Activists Briefing - Issue 4
17th July 2005
IN THE NEWS
On 24th June Railfuture Chairman, Mike Crowhurst, was interviewed by Dan Leigh-Brown of Real Radio fm (Yorkshire) concerning the sweltering conditions endured by passengers on a GNER train which was disabled when the wires came down near Peterborough. Mike stressed that this was an unusual occurrence and pointed out that it was not safe for doors to be opened because diesel hauled trains could still have been running. He also said that some thought needs to be given to ventilating carriages when the air conditioning fails.
Transport Briefing contacted Railfuture President, Peter Lawrence, for our views on the re-opening of the Vale of Glamorgan line. Peter said we regarded it as excellent news and fully supported the re-opening.
NEWS FROM RAILFUTURE BRANCHES
Railfuture East Anglia Branch have been selected (subject to final decision) to take part in the transport discussion at the East of England Plan examination in public later this year. Railfuture East Anglia Secretary, Nick Dibben, would be interested to receive copies of any comments sent in by user groups and individuals. This will help answer the specific transport questions raised by the Inspector.
1) Does the strategy deal adequately with the transport needs of the region?
2) Is the strategy for sustainable transport and demand management sufficiently robust?
3) Does the Regional Spatial Strategy provide a clear, consistent and appropriate framework for responding to these demands? Are the transport objectives clearly and consistently articulated?
e-mail to nick.dibben at btinternet.com or send to 24 Bure Close, St Ives, Cambs PE27 3FE.
Railfuture Lincolnshire Chairman, Brian Hastings, was woken by Radio Lincolnshire at 06.30 on 21st June. They wanted him discuss the ATOC “10 Year View of Strategy for Britain’s Railways“ on the breakfast show. Brian was interviewed at 07.30. Brian pointed out that far from the report being a call for closures of rural stations, as the interviewer was trying to imply, the report had positive aspects for Lincolnshire. A forecast in the report of a 28% increase in traffic in 10 years was likely to be exceeded. At least two Community Rail Partnerships are being planned and, given CRP successes in other areas, 28% in 10 years would be the minimum that could be expected for them. In Lincolnshire we are already seeing growth rates of 2.8% and 5% per annum on two non-CRP routes.
Lincolnshire branch always sends copies of their newsletter, Rail Lincs, to the local media. From the recent issue the Lincolnshire Echo have printed verbatim an article on rail travel from the female perspective and Radio Humberside followed up an item on the planned station at Robin Hood Airport by interviewing Brian Hastings.
A public meeting to discuss ‘The Future of Rail Travel in the South East’ will be held in the Council Chamber, Guildford Borough Council, Millmead, Guildford at 19.00 on Tues 26 July. Presented by Daniel Wright, Rail Officer for Surrey County Council and organised by the Transport Working Group of the Guildford Environmental Forum there will also be an update by Tom Sharp (former County Councillor) on the scheme for opening Merrow station. Details from RDS Board member H. Trevor Jones tel: 01483-565319 email: htjones at raildev.fsnet.co.uk
Railfuture East Anglia Branch is expected to have a stand at at Norwich Station for the Community Rail Fest on 23/24/25 September A whole programme of events are planned for these few days.
The branch are producing some new display material for the event similar to the display that CAST.IRON had at the national AGM this year. The intention is to produce to full height laminated display posters (each approx 2 x 1m ). The first will have a general national Railfuture theme so it could be used at any location around the country. The second will cover East Anglia issues. The branch are currently getting quotes. If other Branches would like a copy of the national poster please let Nick Dibben know.
If the posters go well, the EA Branch would consider helping other Branches produce similar posters. The idea would be to get a set for the entire country in the same style and format. Individual branches would provide the outline text (and the cash!) and we would arrange to get them produced.
The branch also propose to have a large regional map and invite people to add their aspirations to it. We will then send these to local authorities and train operators to say this is what people want. They will have leaflets and a special "community rail" edition of the Branch newsletter to hand out.
RICHARD MACQUEEN
It is with great sadness that we report the sudden passing of Richard on 20th June after a few months of heart monitoring. John Barfield has written the following obituary.
