Activists Briefing - Issue 9

16th December 2005

IN THE NEWS

York Evening News telephoned Peter Lawrence for his comments on the replacement of Class 158 units on the Trans Pennine services. It appears this reporter was a guest in Germany recently to view the new Desiro units. Peter’s view was that the new units would help to attract increased business, give a more comfortable journey and encourage growth in rail travel for this area.

On Saturday 3rd December the Mail on Sunday telephoned Peter for his views on the Elsenham accident. On Monday 5th December he was interviewed live on BBC Radio Essex and BBC Radio Cambridge and was also interviewed by BBC East TV.

NEWS FROM RAILFUTURE BRANCHES

Railfuture Devon and Cornwall has issued a press release welcoming the merger of the separate Great Western and Wessex Trains companies into one Greater Western franchise. However they have voiced concern over the lack of plans concerning branch line services in the region and the possible loss of links from Cornwall and Devon to Hampshire and the South Coast.

As well as continuing the Night Riviera Sleeper, First Group has promised to run two additional day time trains from Penzance and one extra service from Paignton to London. A daily service will run through to Newquay from London during the school Summer Holidays extending the current weekend only service.

Railfuture Devon and Cornwall Secretary, Stuart Walker said: “We are pleased that First Group appear to have taken the opposite view to the Department for Transport who were originally planning to cut services from Cornwall to London. In the longer term we would like to see an hourly service from Cornwall and Paignton to London, perhaps using multiple unit trains that can attach/detach portions to different destinations during the journey - a method of operation that has been in use in South East England for well over 50 years. We hope that with the merger of local and branch line services with Paddington trains, the lack of co-ordinated timetable planning and the utter confusion that takes place at times of disruption will now be behind us.”

Railfuture is concerned over the lack of information in the Franchise announcement concerning the future development of the branch lines. Of particular concern are the winter service levels on the Newquay Branch. At present only four trains a day operate to Newquay in the Winter, and the Department for Transport proposed reducing this to two trains a day, including one through service from London. The through service from London will not take place in the winter - perhaps because demand was unlikely to justify use of an 8 coach High Speed Train - but we do not know what will run instead. Will the Newquay branch end up with a token one train a day that no one will want to use?

Also not commented on in the Franchise announcement is any commitment to improve the train service frequency on the Falmouth Branch, even though the County Council has funding in place to install a passing loop if more trains could be run.

Railfuture has written to First Group seeking assurances that the Cornish and Devon Railcards will be retained along with the successful Rover and Ranger tickets in the two Counties. The new franchise is due to start in April 2006, with the first major timetable change expected in December of that year.

For more information on the Greater Western Franchise visit the DfT website at http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/page/dft_railways_610696.hcsp

A statement from Alison Forster, Managing Director of First Great Western can be viewed by clicking on this link http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/home/story.php?item=133&ref=home

Keith Dyall, Chairman Railfuture London & South East, has been given a meeting with Elaine Holt, Managing Director of First Capital Direct (The winners of the Thameslink/GN franchise) just after the new year. Any issues you would like raised should be sent to Keith at keith.dyall at tesco.net.

For the DfT press release on the franchise award go to http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=181549&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

WHO’S IN CONTACT WITH WHOM? WHO TAKES THE LEAD ON WHAT?

A register has been compiled listing who within Railfuture is responsible for liaison with which outside body and who has lead responsibility for what function, task or policy. Copies will automatically be sent to all branch and committee contacts in early January 2006. If any member wants a copy please send a sae to Trevor Garrod, 15 Clapham Rd South, Lowestoft. NR32 1RQ

CAMBRIDGE (MIS) GUIDED BUSWAY

The Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling, has written to all those who appeared at the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway (CGB) public inquiry to say that he has granted a Transport And Works Order for the Busway.

This does not necessarily mean that the Cambridge to St.Ives railway is dead. The possibility of restoring rail services will not be lost until concrete is laid on the trackbed, and that will not be before December 2006. As the councils that won orders to build the Leeds Supertram, MerseyTram and South Hampshire Light Rail know, it is one thing to get initial approval and another thing to build it.

