Train Times incorporating ACoRP Annual Report 2012-2013

The magazine of Summer/Autumn 2013 the Association of

Community Rail Partnerships No.68

NEW LOOK EDITION featuring: A better way to the Heart of Wales? * Community Rail in Scotland The arrival of Citizens’ Rail * Reviving Etchingham In this issue… Hello and Welcome... Hello & Welcome 2 North of the Border 3 Welcome to the first issue of our new-style Train Times! Citizens’ Rail 5 With more in-depth features about community rail and Up The Junction 9 the work of Community Rail Partnerships, we’re sure you’ll find it absorbing and informative. The content Reviving Etchingham 10 isn’t set in stone and we’d welcome features from our Partnership Profile - readers, as well as our regular contributors, so let us Heart of Wales 12 know what you think.

The financial climate, like the weather, still appears to Principal Funders be a bit chilly as I write this, although I’m encouraged and Sponsors by the continued support for community rail from our many friends and colleagues in the industry. Underlining this is an interesting comment from a Association of Train Operating significant delegate at our recent ‘Stations’ conference in Birmingham. When Companies I asked if he’d enjoyed the conference, he was generous enough to say that he DfT Rail found it useful and thought-provoking. Frighteningly however, he then went Co on to say “You shouldn’t be doing this”. My eyebrows must have given me away because he rapidly qualified his comment by adding “Community rail Welsh Government volunteers should be doing far better things than scrabbling around for no- ticeboards and the like – we (the industry) have set the bar too low, these kind Transport Scotland of things should be the norm”. Now, this person is influential and to hear this kind of comment was hugely Corporate refreshing and made me realise how far we really have come in the last 10 – 15 years. There are still commentators who feel it’s fashionable to knock the Sponsors railway, regardless of what it’s achieving. There are others who are simply Abellio ignorant of the key role that local rail plays in enabling communities to thrive Angel Trains Ltd and survive. But I believe there’s a sea change in the general approach to First TransPennine Express community rail, highlighted by the encouraging discussions I frequently seem Grand Central Railway Company to be having now with industry people across the board. Limited Change is afoot in Scotland too, where we’ve just recruited our two new Kirklees Metropolitan District Council Development Officers, Linda Ferguson and James Wilkin. With ACoRP hav- Merseytravel ing been given the green light to help facilitate the development of communi- ty rail partnerships in Scotland, Linda and James will be our representatives, Transport for Greater working with Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs), communities, tourism (TfGM) and other agencies, the rail industry, and Transport Scotland. * We welcome additional corporate Not to be left out, there are interesting developments in Wales, with proposals sponsorship from the railway industry. Please contact our General to make the Heart of Wales line more locally accountable, perhaps even locally Manager Neil Buxton if you are managed - Train Times explores this exciting development in more detail. interested in sponsoring us. Rail devolution for the north of England is also in full swing, with ACoRP having detailed discussions about the way community rail can be incorporat- Contributors ed into the devolved franchise. This edition of Train Times was edited If that wasn’t enough, even Europe gets a look-in as ACoRP’s EU-funded by Nigel Barber ([email protected]) water tower project comes to a conclusion and ‘Citizen’s Rail’ is launched by and typeset by Philip Jenkinson. Thanks another EU-funded consortium including the Devon & Cornwall Rail Part- also to Chris Austin, Richard Watts, Nigel nership and Lancashire County Council. Whitburn and David Edwards. So, although life may occasionally appear a bit grey, community rail is still forging ahead nonetheless. One in the eye for Messrs Beeching and Marples don’t you think!

Cover picture: The wonderful Heart of Neil Buxton Wales line, as captured by Colin Bigalow. General Manager

2 Train Times 68 Summer 2013 North of the Border In the first feature of the new look Train Times, guest contributor Chris Austin OBE takes a look at the rise of Community Rail in Scotland… and ACoRP. Drawing in regional transport partnerships, local author- ities and user groups, the seminar included staff from First ScotRail, Network Rail, Passenger Focus, the Railway Heritage Trust and DfT, as well as from Transport Scotland and ACoRP. Delivering the keynote speech was Transport Minister Keith Brown, who told attendees that this was a genuine grassroots initiative, stemming from the consultation car- ried out by Transport Scotland into its 2014 policy paper, which showed that people wanted to have a great- er say in what happened to their railway. The Minister wanted a focal point to find out what communities wanted and where people would feel empowered to propose improve-

