The Times - 'Rail passengers to stay on the slow track because it's a greener option'

Sir,

'Rail passengers to stay on the slow track because it's a greener option' (06 June 2008) is misleading.

It neglects to mention the millions of passengers who have travelled on the £5.8bn high speed line that opened last year or the millions who use the rebuilt West Coast Mainline - both of which have made journeys significantly faster.  And it ignores work underway examining the case for new lines.

As we said last year, we will look at major new transport infrastructure in the context of our long-term transport planning process.  This work will identify the challenges ahead and the best way to meet them.  That might mean a new road or rail link, either high speed or conventional.  To help in this Network Rail are already looking at complex options like electrification and new lines - this will include looking at high speed lines.

As with any major investment we would examine whether the solutions identified make environmental and economic sense.

In the meantime, we're getting on with the job with securing improvements for all rail users - increasing capacity on the busiest lines and delivering a more reliable and safer rail network.  That's why investment in the railways is being increased, expenditure maintained and a far higher proportion of it spent on increasing capacity.

Tom Harris MP
Rail Minister