Volk's railway, the oldest electric line in the world, still trundles along Brighton's seafront. When it was built, in 1883, Britain led the world in rail technology: now it lags embarrassingly far behind. Yesterday's announcement that the London-Swansea and Liverpool-Manchester lines are to be electrified would not be news in France or Germany, where most main routes moved from diesel power years ago. Britain has persisted with inefficient and unreliable high-speed diesel trains on several lines. As Andrew Adonis, the dynamic new transport secretary, points out, Wales and Albania have something in common: neither has any electric trains. British Rail planned to upgrade the route to Cardiff decades ago, but never found the money. Then privatisation put a halt to all investment in electrification. It is good that the government has got things moving again, even if the scheme will take time, and in the short term cost money and cause (hopefully limited) disruption – though over time it will pay for itself through efficient operation. Passengers may not care how their trains are powered; they just want them to run frequently, to time, and at a reasonable cost. Electrification makes this easier, but it also makes trains greener. The units are lighter than diesel trains, and need less energy; they can also be powered by low-carbon sources. Hopefully the Cardiff line will be the start of a continuous programme that will see every main route in the country end up under the wires.