“Richard was for many years a television film editor with the BBC, then London Weekend Television before setting up award winning Syntaxis Video with his business partner, Sarah Vincent (an advert for which appeared in RW89 – August 2001). Shortly afterwards they had to move out of their studio under the arches of St. Pancras station due to the redevelopment for the CTRL.
Richard joined the Railway Invigoration Society in the mid 1960s and his main interest was in international affairs. With the formation of RDS he was one of the first members of the International & EU Committee (his father was for some years RDS Treasurer). He was also interested in freight and was until his death liaison officer with the Freight Committee.
Prior to the setting up of EPF he came with me to Brussels on a number of occasions to meet MEPs and members of the European Commission. He also had useful contacts in Ireland and was instrumental in setting up a meeting with an MEP and local members in Belfast.
Latterly he moved from Twickenham to Walthamstow where he took a particular interest in local affairs. He was a member of GOBLIN and was concerned about the future of services in the Lea Valley and to Chingford.
I shall miss our regular meetings in the “Goldengrove” at Stratford and his contribution to the work of the Society cannot be over-stressed.”
COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Railfuture Passenger Committee have meetings organised for 24th September (Calthorpe Arms, London), 3rd December (Carrs Lane, Birmingham), 25th March 2006 (London) and 3rd June 2006 (Birmingham).
LIFE MEMBERSHIP
Members who were at the AGM in Peterborough will recall that it was agreed that we would introduce Life Membership from 1st June 2005. Application forms are now ready and can be obtained from Railfuture Membership, 6 Carral Close, Lincoln LN5 9BD. A sae would be appreciated.
RAILWATCH BACK ISSUES
We have a quantity of Railwatch back issues available. If any branch, RUG etc would like some to use at events etc please contact David Harby (details below). They can be a very useful promotional item as they contain a lot of information about our campaigning activities.
AIRPORT RAIL LINKS
International & EU Committee are preparing a paper on Airport Rail Links. They would like to receive any relevant input from the branches concerning rail access, or lack of it, to airports in their areas. While passengers who are flying may be making domestic journeys, nevertheless there is potential to encourage international passengers to leave or arrive in the UK from their nearest regional airport. The Committee will prepare a national paper after consideration of points and suggestions from branches. Do any branches have particular views about the following:
1. Justification of a new rail link to an airport.
2. Proposed route(s) and alignment(s).
3. How existing rail access to airports could be improved.
4. Existing (if any) and proposed levels of service.
5. Where no rail access construction can really be justified, how can bus services provide better access to nearest railhead point (s).
6. Any other points relevant for Railfuture to consider.
This should not be seen as support by RF for air transport, nor for any new airport construction. We will continue to press for short-haul domestic and international passengers to travel by high-speed rail instead, given Government inducement on fares levels and general revised transport policies. However clearly it is better that those who are going to fly should reach their airport by rail rather than by car.
Comments and suggestions to Ian McDonald, 10 Douglas Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 8ES. ianfsmcdonald at blueyonder.co.uk to arrive by 30 September 2005.
RAIL AT RISK
Rail at Risk is the latest in a series of discussion papers written by Nick Lewis and edited by Chris Burden on behalf of the Railfuture Passenger Committee. With the passing of the recent Railways Act, there are indications that the government intends, by almost any means, to reduce its financial and other support for the railways. The paper analyses the origins of rail industry cost inflation and suggests ways of reducing it, without cutting routes or services. It also shows that the appeal of 'bustitution', apparently a cheap option and one of the favoured ways of cutting local rail services, is based on flawed economics. The paper shows that in the light of the substantial and unpredicted increase in rail ridership over the last few years, and which is likely to continue with the introduction of road congestion charging, cutting services would be folly.
Contact Chris Burden f-chris-f at clara.net for details of how to obtain a copy.
