In light of the £2 million fine issued to Network Rail by The Office of Rail and Road, Anne Main MP has called on the Government to re-examine the analysis of the Rail Freight plan.

‘This penalty once again raises concerns about the complete lack of information we have about the plans in terms of costings, upgrade work to the line, access points, and the impact on commuter services.

Network Rail were criticised by The Office of Rail and Road for failing to liaise properly with operators and to understand the extent of the disruption to commuter services on other major projects. This penalty further reinforces my view that Network Rail have not given full consideration to the enormous negative impact that this will have on passenger services.

Radlett is being proposed as a ‘Strategic Rail Freight site’ but for this to be the case it would need to be a large site with good access to get freight off the road, which I strongly dispute will be the case. This latest development reinforces my fears, given we have had no real assurances from Network Rail and only vague generalisations regarding costing and further details such as access works and disruption.

The findings of The Office of Rail and Road highlight the issues Oliver Dowden MP and I have been raising and I have written again to the Government calling on them to look at this flawed project in light of the recent ruling. Oliver Dowden MP has asked testing questions on this matter and we have not had satisfactory answers. I wrote to the Government only last month regarding the announcement from the Department for Transport regarding Network Rail and large capital expenditure projects; this is yet another damning report.’