Opinion: Restoring railways needs a lighter, quicker touch

'Reversing Beeching’ was precisely the sort of gimmicky performative government style that helped discredit the Conservative brand.

Restoring Your Railway was a scheme to hit the headlines for a day, and then deliver precious little.

Yes, some £500 million was supposedly earmarked for the idea. But little of that was ever delivered, and what was spent ended up in the pockets of consultants.

A lot of time and energy from local stakeholders (both community and official organisations) was wasted in drawing up plans that never got beyond the drawing board. It was all a sham - because while there was money for consultants to draw up schemes, none had been earmarked for actual construction.

The whole scheme was a bit of typical Borisonian flim-flam, intended to get a headline for a day or two.

The sad thing is that it did serve the Conservative government’s purpose by attracting attention - and not much scrutiny.

I did numerous interviews on Restoring Your Railway, trying to demonstrate that it was little more than a PR exercise. Therefore, I do not mourn its demise.

However, there are numerous reopening schemes that would bring great benefits to local communities.

One has only to look at several successful reopenings in Scotland to see the potential benefits. But drawing up the plans should be quick and be done with a light touch. Once consultants are introduced and schemes get bogged down in minutiae, then the impetus - and much money - is lost.

Therefore, there should be a ‘reopening tsar’, able to give a quick green light for schemes without involving the current tortuous process.

What the Scottish schemes have shown is that the huge amount spent on passenger forecasts is often wasted, because the eventual outcomes are nothing like those initially predicted.

The process of approving schemes should be shortened and speeded up, even if there is a risk that some money might be wasted.

After all, not a single penny spent on consultants ends up as part of a new railway line!

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