There is a significant funding gap (the government offered £65m when it was estimated at £73m. It is now estimated at £86m+). Section 106 funding from developers will only partially fill that gap.

Crucially, since the busway would be built by a contractor on a fixed-price basis, they will be forced to inflate their bid price to take account of the high risk of an overspend, because they have to allow for further inflation, risk, cost escalation, faulty design etc.

The Edinburgh Guided Busway opened in December 2004 and has already been closed twice for urgent repairs. Both of these repairs have been done at the expense of the contractor. Given this bad experience, the CGB contractor will factor into their bid an allowance for such risks. The Edinburgh scheme was built by one of the three CGB bidders.

The Crawley busway, built by another of the CGB bidders, has seen a significant overspend. In this case, council tax payers have had to pick up the bill. Presumably this is the reason why CGB will be a fixed-price project.

The third CGB bidder has never built a guided busway before!

The Secretary of State’s letter (item 72) makes it clear that “his decision to make a TWA Order is entirely without prejudice to any subsequent funding decision, which would be subject to a separate appraisal process. It should therefore not be taken to imply any commitment to provide public funding for the scheme.”

This wording is ambiguous, and could be interpreted to mean not only filling the £21m+ funding gap but perhaps withdrawing the £65m funding conditionally offered in December 2003.

Further news will be posted on www.castiron.org.uk in the coming weeks.

This is a link to the Secretary of State's decision letter and the inspector's full report:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_about/documents/page/dft_about_610693.hcsp.

EDM 1248 PASSENGER RAIL SERVICES IN NORTH EAST ENGLAND

Denis Murphy, MP for Wansbeck, has tabled the following Early Day Motion (EDM) in the House of Commons:

EDM1248
That this house is deeply concerned at the threat to passenger services in the North East of England despite the enormous growth in rail patronage; requests that the House of Commons Transport select Committee re-open its inquiry into railways in the North of England; calls upon the Government to prevent any station closures or service reductions until that committee reports; and believes that the Government should promote the expansion of regional railways, an example of which would be the re-introduction of passenger services on the Ashington Blyth and Tyne line, which would reduce car use substantially and assist in the regeneration of a former mining area.

Whilst this EDM is drafted specifically for the North East, concern for the railway is widespread throughout the English regions. Hence, we would be grateful for your assistance in requesting members in your Branches and User Groups to request your MPs to sign this EDM. The study of the Northern Rail franchise provision is currently expected to be published early in the new year so the sooner we can demonstrate widespread support through this EDM the better.

TORIES APPOINT NEW SHADOW TRANSPORT TEAM

Chris Grayling (Con, Epsom and Ewell) has been appointed Shadow Transport Secretary. He was first elected in 2001 and for his first 18 months in Westminster served on the Transport Select Committee. The Shadow Ministers for Transport are Owen Paterson MP, Julian Brazier MP and Stephen Hammond MP

2006 BRANCH AGM’S

Some AGM dates are in Forthcoming Events but dates are still awaited from Cambrian, Devon and Cornwall, East Anglia, London and South East, Thames Valley, Scotland, Severnside, South Wales and Wessex branches. Would the branch Chairmen or Secretaries please notify the dates to Mike Crowhurst or David Harby as soon as possible.

NETWORK RAIL PERFORMANCE FIGURES SHOW CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT

The latest edition of the Network Rail Monitor, the quarterly report by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on Network Rail's performance, was published on 25th November with a companion edition for Scotland. These cover the 2nd Quarter of 2005/06 (26 July – 17 September).

Bill Emery, Chief Executive of ORR, said:
"Network Rail's performance has continued to show steady improvement on a number of fronts. There are, however, some detailed aspects - including delays to trains in Scotland - which we are examining more closely."

Safety: The index of precursors to major train accidents is now at its lowest level for 3 years.