NEWS FROM SRA
National Rail Trends Yearbook 2004-2005 is available from the SRA website. It contains a multitude of facts and figures that are useful when arguing the case for rail. . In this year’s Yearbook a change in methodology has occurred in the calculation of passenger kilometres (PKM) and passenger journeys. Changes have also occurred in the method of data collection for those data used to calculate ‘ Freight Lifted’ and the equivalent number of ‘ Avoided Lorry Journeys’ Comparisons with previous years and annual trends should be treated with caution. http://www.sra.gov.uk/publications
The SRA published its final Gauging Policy on 24 June 2005. The Policy is designed to ensure that the industry makes the optimum use and deployment of its existing rolling stock and infrastructure The Policy is the result of twelve months cross-industry collaboration and summarises the key findings of the cross-industry study group and their proposals. The Policy does not require substantial additional investment; instead most improvements can be realised through greater certainty and planning. The policy is available on the SRA website http://www.sra.gov.uk/pubs2/strategy_policy_planning
The final Great Western Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy was published on 24 June 2005. Its aims are to reduce overcrowding and improve service patterns for passengers by making better use of existing tracks and trains on the route, to drive improved punctuality and reliability. The Strategy covers the Thames Valley, the Cotswolds, South Wales and the West Country for the period up to 2012. Whether the RUS will benefit all passengers remains to be seen. Railfuture branches in Devon and Cornwall and South Wales think passengers from their regions will see an inferior service. The strategy is available from the SRA website http://www.sra.gov.uk/pubs2/strategy_policy_planning
An ERTMS progress report was published on 23 June 2005. Currently under development across Europe, the introduction of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) into the UK will start with a pilot on the Cambrian Coast Line (costing approx £60m), that will ‘go live’ in 2008. Further rollout across the UK network will depend on progress with development of ERTMS across Europe. Current commercial projects using “Level 2” ERTMS, which are very largely centred on new high speed lines, have not yet come into service. The availability of a proven, reliable system for complex, mixed traffic railways such as the UK is some years away. The SRA’s report suggests that the earliest realistic target for ERTMS on high speed lines is in the 2020s. This is not a matter of cost but is dependent on the technical development of the system. The full End of Year ERTMS report is available on the SRA website at http://www.sra.gov.uk/publications
SRA'S COMMUNITY RAIL UNIT MOVES TO THE DFT AND WILL BE UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
The SRA has written a letter to stakeholders explaining that the Community Rail section will transfer to DfT Rail on 21st August within the "Rail Stakeholder and Customer" part of the organisation. It will be managed by Ian McBrayne. Chris Austin and Judy Raumann will be leaving the SRA at the end of July and moving to the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). Chris will become Director of Public Policy responsible for making the case for the railway on a national basis, and working to improve public understanding of the benefits that are already being achieved
TWO NEW STATIONS PLANNED IN THE MILTON KEYNES & SOUTH MIDLANDS GROWTH AREA
In 2004 the government set up the £200 million Community Infrastructure Fund to fund transport projects that would bring forward new housing development in the four growth areas of Thames Gateway, London – Stansted – Cambridge – Peterborough, Milton Keynes and South Midlands and Ashford. Possible stations at Berryfields nr Aylesbury and Wixhams, south of Bedford have been selected for detailed appraisal. An announcement of which projects are to receive CIF funding will be made in the autumn.
Source: www.gose.gov.uk/gose/docs/170192/221841/221846/MKSMNewsletter6June.pdf
NEWS FROM ORR
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has appointed Bill Emery as its new Chief Executive. He will take up his appointment on 19 September 2005. The Secretary of State for Transport has also appointed him to the ORR Board with immediate effect.
Dr Emery, 53, is currently Director of Costs and Performance and Chief Engineer at Ofwat where he is responsible for promoting robust asset management planning, improving efficiency, incentives, and overseeing the capital investment programmes of the sector. He is also a member of the Ofwat Board.
http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.7247
The first steps were taken on 14th June 2005 to establish an appropriate regulatory framework for the transfer of powers and responsibilities for specifying and funding railway services and high-level railway outputs to the devolved government in Scotland, and to local and regional bodies in England and the National Assembly for Wales. Proposals to devolve these responsibilities were set out in the Government’s white paper The Future of Rail published in July 2004, and necessitate a number of changes to the structure, operation and funding of the rail industry. Under new funding arrangements the secretary of State and Scottish Minister specify what they want the rail network to deliver and how much public finding is available. The ORR carries out these instructions.
