AGENDA ITEM 6
WEST OF ENGLAND PARTNERSHIP
PLANNING TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT GROUP
6th December 2007
Report by Joint Transport Team, West of England Partnership
RAIL UPDATE
Letter to Tom Harris, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport
A letter outlining concerns about rail in the West of England area was sent to Tom Harris on 2 October 2007 on behalf of the four Executive Members for transport, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Planning, Transport and Environment Group and the Chair of the West of England Partnership Board. Issues raised were rolling stock and the December 2007 timetable, First Great Western’s performance, additional services on the Severn Beach line and Network Rail’s plans for resignalling. A reply was received on 12 November 2007. The minister points out that franchises are free to lease units for their franchises and the Department for Transport do not normally intervene. They are, however, continuing to monitor First Great Western and Network Rail’s performance.
Portishead
The reopening of the Portishead line does not figure in either the Department for Transport's 'Delivering a Sustainable Railway' or Network Rail's Business Plan and therefore under existing national rail funding regimes it is extremely unlikely that the scheme would be supported. Discussions with the Department for Transport have confirmed this is their view.
Further work is now required to update costs (both capital and operating) and passenger forecasts as previous work is becoming dated. A key consideration will be the likely on-going requirement for revenue support. North Somerset Council is currently examining the opportunity and costs for such a study. In the short to medium term (i.e. the next 10 years) the Transport Innovation Fund is the most likely source of future funding for reopening the line, should the authorities decide to make a bid. It has been included in the "Our Future Transport" document.
As requested at the 7 September 2007 meeting First Great Western have provided revenue and running cost figures. Should the North Somerset study go ahead these figures will usefully feed into this work.
December 2007 Timetable
In December 2007 10 Class 158 trains will be transferred to the Northern franchise. 12 Class 142 trains (rail bus type) will be provided in their place.
These will be based in Exeter for use on Devon services. Class 150 and 158 trains currently in Devon will be transferred to the West of England area. First Great Western have secured an extra 2 Class 150s to bolster the Bristol fleet. The 40 minute service throughout the day on the Severn Beach line will now commence in May 2008. No extra units are required. This information was provided by First Great Western.
Cross Country Franchise
Arriva took over the Cross Country franchise from Virgin Trains on 11 November 2007. From 9 December 2007 passengers from the South West to Glasgow will have to change trains at Birmingham New Street or Manchester This was written into the franchise. Arriva are now consulting on the 2009 timetable. To increase capacity on the busiest routes 5 High Speed Trains will be introduced. This will not take place until May 2009 and in the interim it may lead to overcrowding. A joint response on behalf of the four councils was sent to meet the 23 November 2007 deadline. A copy can be found in Appendix One.
Rail Project Group
A revised Project Initiation Document with Project Plan for the North South Cross Bristol (Weston-super-Mare to Yate) route has been produced. The Rail Project Group met on 8 November 2007. First Great Western will identify train service options, Network Rail will provide a cost breakdown for the scheme investigation work for Weston-super-Mare bay platform and Yate turnback and the West of England Partnership will report on how Transport Innovation Fund rail schemes might input into the Project.
Severnside Community Rail Partnership
The Partnership continues to lead on schemes improve local stations. Eight of the ten stations on the Severn Beach line have received attention; including comprehensive makeovers at Avonmouth and Montpelier, murals at Sea Mills and a ground clearance scheme at Clifton Down. Work on a community garden centre should start shortly at Stapleton Road. All schemes are being done in partnership with local communities and schools. Keynsham has received a face-lift, the garden at Oldfield Park is being further improved, and improvements are in hand for Yatton, and in planning at Weston Milton. Similar schemes for Oldfield Park and Yatton are close to starting.
Rail Prospectus
The Regional Rail Prospectus was reported to the South West Regional Assembly on 19 October 2007. The intention is to use it to lobby the Government and rail industry to secure rail investment in the South West. Options, which meet the Prospectus’ objectives, are in the process of being drawn up by Regional Assembly officers and a working group drawn from officers across the South West including the West of England.
