Will Dr Beeching be turning in his grave?

Finally the coalition have made a tangible announcement, committing to the much heralded infrastructure investment programme which, we have been told, will galvanise the UK economy and help stimulate a new era of growth (just slightly ironic that the announcement should be made on the day that the IMF downgraded the UK’s growth prospects for 2012 from 0.8% to 0.2% …).

The total investment package of £9.4bn will provide a raft of improvements to the network, including a £500m rail link between Heathrow and the Great Western mainline, full electrification of the East coast mainline and Welsh valley networks plus a series of upgrades to lines and stations in cities including Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, which, when completed, could allow for an extra 20,100 commuter journeys.

Whilst commentators have been quick to point out that £5.2bn is represented by projects and improvements already planned for and announced, that still leaves £4.2bn of entirely new money.

The Chancellor, George Osborne, said the investment would offer "a significant boost for the major towns and cities of the north" helping to "rebalance the UK economy and enable growth and regeneration throughout the regions".

Undoubtedly an announcement on this scale has to be good for our sector, but with none of the projects likely to commence work before 2014, it’s looking rather more like jam tomorrow …