Nick Lester-Davis

Today's rail headlines - #InTheNews: Rail and Urban Transport Review, the way in which rail schemes are financially assessed could change, the 2874 Trust awarded grant, and the famous Stourbridge Junction station cat. Listen here: #UKrail #railways #headlines

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In the media fanfare of The Labour Party's announcement yesterday of its plans to bring the railways under public control, little attention has been paid to two sentences on p16 of the document, which hint at wider ambitions: "Labour will set targets for modal shift to lower emissions from the transport sector. Making public transport a more reliable and attractive choice can result in huge reductions in emissions from journeys". This is excellent news and very much to be welcomed! The Spun newspaper has noticed, and put out a headline about Labour's plans to set "anti-car targets" (it's at https://lnkd.in/evadtAWB, if you must!) But I've not seen anyone else commenting on these two crucial sentences. Obviously we will now need to press Labour to seek a level of modal shift that sets us on a pathway towards meeting the UK's climate and air quality targets - and then to put in place the policies, programmes and funding that this entails. However, defining and then quantifying the goals of transport policy is a hugely important starting point.

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The British Regional Transport Association (BRTA), a voluntary association seeking more, better and affordable public transport. Local rail solutions and local reopenings and select pieces of new-build as well are main focuses. We have a nationwide vision and aspiration. We are always seeking champions, promoters, voluntary speakers at meetings and network accordingly for progressing things. We support the following for the West Midlands: 1. Orbital rail links with parkway stations for London, Birmningham and Manchester to enable more and better without clustering on core radial main lines. 2. Stratford upon Avon - Long Marston for second Oxford-Birmingham route and also a south to west curve onto the Cotswold Line to bring Evesham and link arcingly to Worcester from eastern Birmingham in wrap around terms. Useful for freight by rail and growth and commuting patterning. 3. Rugby-Leicester needs a new-build rail link serving Lutterworth (growth area) and Magna Park, one of the biggest industrial parks in Europe without a rail access. Potential is there, if not re-railed focuses into and out of Birmingham which congests roads and rails more. Capacity is needed, on the back of restoring some missing gaps in the network. 4. A study for Bridgnorth to Shrewsbury 'new-build' for western flank of Birmingham orbital rail using Severn Valley Railway. Surely an arrangement for paths could be done if a through route were feasibly to be recovered? 5. Rebuild a new Stratford upon Avon-Cheltenham rail link. Lickey Incline south of Birmingham is inadequjate for long, heavy freight rains, but apart from more roads (bad), it is all there is currently. Stratford upon Avon-Cheltenham would give more capacity, gentler gradients and enable more by rail spread and scope. It needs studying, solutions ot problems resolved and cross-border working. Too many places are taking insular and parochial outlooks, when we need more than ever a nationwide and regional vision starting at the grassroots upwards and outwards.

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Will the consultation draft NPPF be the panacea to the British planning system? I wonder but please read my blog below for some interesting background....

