Railway Cuttings - Issue 81

16th December 2004

IN THE NEWS

Railfuture President and media spokesman, Peter Lawrence, has been busy this month. The Daily Mail, Metro Newspaper, Green Express and also BBC Radio Norfolk asked about Alastair' Darlings review of rural branch lines. All were concerned about possible axing of rural railways. With the possibility of up to 50 Community Rail Partnerships Peter said that it is early days to start getting worried. We should remain optimistic, as CRPs have on the whole been very successful. In Norfolk the Bittern Line Partnership (Norwich-Sheringham) has set a standard which will be hard to match, whereas the Wherry Lines Partnership has not been quite so successful. It will be interesting to see how the new Partnership for Suffolk, East Suffolk Line Partnership, performs. The key issues are better marketing of publicity, punctuality, reliability and fares.

The Independent wanted to discuss autumn leaf fall. This has largely gone unreported this year. Network Rail report that the number of incidents this year has again shown a big reduction thereby improving reliability and punctuality.

The Eastern Daily Press telephoned Peter on 1/12/04 concerning the proposed rail fare increases of between 4 and 8 percent. His view was rail users would not welcome these fare increases particularly as they will be above inflation. Quite the reverse should be happening. As we see motoring costs and aviation fares continuing to fall rail fares should be reduced in order to complete.

Peter has also spoken to BBC Radio Norfolk about the timetable changes. Peter told them that overall the changes are good for East Anglia.

Enquiries of a more local nature were passed on the North West and Lincolnshire branches. As a result Brian Hastings and Phil Mason from Lincolnshire did interviews for Q7 and BBC Radio Lincs. Phil Mason stressed the positive aspects of the CRP proposals, especially for Grantham – Skegness, which is one of the pilot schemes.

BBC TV Breakfast programme wanted to interview someone on the Rail Review. Keith Dyall, Chairman London & S. E. branch agreed to get up early and do this. The BBC sent a taxi to pick up Keith at 05.30am! Keith Dyall also did an interview with ITV on the chaos caused by Network Rail not getting its act together concerning Christmas timetables, thereby making it difficult for rail travellers in certain areas to book tickets in advance.

Keith had another interview on Sky news on 12th December. The subjects were about changes in the timetables and about the Railways Bill. Keith naturally mentioned the changes in the closure procedures and said that the success of the new timetables rested very much on Network Rail's signallers being able to regulate the system properly and that, as the old time table had been basically in place for the last 40 years, changes were required to meet changes in demand.

Railfuture Chairman, Mike Crowhurst, has talked to Times Online and Which (formerly Consumers Association) about the rail review.

Following the crossing accident near Sleaford, Lincs, in which two persons were tragically killed, Peter Davies, Chairman Yorkshire branch, was interviewed on the ITV Yorks/Lincs local news programme. Peter stressed that such incidents are rare when one considers that there are 7,395 crossings on the network. Network Rail keeps each crossing under review and makes regular assessments of them. Brian Hastings, Chairman Lincolnshire branch, spoke to the Lincolnshire Echo and a national news agency again stressing the rarity of these incidents and saying that it was important not to be too hasty in calling for changes to the crossings.

COMMUNITY RAIL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY LAUNCHED

Alistair Darling, Secretary of State for Transport, unveiled the Community Rail Development Strategy on 21st November 2004. The Strategy aims to increase the number of passengers using rural rail lines by providing a framework for developing local and rural railways. It sets out ways to secure the future of such lines, by increasing usage whilst reducing costs.

The strategy aims to improve the financial performance of lightly used lines – in order to increase the value for money and social value they offer. Central to the Strategy is the involvement of local communities in supporting and developing the lines. Increasing passenger volume through better marketing strategies is also an essential part of the plans. Costs can be reduced through ensuring that the lines are not 'gold plated' to the standards required for heavily used or high-speed lines.

Fifty six routes across England and Wales are proposed to be designated as Community Rail lines. Seven of these lines have been selected as pilot projects - with each helping to develop a different aspect of the Strategy. The seven chosen pilot schemes are:

 St Ives Bay Line (St Erth – St Ives, Cornwall)
 Looe Valley Line (Liskeard – Looe, Cornwall)
 Tamar Valley Line (Plymouth – Gunnislake)
 St Albans Abbey Branch (Watford Junction – St Albans)
 Grantham – Skegness Line
 Penistone Line (Sheffield – Huddersfield)
 Esk Valley Line (Middlesbrough – Whitby)

The Strategy applies typically to local and rural lines with relatively low speeds, where lightweight trains are used on an hourly frequency or less. These routes account for about 10.5% of the national network (1154 miles), including 390 stations. The strategy does not apply to lines in Greater London, Scotland, nor independent or heritage railways. A model similar to the Community Rail proposals already operates within discrete areas of the Dutch and German rail networks. The press release acknowledges that the Strategy has been developed by the SRA in close partnership with the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP)

Source DfT news release: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pns/displaypn.cgi?pn_id=2004_0141
The Community Rail Development Strategy can be found at http://www.sra.gov.uk/publications

From experience gained with the very successful Bittern Line Partnership Peter Lawrence urges all branches and User Groups with a pilot scheme in their area to get involved at an early stage.

