A probe into critical national infrastructure will look at “broader questions” about why British transport networks have been “brought to a standstill”, according to the Transport Secretary.
Heidi Alexander has said she expects answers in June about why a west London substation fire caused a major power failure at the UK’s busiest airport, with more than 270,000 air passenger journeys disrupted on March 21.
At the despatch box, Ms Alexander also took questions about disruption to the Elizabeth, Bakerloo, Jubilee and Northern lines in London on Monday after a fault with the National Grid’s transmission network, and why HS2 is “taking far longer and costing far more to deliver it than anyone expected”.
Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Paul Kohler told the Commons: “Following a fire at North Hyde substation which closed Heathrow a few weeks ago, various lines on the London Underground were brought to a standstill by another power outage this week.
“It’s clear we need to do more to improve the resilience of our transport energy infrastructure, so will the Secretary of State commit to a full review to ensure these incidents do not keep happening?”
Ms Alexander replied: “There is a review being conducted by Neso (National Energy System Operator) about the Heathrow substation fire. The interim report has been published and we expect the the full report on that in addition – that will be coming in June.
“And we expect the Heathrow report to their board in May. I do work very closely and my department does with all transport operators to ensure that they have robust resilience plans in place, and the Government is conducting a review of critical national infrastructure to address broader questions.”
Neso’s 34-page interim review revealed the “root cause of the fire remains unknown whilst forensic fire investigations are ongoing”, and its lines of inquiry ahead of the final report include “risk management and mitigation, and resilience planning by stakeholders” along with “incident management coordination by key organisations, at operational and crisis management level”.
According to the National Grid, the fault which affected transport networks in the capital “was resolved within seconds and did not interrupt supply” but “a consequent voltage dip may have briefly affected power supplies on the low voltage distribution network in the area”.
Conservative former minister Sir Jeremy Wright had earlier raised the construction timeline for the London to Birmingham HS2 railway.
“The Secretary of State knows HS2’s central purpose is to deliver economic growth, but she knows too that it’s taking far longer and costing far more to deliver it than anyone expected,” he warned.
Sir Jeremy continued: “Given that projects of the scale of HS2 require parliamentary approval, isn’t it important that Parliament has accurate estimates of how much and for how long the project will take to deliver?
“So will she commission a properly independent and thorough review of why it is that the budget for HS2 has increased so often and the timetable has expanded so often?”
Ms Alexander said: “I will be providing updates to this House on the emerging cost position and opening window. As (he) will know, this Government has appointed a new chief executive of HS2, Mark Wild, and he is conducting an ongoing review.
“We’ve also reintroduced ministerial oversight, which was so sorely lacking I’m afraid to say under his party’s leadership.
“I recognise this is an important issue and we’re doing all that we can do to deliver the rest of this railway for the lowest reasonable cost to the taxpayer so people can enjoy excellent rail services in the future.”
On roads, Jess Brown-Fuller offered Ms Alexander a “very warm invitation” to visit her Chichester constituency to “sit in traffic”.
The Liberal Democrat MP said her constituents face congestion “morning, noon and night on the A27 which is strangling economic growth in the area and preventing investment”.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves last year cancelled the nearby A27 Arundel bypass scheme, which like Chichester lies in West Sussex, after a Treasury audit found £3.5 billion of unfunded pressures related to transport in 2024/25.
Responding to Ms Brown-Fuller, the Transport Secretary said she would “look at the matters” raised, and added: “As tempting as (Ms Brown-Fuller’s) invitation is, I do regret that I won’t be able to do that, and I won’t commit the roads minister (Lilian Greenwood) to doing that, either.”
