bedwyn is progressed, that in the future, train service patterns west of Bedwyn, including Pewsey and Westbury, are at least as good as they are now.”
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