EDDINGTON DOESN’T GO FAR ENOUGH

December 1 2006 saw the publication of the long-awaited Eddington report which was commissioned in the 2005 Budget in order to advise government on the links between transport and economic growth, productivity and environmental sustainability. Authored by Sir Rod Eddington, the former chief executive of British Airways, the report has failed to seize the opportunity to recommend the massive increase in public- transport capacity our economy and environment desperately need. Despite government projecting a 30 per cent increase over the next decade in both passenger numbers and the volume of freight tonnes lifted, rail is some way down Eddington’s agenda. In addition, new road building is not ruled out and, despite acknowledging that aviation should meet its social and environmental costs, the report argues that there are significant economic benefits in expanding the sector. With the exception of CrossRail, Eddington makes no specific recommendations in relation to new rail infrastructure projects. Indeed, the report warns against being “seduced by grand projects with speculative returns”. Eddington instead concentrates on upgrading existing lines and dealing with pinch points on the network. Welcome as that is, it is a serious omission to support the introduction of road user charging designed to deal with congestion and environmental damage, whilst at the same time refusing to endorse the construction of a north-south, high-speed line. The Institute of Civil Engineers announced themselves “dismayed” that the report had not recognised the economic and environmental benefits of such a line. NEED FOR EXPANSION RMT provided Eddington with a detailed submission which included the case for significant expansion in the rail and bus networks to deal with the likely effect of road user charging, the development of a high-speed, north-south rail link and increasing the modal share of freight moved by rail and sea within the wider framework of an integrated, publicly-owned transport system. Commenting on the report, general secretary Bob Crow said that it must herald a step change in transport policy if we are to meet the climate change challenge outlined so starkly in the Stern report. “Every penny raised by road- pricing should be spent on creating the public-transport network that Britain needs, and not spent on ever more roads,” he warned. He went to argue that government should back its commitment to reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions with statutory targets for getting people out of cars and planes and onto trains, buses and trams. www.rmt.org.uk :: january 2007 :: RMTnews 19 EDDINGTON DOESN’T GO FAR ENOUGH The long-awaited Eddington report on the links between transport and economic growth, productivity and environmental sustainability fails to promote getting people out of cars and planes and onto trains, buses and trams