Since the devolution of most rail- Scotland’s railway network has few branch lines but a number way powers and the establishment of long ‘lifeline’ routes, serving rural communities in long and of Transport Scotland, many of us sometimes remote corridors have looked enviously at the change in fortunes for Scottish railways and the Edinburgh Waverley route, with ments. He also wanted to build in particular, at their impressive 30 miles of new railway connecting on the progress already made with range of new projects. Apart from a Borders railhead at Tweedbank station adoption and confirmed that substantial investment in the exist- and the major town of Galashiels the new Scottish rail franchise from ing network on signalling, station with Edinburgh and restoring a link 2015 onwards would be required to improvements and new rolling stock, that should never have been broken. continue to support Community Rail the number of new lines and stations Apart from connecting communities Partnerships. has been breathtaking. and opening up new employment The Minister also revealed a bonus opportunities for those living in the The Stirling to Alloa line has ex- for the Oban line, which will see a borders, the line runs through some ceeded expectations from the start, doubling in service from three trains impressive scenery, making it easier with almost four times as many a day to six from 2014 – a welcome for tourists following in the steps of passengers first forecast using it in its change that dramatically increases Sir Walter Scott. It has all the hall- inaugural year alone. The scale of the the journey opportunities on the marks of a successful community new route, closing the gap between route, improving southbound sleeper railway for the future! Airdrie and Bathgate, is stunning in providing a double track electrified Another exciting step forward was main line from the outset. New sta- taken on 19th February this year tions have also been included, most when the first Community Rail recently at Conon Bridge (north of seminar was held in Scotland, under Inverness), timed to open before road the auspices of Transport Scotland works on the Kessock Bridge cause huge delays to motorists travelling Above: The award-winning floral displays at from the north along the A9. Then elegant Wemyss Bay station. Right: A good read can be found at there is the Borders Railway scheme. Pitlochry’s station bookshop. This will reopen the northern part of (Both courtesy First Scotrail)

Train Times 68 Summer 2013 3 connections and making onward ferry connections to and from the islands easier too. Clearly Mr Brown was looking for a Scottish application of Community Rail principles and with good reason. Scotland’s railway net- work has few branch lines but a number of long ‘lifeline’ routes, serving rural communities in long and sometimes remote corridors (both the West Highland and the Far North lines are over 160 miles long). Moving forward, ACoRP will be working with Transport Scotland and oth- er stakeholders to interpret Community Rail in a Scottish context. Following several months of discussion, it has now been agreed that two ACoRP staff based in Scotland will support this new initiative, supported by funding of £100,000. This should also be seen in the context of Helensburgh Central - a colourful welcome at the end of the line. (Courtesy First ScotRail) with new ideas, as the award winning floral displays at Wemyss Bay have shown, as well as the bookshop at Pitlochry and the Coco Works at Inverurie (which is a welcome new cafe and nothing to do with the railway workshop that closed in 1969!) Next steps for Community Rail in Scotland will be to appoint the new ACoRP staff and take forward the development of individual partnership proposals with Transport Scotland over the next few months. The work of Frank Roach and the Highland Rail Partnership was an inspiration to myself and the team when we produced the £30m station investment fund provided by Trans- the Community Rail Development Strategy back in 2004 port Scotland and designed to draw in other funding, and I ‘pinched’ many of his best ideas as examples of which will come on stream from April 2014. The Scottish what could be done. It is now good to see the concept experience will extend the reach of the Community Rail being embraced by Transport Scotland and taken fur- concept and widen its appeal still further. I am sure it will ther. Community Rail Partnerships will soon be a reality also bring useful new ideas to benefit partnerships already throughout Britain and this really is a major milestone established in England and Wales and should sharpen worthy of celebration and a key expansion in the role of competition for the Community Rail awards as well! ACoRP. Incumbent franchisee First ScotRail has already made Above Left: A rural lifeline with prospects - the morning train to Oban at Dalmally. remarkably rapid progress in rolling out station adop- Below: Scotland’s Transport Minister Keith Brown opens Conon tion, with 158 stations currently in the scheme, driven Bridge station between Inverness and Dingwall. forward by John Yellowlees. Interestingly, the incentive (Both courtesy Friends of the West Highland Line) stems from the SQUIRE regime, which applies through- out Scotland and provides financial penalties to encour- age the first class presentation of stations to passengers. For example, fines may be applied for uncollected litter, broken windows or out of date posters. Avoiding this, through good local feedback and support from adopters, is good for the train operator and good for passengers too. Beyond that, many stations are already blossoming About the author A lifelong railwayman, Chris Austin, OBE, is seen by many as one of the founding fathers of Community Rail, having been responsible for the instigation, development and production of the Community Rail Development Strategy whilst Executive Director at the Strategic Rail Authority, before ending his career as Director of Public Policy at the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC).