The ORR is setting out its approach to dealing with these changes in a consultation document ’Disaggregating Network Rail's expenditure and revenue allowance and the future price control framework’, which includes:
proposals to separate Network Rail’s expenditure and revenue allowances into separate requirements for Scotland, and for England and Wales;
details of the proposed methodology for separating Network Rail’s regulatory asset base (RAB); and
proposals for the future development of Network Rail’s price control and monitoring framework in England and Wales, and Scotland. This looks at the options for Merseyrail and discusses the implications if some funding is devolved to the WAG, the Mayor of London, PTEs or CRPs.
Source: http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.7174
RPC
The list of Board members appointed to the new Rail Passengers Council was announced by the DfT on 13th June. There are another 3 appointments that need to be made to the new RPC by the Scottish Ministers, the National Assembly for Wales and the London Assembly (the latter appointment to be drawn from the existing membership of the London Transport Users' Committee). Details of each member including short biographies can be found on the DfT website at www.dft.gov.uk/pns/displaypn.cgi?pn_id=2005_0066
RAIL: THE NEW STRUCTURE, PERFORMANCE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE
This is the title of a speech by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling to the Railway Forum on 21 June 2005. His speech concentrated on what he sees as three key areas. “First, on progress that is being made within the DfT and across the industry to deliver the new structure – and how we will plan ahead to address the capacity problems we will face in the future. Second – how we need to continue to drive up performance to continue to improve reliability, all the time keeping costs firmly under control. And third – how important it is to focus on customer service. Because all the changes that are being made are meaningless to the passengers unless they deliver real benefits – and that passengers know what is going on. Some are good at this, others are not”
“Government is setting the strategic direction of the railways. This means making clear how much public money is available as well as the size and the shape of the network it wants to buy. We are also working to reduce the number of franchises, so that they are more closely aligned with the Network Rail regions and routes, to avoid overlap and improve performance.
We have simplified the franchise template that is sent out to bidders - and the new template clearly states the level of service expected of the new franchisee. The new Rail Group within the Department for Transport is responsible for this work and will be fully operational by the end of August.”
He made it clear that DfT will be responsible for taking on the key strategic challenges that face the rail industry - and it will be responsible for planning ahead to meet the pressures we know we will face on the network in the future. As an example he used the replacement of the High Speed Train fleet. He stressed the need for greater standardisation - one type of train across the network. To properly scope and test the new design, so that it can be introduced smoothly and without causing any drop in reliability. And to ensure that we consider how all aspects of the system work together - not buy a train without any consideration of how it operates on the track, or of what passengers actually want.
Source DfT press release: http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/page/dft_railways_038373.hcsp
ATOC SETS OUT 10 YEAR VIEW OF STRATEGY FOR BRITAIN’S RAILWAYS
On 21st June ATOC published their plans for a way forward for the railway over the next ten years focusing on reducing costs, meeting rising demand, and improving passenger service.
Its main points are:
The railways must consolidate their recent improved performance and reduce their costs.
Strong passenger growth is likely to continue – ATOC estimates growth of at least 28% over the next 10 years. While some routes will become very crowded, overall the network should be capable of handling this growth through innovation and some small investments.
While rail makes a vital contribution to national economic life, the ‘funding gap’ of the railways is too large, but with revenue growth and a focus on costs, this gap will reduce considerably over the next 10 years.
The paper also argues that additional measures will be required to handle growth during the next decade. These include:
selective lengthening of trains;
improved track layouts;
timetable reviews to squeeze more train paths;
identification of ‘pinch points’ on the network and measures to address them;
removal of franchise requirements to run under-used trains or preserve very under-used stations which absorb capacity.
Ultimately, the paper argues, some major capital works will also be required to meet demand.
The report can be downloaded as a pdf document from this link: http://www.atoc-comms.org/docs.asp?cat=studies
Also downloadable from the same link is an ATOC study of “European Rail Growth Trends over the last 10 years”.