Rail White Paper
The West of England Partnership on behalf of the four councils provided evidence to the Transport Committee on the ‘Delivering a Sustainable Railway’ White Paper. This focused on insufficient infrastructure investment, the urgent need for resignalling at Bristol Temple Meads and Bath Spa and more detail on the 150 stations to be modernised and 1,300 extra carriages.
Details on the stations to be modernised have now been released. 5 of the 150 are in the South West but none in the West of England area. Of the 1,300 extra carriages the Department for Transport maintain the figures can not be broken down regionally. It will be for the train operating companies to bid for what additional rolling stock they require.
Network Rail Business Plan
Published on 1 November 2007 this sets out Network Rail’s spending proposals for 2009 to 2014. For the West of England area there are plans for Worle Junction (March 2009), Bristol Parkway 4th platform (March 2009), additional vehicles for half hourly cross Bristol services (December 2009), Bath Spa resignalling (December 2010), Weston-super-Mare bay platform and Yate turnback (both December 2010 and no funding identified). There is no mention of resignalling Bristol Temple Meads. It is suggested that the introduction of the European Rail Traffic Management System (in cab signalling) in 2014 will remove the need for future resignalling schemes. All the investment is subject to agreement of the Office for Rail Regulation.
Integrated rail/bus fares
Integrated rail /bus tickets (Bristol Buslink) are available from any rail station for use on trains to Temple Meads and onto the city centre on the 8/9 bus. The Buslink ticket currently costs £1 return in addition to the normal rail fare. From January 2008 Firstbus will replace the £1 flat return fare with a graduated add-on fare of £1.40 return for passengers joining the bus after 9.00am and £2.40 before 9.00am. The complexities of the rail ticket rules mean that any passengers starting their train journey before 9.30am (even though they may not arrive at Temple Meads before 11.00) will be charged the full £2.40 peak add-on. At some periods of the day it will be cheaper to buy separate rail and bus tickets. It would appear that this does not it fit with the requirement in the FGW Franchise Agreement to promote transport integration. This information was supplied by the Severnside Community Rail Partnership.
Appendix One
Letter to Arriva Trains on the new Cross Country Franchise
Dear Sir
Cross Country – Consultation on the 2009 Timetable
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on Arriva’s plans for the 2009 Cross Country Timetable. This response is sent on behalf of the four councils of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol City, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
We welcome the additional Penzance to Manchester and Manchester to Plymouth services via Bristol and their extension to Weston-super-Mare. The half hourly service between Birmingham and Bristol and the 38% increase in seats on services to the city are welcomed too as is the greater focus on customer care and accessible staff.
We are concerned, however, over the loss of through services from the South West to Glasgow and the change at Birmingham New Street that this will now entail. Whilst we recognise Arriva’s commitment to improve interchange and between services and promote alternatives, details are vague. We are particularly anxious over the difficulties faced by the elderly and those with mobility difficulties. Birmingham New Street is a far from easy station for these groups to change trains at.
The loss of the shops on board the Voyager trains and their refreshment service is to be regretted. The replacement at seat service will not provide the same range of hot food currently available. For long distance trips adequate on train refreshments are essential. We request that Arriva reconsider this.
We note that five refurbished High Speed Train sets will be provided to tackle overcrowding problems on the Edinburgh to Plymouth route. As these are not expected to be in service until May 2009 we are worried that there will be considerable overcrowding problems. Coupled with the need to change at Birmingham New Street this will present passengers with a negative image of train travel at a time when we wish to actively encourage it as a form of sustainable transport.
We are aware that a number of 5 coach Voyager trains are being transferred for use on London to North Wales services. We are apprehensive that this will lead to the use of four coach trains in their place leading to overcrowding. We seek reassurances this will not be the case.
It appears that Weston-super-Mare is losing one train in the new timetable. The importance of summer Saturday services to Weston has been overlooked. We ask that Arriva look again at this.
We were also disappointed to see that no additional stops are planned at Worle station. The area around Worle is fast growing and there is an untapped demand for train travel waiting to be served. We urge you to consider stopping more trains here.
We hope you will find these comments of use.