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I wish to say that I am saddened by the inadequately funded Local Rail Reopenings Fund and its withdrawal.  We need more modal- shift back to rail in this country for many good reasons.  We need local-based rail reopenings to enable more by rail. For that to happen, we need a pro-active vision and plan for protecting select former rail routes and ensuring all tiers of government are doing just that, not the hotch-potch of aspirations and blue-sky thinking, whilst Rome burns with blockages at the local planning level. New towns are all very well, but without new and accessible rail infrastructure (we think of growing Brackley without a rail link) but also this planning application as an example: https://lnkd.in/eyEAQsmV  It potentially impinges on the former shared access route into Northampton from both the Bedford and Wellingborough corridors. Space must be for adequate clearances and minimising vibrations and noise impact on development, enabling 25KV electrification and ensuring the rails can be put back.  This is far from the case and in the example of Northampton-Market Harborough, despite a Network Rail Study done in 2020, we only got to see it due to 2 FOI applications and even then redacted. We need Local Government on board with us, but somehow that does not seem to be the case. Northampton says it wants to link with the forth-coming East-West Rail, but that is only a change at Bletchley, Cambridge and Bedford-wise, direct rails for passenger (Thameslink) and freight, makes more sense direct to Bedford.  On East-West Rail, we object to the proposed Northern Route E as hilly, not fit for purpose and in our view, it would be far better for the old route, 'east and of Bedford via St Johns' to be looked at for reopening which is shorter, flat and direct to either north or south of Station Road, Tempsford with physical rail linkages for North-South to/from East West Oxford Arc Corridors interaction for passenger and freight usage/market potential. If you wish to meet with a delegation, I am happy to discuss and explore.  I have been campaigning since 1985 on these related issues and believe the whole country, the issues, models and challenges replicate, due to a lack of joined-up and through thinking of procedures. We make high-sided fences and barriers demanding studies, costs which rule out lay people and yet, if Government were to for environmental, land use, efficiency and other benefits select a move towards more by rail and follow-on from such a modal shift policy, engagement could align and plan-implement more to achieve this.  Haverhill is an example of a new town, no rail/closure coinciding and that is a missed opportunity and repeats across the country.  I appeal for you to look at these things again and work constructively with us. Thank you. #rail #railways #transport #northampton #bedford #cambridge #oxford #modalchoice #modalshift #policy #landuse #stewardship #local #dft #networkrail

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Today's rail headlines - #InTheNews: New rail service linking Scotland and Wales, independent review of rail fare prosecutions and enforcement, LNER support to vulnerable people, and the new luxury train service. Listen here: #UKrail #railways #headlines

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Disused car parks Interesting to note in Deputy Prime Minster Angela Rayners speech in parliament yesterday, specific reference to disused car parks as places for new development. "That is why we will release lower-quality grey-belt sites, disused car parks and garages, and ugly wasteland to meet the needs of 2024". Nothing wrong with the principle except of course new developments create transport demand. So it's to be hoped that any new development takes a holistic view to planning mobility as well as planning construction. #carparks #parking #mobility #transport #transportplanning #activetravel

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Please can people write and say they want the railway reopening? It is a shared access of former Bedford and Wellingborough lines. Ironically the Bedford-Northampton rail idea is in their proposed Local Plan. Left hand not know what right hand is doing?! Please remember my new email is [email protected] https://lnkd.in/eyEAQsmV Please write and object to this encroachment on a double track railway corridor denying Northampton ability for direct rails to Bedford/Brighton and all in between and also direct Northampton-Bedford-Cambridge rails too. It is cynical and draconian. Yes, we need development, yes we need housing and brownfield, but to block a rail access when the rail alternative is crying out to rebalance gridlocked congestion and harmful pollution, seems very short sighted. Likewise, we do need Northampton-Market Harborough (N2MHY). Please join us and work with us to keep these options open. See https://lnkd.in/e_ZnExm7 #rail #reopenings #railways #transport #dft #networkrail #northampton #planning #aspiration #development #impact #congestion #pollution #people #communities #landuse #balance

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The Ladbroke Grove accident of 1999 was a key accident in railway history. It led to improvements in the way we tackle SPADs and sped the development of TPWS. As a result, SPAD risk came down, but SPADs remain an issue for GB rail. In this webinar, RSSB will describe the accident, what happened and what came next. But it will also cover the current picture of SPAD risk, how this is tackled by the industry today and how it might tackle it tomorrow. Speakers include: Jonathan Cole, Operations Standards Specialist, Southeastern Chris Harrison, Futures Lab Systems Engineer, RSSB Rupert Lown, Chief Health and Safety Officer, Network Rail Joe Wilson MBA MCIRO Wilson, Strategy Manager, RSSB Greg Morse, Operational Feedback Lead, RSSB

