The Transpennine Route Upgrade
Summary
The Transpennine Route Upgrade Programme has had a difficult start, with the Department taking more than a decade to agree a scope. As a result, passengers will have to deal with delays and overcrowding on a route that is at full capacity for longer. The Programme, which is Network Rail’s largest rail upgrade, is now in a good position to proceed with greater certainty following the Department’s Integrated Rail Plan. There is now an agreed scope that should make a real difference to the users of the route and deliver wider benefits to the region if delivered successfully.
The Department and Network Rail are putting in place appropriate structures, such as revised governance and operating model, suitable for a major programme about to go into substantive delivery. However, these arrangements have yet to be tested and many of the changes are still a work in progress. There is still work to be done by the Department and Network Rail to manage key areas of risk and challenge, as well as planning to achieve the intended benefits, if they are to ensure the Programme is in a good position to secure long-term value for taxpayers’ money.