Government pressured to clarify when it knew rail upgrades would be shelved

The government has come under renewed pressure to clarify exactly when it knew major rail upgrades promised in its election manifesto would be shelved, after Network Rail confirmed it had told the Department for Transport in March that schemes might have to be deferred.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has refused a freedom of information request from the BBC to release a document commissioned before the election to show ministers the scale of delays and cost overruns.

Labour accused the government of failing to come clean after covering up the problems at Network Rail, which led to transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, announcing in June that two electrification schemes for the London to Sheffield and TransPennine routes, described as “vital” for services in the Midlands and north, would be “paused” indefinitely.

The chief executive of Network Rail, Mark Carne, responded to Labour inquiries in a letter, saying: “In mid-March 2015, Network Rail informed DfT that decisions may need to be made in the coming months about the deferral of certain schemes.”

Carne wrote: “We recommended that, before any specific decisions be taken, we first work with ORR [Office of Rail and Road] to make a full assessment of the whole enhancement programme … By mid-June 2015 it had become clear that savings were not possible while protecting those core benefits, and this led to the secretary of state making his statement to the House.”

Lilian Greenwood, Labour’s shadow rail minister, said: “Ministers have covered up the extent of Network Rail’s problems for months and they are still failing to come clean with passengers and the public. There are serious questions to answer over the conduct of senior Conservative politicians who promised to deliver vital electrification projects during the election, only to then shelve them once the ballot boxes had closed.

“Labour warned that the electrification programme was under severe strain during the last parliament, as did industry experts and the transport select committee. The government’s insistence that it was unaware of the extent of these problems is becoming less believable by the day.”

She called on McLoughlin to explain why he had not shared warnings from March that key improvements could be put on hold. “There can now be no doubt that ministers knew that important projects faced the axe, but they chose to mislead voters in the Midlands and the north instead of admitting the truth.”

The transport secretary told the transport select committee earlier this week that he had acknowledged to them on two previous occasions, in December and March, that “there were some problems about some of the timescales as far as TransPennine was concerned.”

McLoughlin said: “At that stage we had only just started [the £38.5bn five-year plan for Network Rail spending]. The information I got on 15 June made me take the action that I took and then reported to the House on 25 June.”

Meanwhile, the DfT has refused FoI requests from the BBC to release that assessment, despite acknowledging the public interest in the document.

A spokesperson said: “The government is committed to investing and improving the rail network, and work to deliver this programme continues every day. The new chair of Network Rail has been asked to develop proposals for how the rail upgrade programme can be delivered in the most effective way.

“It is important that ministers and officials have the opportunity to consider the assessment before confirming the next steps. The information in question has not been published or released, in line with an exemption in the Freedom of Information Act that allows a free space for the consideration of information relating to the formulation or development of government policy.”

The DfT also refused a request for correspondence with Network Rail showing warnings of problems serious enough to lead to a pause in the electrification schemes, on the grounds of the cost of complying with the request.