NEWS FROM THE SRA

The SRA Cycling Policy was published on 11th November 2004. The policy seeks to increase the number of rail journeys that involve the use of a cycle through improved access and parking at stations, improved bike-rail integration, and clearer information about services available to cyclists.

The main points of the SRA’s cycle policy are:
 The SRA aspires to see 95% of rail journeys originate from stations with adequate cycle parking facilities within the next five years. A fund established by the Department for Transport to improve cycle parking, at around 200 high priority stations will begin this process.
 Ensure train operating companies (TOCs) take into account the wider benefits of cycling when considering investment in cycle facilities and rules for carrying cycles;
 TOCs should work with local highway agencies to promote easier and safer station access.
 When procuring new rolling stock, or carrying out major enhancements, spaces for cycles must be considered.
 Increase the provision of appropriate cycle parking facilities at stations (in conjunction with the DfT)
 Continue to allow TOCs discretion to determine appropriate facilities for carrying cycles on trains, to reflect specific circumstances; and
 Ensure clear information is available on facilities for cyclists. The SRA will work with ATOC to ensure that information for cyclists is centrally available. This information should be stocked and freely available to all staffed stations and electronically online.

The policy says TOCs should facilitate the carriage of cycles on off-peak services and promote the carriage of compact folding cycles at all times. During the peak, where capacity is under pressure, there may be circumstances, in which it is in the interests of the majority of passengers not to permit non-folding cycles on board. Train operating companies are best placed to know where and when such pressure exists and should be able to impose restrictions accordingly.
Source: http://www.sra.gov.uk/news/2004/11/cycling

On 29th November 2004 the SRA published its draft Gauging Policy for consultation with the rail industry and other stakeholders. The primary objective of the Policy is to optimise the 'fit' between the size of trains and the capability of the current railway infrastructure, by exploiting the potential for vehicles to run on parts of the network where they are currently not permitted. Greater understanding of the capability of the network will allow operators to take advantage of these opportunities. The consultation document can be found at http://www.sra.gov.uk/publications/consultation_default

Initial thoughts are that most of the document is common sense but there are maps showing the proposed Domestic High-Speed routes and Freight routes on pages 27 and 20 respectively. The proposed HST2 cleared routes are likely to be contentious as they have omitted anything south of Gatwick and the only Cross-country route is the Hope Valley. It would appear that any concept of Strategic Planning (i.e. Vision) was either buried with Alastair Morton or left through the SRA's front door with Richard Bowker.

BRANCH AGM’s

I already have some branch AGM dates and these are listed in Forthcoming Events. Can we please have dates for all other branch AGM’s as soon as they are fixed? Railfuture Chairman, Mike Crowhurst, would like to attend some of these if he has enough notice to arrange the trips before his diary is full.

RAILFUTURE NATIONAL TREASURER TO RETIRE AT NEXT AGM

Tony Sheward has announced that it his intention to retire from the post of Treasurer at the next AGM. A volunteer will therefore be needed to fill this important post. Do you fancy having a go yourself or do you have a retired friend with bookkeeping experience with around half a day a week to spare? Tony has indicated that he is willing to provide help and assistance to the new Treasurer whilst they are getting to grips with the role. If anyone is considering taking on the task they are welcome to ring Tony and discuss what is involved.

RAILWAYS BILL 2004

I have been asked by some branch contacts to put together a resume of our own studies and the briefing notes etc that we have received from various sources:

The strategic functions of the SRA are to be transferred to DfT who will also monitor performance, sponsor rail investment and let franchises. Day to day operations will be in the hands of Network Rail and TOCs. Other SRA functions such as route utilisation strategies are going to Network Rail.

The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are to gain additional powers. The Scottish Executive will be responsible for funding rail infrastructure and there are reports that it may also be able to specify size and capability of their network in future reviews of access charges. They will award the Scot rail franchise, which takes some powers away from Strathclyde PTE. They will be allowed to modify rail freight grant schemes.

The Welsh Assembly will specify and fund services under the Wales and Borders franchise except where services are completely within England. They will be co-signatory with the Secretary of State in the W & B franchise award. The Assembly will be able to add additional funding to the current W & B franchise from it’s own resources. As in Scotland they will be allowed to modify rail freight grant schemes.

The ORR powers to determine public expenditure priorities will be restricted. In future access charges reviews the Sec. of State will specify what he wants the rail network to deliver and how much public funding is available. If these two are not in balance he will decide which parameter to change.

The Railway Inspectorate is transferred from the HSE to the ORR.

Some of the responsibilities being transferred to Network Rail, such as delivering rail performance, are being implemented through changes to the Network Code, being drawn up by the ORR, rather than via the Railways Bill.

Any devolution of powers to Transport for London is still to be decided. With the exception of Merseytravel the PTEs are to lose their powers to specify and manage rail franchises. The DfT talks of PTEs deciding “which rail routes are best value and which would be more effectively replaced by bus services”. It suggests that bus replacement services could improve accessibility by stopping at many more locations than trains. The PTEs will be able to enter into bus Quality Contracts for rail replacement services. Overall there seems to be more danger of bustitution and closures in PTE areas than in rural areas, especially as there are to be streamlined arrangements for the replacement of rail services by guaranteed bus routes.

