Grant Thornton Comments on Transport Issues in Coalition
Agreement and Predicts Plans in the Budget
Will McWilliams, Transport partner in
Grant Thornton UK LLP's Government and Infrastructure Advisory
service, comments on plans outlined in the coalition agreement and
predicts policies in the upcoming Budget.
BUDGET PREDICTIONS
Changes to decisions on prioritising
transport projects with a focus on low carbon proposals -
Will says: "The Budget might reveal changes to how transport
projects are prioritised, with low carbon proposals favoured. This
is a significant step towards the fairer appraisal of light rail
schemes against other modes of public transport. However, it
is likely that affordability will override many decisions on
investment in transport, and light rail costs in the UK have been
significantly higher than our European counterparts, for various
reasons causing significant affordability issues.
Cross rail - Will says:
"Support for Crossrail is a significant boost to the London economy
and its position as a global leader in financial services. It
will be interesting to see if TfL expands the role of private
financing from the currently proposed rolling stock and depots, to
support the overall affordability of the project. There may
be opportunities to leverage greater private finance for assets
such as stations or sale and lease back options on completion of
certain elements of the project."
Pricing for rail travel - Will
says: "Fairer pricing could imply greater regulation of
fares. There could be a conflict between the commitment to
fairer prices and the private sector's ability to generate revenue
for long term investment as proposed for the new franchise
models."
COMMENTS ON THE COALITION
AGREEMENT
Making Network Rail more accountable
to its customers. Will says: "Making Network Rail more
accountable to its customers, i.e. Train Operating Companies(TOCs),
may help drive better performance from the rail network. The
current rail industry review may lead to structural changes that
could give the TOCs greater control and influence on management of
infrastructure assets."
Turning the rail regulator into a
powerful passenger champion.
Will says: "Greater powers for the regulator
could signal a reduction in the control and specification of rail
services by the Department for Transport (DfT). The general
mood within the industry is that DfT has too great a role in the
specification of franchise services."
Working towards the introduction of a
new system of HGV road user charging to ensure a fairer arrangement
for UK hauliers. Will says: "The whole issue of road
pricing and opportunities to raise income from the existing road
network through privatisation models will be a interesting area of
development. Attempts to move beyond an HGV road user charge
to a wider road charging scheme will be politically very
difficult. Recently a scheme in Holland was halted due to
wider political and public pressure. Any models to raise income for
the road network asset will be based on relationships between the
government and private sector through a form of usage and
availability fees, similar to PFI schemes."
- Ends
-
For further information, please
contact:
Stephanie Aneto, Grant Thornton press
office. Tel: 020 7728 2940 or email: stephanie.aneto@gtuk.com