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https://lnkd.in/emCcb6_n This is *exactly* the kind of forward-thinking strategy that is required for #Manchester and the wider #NorthernPowerhouse. We need a long-term vision with key milestones and requirements. Andrew Dixon is absolutely on the mark here, especially in regard to Piccadilly requiring a new through-station for NPR. Whilst the government has committed to a route via #ManchesterAirport, personally I don't see that materialising until and unless #HS2 to Manchester is re-instated to make the business case stack up. Without that such a route won't get off the starting blocks as no business case has been developed with HS2 removed from scope. As long as a new route through Manchester is provided, and an underground through-station at #ManchesterPiccadilly, everything should be up for re-consideration, including the demands of one-seat-rides to the airport. If trains run every 5mins from Piccadilly (which only takes 15-20mins) a direct connection shouldn't be a requirement. People should be able to treat the rail system as a network, not a set of individual point-point lines. This is the case in #London as well as most major cities and agglomerations in continental Europe. Manchester should be no different. #Rail

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https://lnkd.in/exz6itXr BRTA wants local rail solutions and local rail reopenings. Yes, there is the bigger picture, but local connectivity into a joined-up national and international rail network is where it all begins for people and goods. We have the Channel Tunnel now, but we need more radial rail links and obital of #London for example to enable passenger and freight more by rail. The government should give any emergent new organisation for rail, the task of "decluttering the motorweay network of lorries and cars" and build the rail links to enable that. Likewise we need a new parallel railway for people and goods semi fast from Felixstowe- West Midlands alongside the A14. In the north, we have an agenda for reopenings, but the system is costing and failing to deliver, as if it was just about ticking boxes, #Colne-#Skipton would have been given the go ahead prior to this General Election, why the delay? There's about 20 other reopenings in the queue of a similar nature including Woodhead! Modern railways for modern markets and usage. Can't live on scenery or past glories, we need graft to resolve today's issues and invest in a rail-future.

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So this could be quite interesting. Analysis I have done (if slightly rudimentary) seems to indicate that successful parking and traffic policy interventions need buy in across the board, so politically, media and sector. See Scotland for a good example of this and 20mph as a bad version. So this Bristol intervention is one to watch. It’s local so allows the rest of England to have a contrary opinion. Politically should be ok, Greens support it, Labour and the Lib Dems probably do too. But messaging worries me. Telling people to reconsider having a car or ‘just walk a bit further’ could easily alienate people. I would urge them to speak to councils in Scotland who have implemented pavement parking recently. They have some great example of how they have managed to implement it and keep residents onside. Oh and if anyone can tell me the mechanism Bristol will use to implement this please do, if successful seems it would negate the need for a centrally legislated order.

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It's fascinating to see PPPs for complex railway schemes come round once again, as before under a Labour government. That's not to say that PPPs can't work in rail. They've been successful in Canada, France and even the UK (HS1, Northern Line trains). But there is vast scope for them to go wrong. I hope the protagonists read the NAO report on the collapse on Metronet (2009): https://lnkd.in/e4FtJqCb The state can borrow more cheaply than the private sector. Unless there's an efficiency gain to offset this (the opposite of what happened on the LU PPP) it is not worth doing. Euston HS2 has all the same precursors of disaster: multiple agencies; complexity; possibly naive politicians; politically variable scope. I hope I'm wrong because I'd like to have another pint at the Exmouth Arms, without being surrounded by hoardings, before I die. Meanwhile FWIW I wrote a somewhat shorter albeit less authoritative piece on the subject in 2021: The Collapse of the London Underground PPP: What Can We Learn From It? https://lnkd.in/eAakdeUV

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Today's rail headlines - #InTheNews: Passenger Rail Services (Public Ownership) Bill passes through House of Lords, Grand Central extension application, EMR timetable change, and Railway Benefit Fund Hardships Can Be Invisible campaign. Listen here: #UKrail #railways #headlines

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Transport for Wales has released figures showing rail performance improvements since the start of this year (2024). Since January 2024, over 80 per cent of TfW trains have arrived on time or within 3 minutes of their scheduled arrival, with most recent statistics for March indicating that this has now risen to 85 per cent of rail services. Cancellations across the network for 2024 have also stayed below the annual average 5 per cent target. #railnews #railways #ukrail #rail 

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Here is a case study of TfW's Climate Change Adaptation Plan. A year on from the plan's first publication, we are now working on our annual update providing progress against our strategic objectives stated within the plan. #climateadaptation #transport #climatechange

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