Source: ATOC press release
http://www.atoc-comms.org/atocstory.asp?abstractorder=&toc=&category=&File_reference=822057
RAIL FREIGHT IN BRITAIN GROWS TO RECORD LEVELS AS CHANNEL TUNNEL TOLL DEAL IS ACHIEVED
The amount of freight moved on the rail network in Britain rose by 9.5% during 2004/05 to 20.7 billion net tonne kilometres. The increase of 9.5% means that rail freight has grown by 60% since 1995, and that the amount of freight moved, measured by billion net tonne kilometres, is at its highest level since 1977.
Future growth in rail freight is expected to continue by increasing services for bulk haulage, general merchandise and fast moving consumer goods. EWS also expects that rail freight services to and from mainland Europe will see significant growth, delivered by its European railfreight subsidiary, Euro Cargo Rail, which will operate railfreight services in France. In planning for this overall growth, EWS is currently investing £61 million during 2005/06 in new wagons, international terminals and line re-openings.
In a further boost to rail freight growth, the European Commission has announced its approval for the extension of the existing agreement between EWS International and the UK Government on freight tolls through the Channel Tunnel. This agreement, which will last until November 2006, will encourage international freight traffic and pave the way for a long term charging agreement from December 2006.
Euro Cargo Rail has been established as a company in France, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of English Welsh & Scottish Railway Holdings Limited. Rail freight in Europe currently accounts for 8% of the total freight transportation base. Following legislation from the European Commission to facilitate rail freight growth and competition, this is forecast to rise from 8% to 15% by 2020. Source EWS press release: http://www.ews-railway.co.uk/cmsystem/news_alt.asp
28,000 LORRY MILES A WEEK AVOIDED WITH NEW EWS SERVICE FOR GEEST
EWS has commenced operation of a new daily rail freight service from the Port of Tilbury to the Hams Hall rail freight terminal near Birmingham for Geest North Sea Line, the multi-modal shortsea shipping operator. The daily services will reduce Geest’s use of road transportation by some 28,000 lorry miles a week. A further 5,600 lorry miles a week will be removed once the length, and capacity, of trains is increased by 20%.
Mark Bennett, General Manager of Geest’s UK Operations, said: “Rail transportation is the obvious way to beat traffic tailbacks and also provides a positive solution to restrictions such as the EU Working Time Directive and the growing shortage of truck drivers. The Tilbury - Hams Hall service will provide shippers with a fast, direct transport mode between the Thames and one of the UK’s most densely populated regions, Birmingham and the West Midlands. We anticipate a proportion of our third-party business entering Tilbury on our vessels switching to the train service for on-carriage to the Midlands.”
Paul Swaak, Geest’s Operations Director, said: “Rail can be cost effective and highly efficient if managed correctly and we believe that with EWS we have a partner that can deliver the service our clients expect at the right price.”
Source EWS press release: http://www.ews-railway.co.uk/cmsystem/news_alt.asp
WHEEL COMES OFF THE MISGUIDED BUS IN EDINBURGH
A guide wheel has come off a guided bus in Edinburgh and damaged a taxi. The taxi driver, Mr Harrison, was quoted as saying he thought the wayward wheel was further proof that the guided busway was a misguided enterprise. He added: "What happened to my cab is just more evidence that the huge expense spent on this guided busway was completely wasted. Why didn't they just widen the road and put in an extra bus lane on either side of the road, instead of spending such a lot of money on the Fastlink? These things are obviously dangerous."
Source: Edinburgh Evening News http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=770642005
SAVE OUR SLEEPERS
A campaign to support the continued use of the Paddington-Penzance 'Night Riviera' sleeper train service has set up a website. To quote from the site "This is not a romantic campaign based on the long-gone golden age of the railway: it’s about proving to the decision makers in Parliament and Whitehall that the service is viable, and that there is widespread support across the south-west for it." The site gives10 reasons for supporting the sleeper.
There is an online petition that can be signed via the site. http://www.saveoursleeper.com/mainpage.htm