Member

The Government proudly announced a few weeks ago the procurement of a new fleet of battery electric trains to run on the upgraded trans-Pennine route, for example. On the face of it, it is a good deal that would pass a broad efficiency test. What we need to know is that procurement in the context of the infrastructure investment is the best value for money. There is an apparent mismatch between the specifications of the trains and those of the infrastructure upgrade. The trains will have a lower running speed than the new maximum speed for the line and are considerably shorter than the length of extended platforms. There may be good reasons for that, but we need to know whether the project as a whole represents value for money in the way it has been designed and delivered, and we need to know that there has not been overspecification or underspecification of infrastructure.