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Commenting on the government halting the Midland Main Line electrification, Sam Richards, CEO of pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade, said:

"The failure to commit to delivering the electrification of the Midlands Main Line is a prime example of the feast or famine funding British railway infrastructure projects have to endure.  

“Scrapping the latest phase is short-sighted and self-defeating. Now passengers will get slower, dirtier trains while costs go up, and a low emission railway slips further out of reach.

“Every year for the last fifty years, Germany has electrified roughly 200 kilometres of railway, while Britain’s piecemeal approach has meant no electrification some years. This has made electrifying our railways around three times more expensive than in Germany. 

“If the government is serious about building a modern railway, it needs to ditch the stop-start chaos and commit to a rolling programme of electrification - cheaper, smarter, and built to last."