Train Performance: Overall, the Public Performance Measure (PPM) continue to improve, with punctuality reaching an annual average of 85.1% by the end of the Q2 of 2005-06, Network Rail is currently forecasting an annual total for 2005-06 of 10.5 million minutes compared with a regulatory target of 11.3 million minutes

Infrastructure Assets: There are reductions in most categories of asset failures. The exception is in track faults, which remain 11% higher than last year. ORR is investigating the reason.

Expenditure: Network Rail again spent below its budget with an underspend of 11% in the first half of 2005/06, mainly on renewals and enhancements.

The situation is not so good in Scotland where Train Performance is only the same as the end of Q2 2004-05. This contrasts with network-wide PPM improvement of 3.3% over the same period. Infrastructure failures are also showing no sign of improvement this year, in contrast to the network-wide trend. Network Rail in Scotland is however spending close to its budget.

Source: ORR Press release
The Network Rail Monitor (Great Britain) and a commentary are available on the ORR website at http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/nr_monitor-q2-gb.pdf. The Network Rail Monitor (Scotland) and a commentary are available on the ORR website at http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/nr_monitor-q2-scot.pdf.

WEST WALES DIRECT

This is the title of a new report published by Railfuture South Wales to advocate regular use of the Swansea District Line (Briton Ferry to Llanelli) by passenger trains. The branch believe that this would offer faster through services from west Wales to Cardiff and beyond, and also cater more effectively for the significant population in the northern part of Swansea than do the present services. Such measures are necessary, they believe, if rail is to compete more effectively with road for east - west journeys.

A three-phase approach is envisaged, with new stations and services at each stage. Infrastructure changes needed are also covered. Many services, including those on the Heart of Wales line and on all the routes in west Wales, would benefit from the developments which are proposed, but it is emphasised that there is no question of diverting any existing services away from the present Swansea station.

West Wales Direct is an A4 spiral-bound report with coloured illustrations and diagrammatic map. Members can obtain it at the cost price of £3, including p&p, from Railfuture South Wales (to whom cheques should be made payable), 84 North Street, Abergavenny NP7 7ED. Price to non-members is £5.

NEW RAIL FREIGHT GRANTS ARE ANNOUNCED

The Department of Transport has announced new rail freight grants that will be worth some £4.1m over the next two years, which will secure the major shift of goods from road onto rail. It is estimated that through these grants over 361 thousand lorry journeys will be removed from UK roads over the next two years, in doing so helping to reduce road congestion, pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. A list of the applications that have been approved can be found on the DfT website at http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_freight/documents/page/dft_freight_610669.hcsp
Source: DfT website

BRIDGE STRIKES AND VEHICLE COLLISIONS WITH OTHER OVERHEAD OBJECTS

Some very interesting information about bridge strikes has appeared on the DfT website following an FOI request for correspondence, reports, data and notes of any dialogue with DfT and other parties relating to bridge strikes and vehicle collisions with other overhead objects created since 1990.

Included in the documents now available is a list of the top 100 bridges subject to bridge strikes and the minutes of the Bridge Strike Prevention Group. Grantham must have some of the worst HGV drivers in Britain with 3 bridges in the top 13.

For details go to http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_foi/documents/divisionhomepage/610617.hcsp

GOVERNMENT REFUSES REQUESTS TO TRIAL HEAVIER AND LONGER LORRIES

In a statement to the House of Commons on 7th December 2005 The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Dr Stephen Ladyman) announced that he had decided to refuse two applications to trial longer and heavier goods vehicles. Among the reasons given is that he “has not seen clear evidence that longer and heavier vehicles (LHVs) would deliver economic benefit to the industry.” He believes “that more work needs to be done to look at axle loadings for various designs of LHVs and the consequent impact on pavements, bridges and other infrastructure; and to estimate the costs of any reinforcement or remedial works.” He finished by saying that “The freight and logistics industry is constantly changing so I have instructed officials at my Department to continue to monitor developments, and to carry out their studies in close liaison with the industry. “
The statement can be read at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm051207/wmstext/51207m03.htm#51207m03.html_sbhd2