East West Rail project slammed for using diesel trains rather than electric

A Bucks councillor has slammed plans for a new railway line to use diesel trains rather than electric ones.

Councillor Ed Gemmell hit out at the greenhouse gas emissions target for the new East West Rail line, which will run through Buckinghamshire from Cambridge to Oxford, passing through a new station at Winslow.

The leader of the Climate Party criticised the lack of a specific date by which the railway “aims to have Net Zero” carbon dioxide emissions, the release of which drives of global warming.

He said: “It is absolutely pathetic. And the statement that ‘our aim is completely net zero’ – well when?

“By the point we have 40 degrees, 45 degrees? By the point we get a picture of a child being pulled out of the wreckage of a train because it has been burnt up in a heatwave?”

Councillor Gemmell and other members grilled members of the East West Rail Alliance, which is delivering the new line, during Buckinghamshire Council’s transport, environment & climate change select committee meeting yesterday (1 February).

The members questioned why the railway would operate diesel trains when it opens in 2025, despite the government planning to phase out all diesel-only trains by 2040.

Conservative Cllr Caroline Cornell told the meeting that she was worried about children breathing in pollution from the diesel trains.

She said: “When this train stops at Winslow it is right beside a school and diesel particulates are a prime reason for childhood asthma.”

Councillor Cornell also questioned why electric trains could not be used for East West Rail, or hybrid ones such as Chiltern Railways’ HybridFLEX model, which runs on diesel and electricity.

Cllr Gemmell also asked if it was because using diesel trains would help the company “save money”.

A representative of EWR replied to Councillor Gemmell, saying that the first trains running on the line will be diesel-powered, but that that may change in the future.

She told the committee: “It is not ideal, but that is to get passenger services up and running as quickly as possible.”

She added: “The decision on the long-term fleet is still yet to be made between the Department for Transport and the East West Rail company.”

The rail chief said they were exploring all power modes, including electric, and insisted that the decision to use diesel trains was “not about cost”.

East West Rail is set to cost up to £7 billion, while the company has estimated that full electrification of the line could cost up to a further £1 billion.