The closure process is to be changed. Currently all closures must be initiated by TOCs except that the SRA can initiate closures whilst reletting franchises. Any closure proposal is then assessed by the SRA and an 8 weeks consultation exercise is held. RPCs hear objections and then prepare a report on any hardship that would arise. The Sec. Of State makes the final decision.

The new regime would see The Sec of State, Scots Executive, Welsh Assembly, PTAs and TfL have the power to initiate closures as well as the TOCs. The promoter of the proposal would then prepare a cost/ benefit assessment, which would be followed by a 12-week public consultation. The final decision would be up to the ORR in line with guidance form the Sec. of State and Minister.

Note that there is only a consultation. There is no mention of any public hearings and any consultation with rail users is to be through bodies recognised by the Sec of State. It is not clear who these bodies would be.

Missing from the Bill is any continuation of the SRA's duty to "promote the use, and development, of the railway network for the carriage of passengers and goods". A notable exception is Scotland where the Scottish Executive gets a duty to develop strategies for the railways. There would be no body with the power to promote and co-ordinate private and public investment in railfreight projects. There is no mention of any co-ordination between rail and bus services.

As expected the regional RPC’s are to be abolished with the exception of the London TUC. The rationale behind this is apparently that the government considers the RPC'’ to be too expensive and that some of their activities "“re not necessarily the right role for a rail passengers’ body”.

The Rail Passengers Council will operate as a GB wide body. Their stakeholder briefing note proposes that they will be passenger focussed and have passenger involvement. This is to be via a small number of highly knowledgeable individuals to act as ‘advocates’ and at least 2,500 ‘champions’ linked by email. There will also be a link with passenger and rail user groups involving “new ways of working”.

A quote from Christian Wolmar, writing in Rail magazine sums up other deficiencies – “Here are just a few things the Bill does not address – what are the railways for; what is the vision for the railways; how do you finance enhancements (remember them)? Indeed are there going to be any enhancements. Darling said the previous system was ‘dysfunctional’. Now, the big question in the short term is: will this one be any less so? And, how and why?”

We urge all members to write to their MP to point out the deficiencies in the Bill. If they receive a helpful reply please advise Mike Crowhurst or myself, as we may need to lobby friendly MPs when the Bill returns to the floor of the House, probably in late January. Expected sittings of the Standing Committee for the Bill are 14th –16th December and 11th – 18th January. Committee Members are:

 Labour - D Clelland (Tyne Bridge), Tom Harris (Glasgow C), George Howarth (Knowsley North and Sefton East), Andy King (Rugby and Kenilworth), John McDougal (Central Fife), Khalid Mahmood (Birmingham Perry Barr), Anne McGuire (Stirling), Rosemary McKenna (Cumbernauld & Kilsyth), Tony McNulty (Harrow East), Gillian Merron (Lincoln), Albert Owen (Ynys Mon) and Graham Stringer (Manchester Blackley).
 Conservative - C Chope (Christchurch), Mark Field (Cities of London & Westminster), Greg Knight (Yorkshire East), Eleanor Laing (Epping Forest) and David Wilshire (Spelthorne).
 Liberal Democrat - John Pugh (Southport) and John Thurso (Caithness Sutherland and Easter Ross).
 Plaid Cymru - Simon Thomas (Ceredigion).

During the Bill’s progress through the Standing Committee there are three key points to our strategy:
 Support the Lib. Dem. (& T2000) amendments which would restore the SoS’s duty “to promote rail transport” etc.
 Support the PTE Group in their bid to delete clauses 13 & 14 that water down PTE powers.
 Support the Lib. Dem. bid to delete all of Section 4 which “streamlines” closure procedures.

RPC Stakeholder briefing note is at - http://www.railpassengers.org.uk/site/News/RPCPressReleases/2004_112504_03
A summary and the full text of the Railways Bill 2004 can be found on the DfT website at - http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/divisionhomepage/032955.hcsp
The Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Railways Bill is at - http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/page/dft_railways_033000.hcsp
I have a detailed 15-page analysis of the Bill from the RPC that I can email on request to david.harby at ntlworld.com

CHRIS GREEN APPOINTED NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE RAILWAY FORUM

Chris Green, Chairman, Virgin Rail Group, will be the next Chairman of The Railway Forum. He will take over from Paul Kirk on 1 January 2005.

NICK DIBBEN – NEW EMAIL ADDRESS

Nick Dibben, Secretary East Anglia branch, has a new email address of nick.dibben at btinternet.com. Please amend your contacts lists.

ETRURIA STATION CLOSURE PROPOSAL

The RPC have announced the result of their deliberations on Etruria station. In brief, the recommendation is that closure should only be part of a wider integrated transport review creating new travel opportunities in the area, and that any final decision should await the findings of the North Staffordshire Integrated Transport Study. The report is now with Alistair Darling for his decision. Source: http://www.railpassengers.org.uk/site/News/RPCPressReleases/2004_112404_01