4 Train Times 68 Summer 2013 Introducing Citizens’ Rail Community Rail Lancashire’s Richard Watts introduces us to ‘Citizens’ Rail’ - a new Anglo-European initiative to develop the regional rail network through co-operative working and community involvement.

What is the purpose of regional railways? Whose inter- ship, wrote the EU funding application and is currently ests do they serve? How can they be developed? How coordinating the project. much should they cost? Do these questions ever go Interreg IVB – Citizens’ Rail through your mind? I don’t think there are any really clear cut definitive answers, but ‘Citizens’ Rail’ - a new In Devon & Cornwall, the aim is to grow the local rail European project (part funded through the Interreg IVB network through additional train services, marketing and programme), hopes to address some of them, learning targeted station improvements. An example would be how other countries tackle the same issues in the process. the Exeter – Paignton Riviera Line, on which not much (especially in terms of marketing) has been done to date, There are of course lessons to be learned from the past. For with a view to undertaking a big, sustained development example, was Beeching right or wrong? This is too simple a programme over three years. way to frame the question as, over the years, rail networks across Europe have shrunk, been adapted for new purpos- The programme will include community involvement, es and even expanded. Where Beeching fell down was in marketing activity and small-scale station improve- failing to look at alternatives to closing lines and stations ments, with the centrepiece being the betterment of the – the lower cost regional railway hadn’t been invented and service between Newton Abbot and Paignton to fill the government had yet to acknowledge that to retain a viable inter-peak gaps. The project will be analysed every step rail network would require on-going support. Global of the way and following negotiations with local train warming, climate change, peak oil and other similar phras- operator First Great Western, it is hoped the service es were unheard of in 1963, as of course was 2004’s land- improvements will start sometime this year. Exeter St mark ‘Community Rail Development Strategy,’ produced Thomas, Dawlish and Torre are looking like early prime by my fellow contributor Chris Austin during his time at candidates for the station improvements. the former Strategic Rail Authority. Attitudes to rail travel Devon County Council and Torbay Council are key local have changed dramatically over the last decade, with rail partners, providing funding and other support, with all now a growing market as car ownership and use recedes. parties working closely with First Great Western and Yet the cost, size and affordability of the rail network still Network Rail (which is also represented on the wider remains an issue, as the recent McNulty report highlighted. Citizens’ Rail Partnership.) Two new members of staff Background will also be joining the Devon & Cornwall Rail Part- So where does Interreg IVB come in? The programme nership team to help deliver the scheme, with a project has been established to encourage collaborative, trans-na- officer for the Riviera Line and a communications officer tional projects across North West Europe. ‘Citizens’ Rail’ for the whole project. has been developed within this framework to look at how regional railways can be grown and promoted, with a strong emphasis on co-operative working and communi- ty involvement. Participating countries include the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and France, with the centre- piece of ‘Citizens’ Rail’ being a series of demonstration projects, including station developments, new rail servic- es and community engagement. Partners in the project are Plymouth University (the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership), Lancashire Coun- ty Council, Region Pays de la Loire in France, Parkstad Limburg in the Netherlands (a partnership of eight local authorities, just over the border from Aachen) and the City of Aachen in Germany (Aachen Transport Authori- ty, the City Council and University). Jo French of Trans- The waiting room at Dawlish - a prime candidate for station port Regeneration put together the transnational partner- improvement. Train Times 68 Summer 2013 5 an Sanders attended, as well as repre- sentatives of the partners, including the Vice-Chair and Regional Trans- port Commission Head of Pays de la Loire Regional Council, the Deputy Mayor of Aachen and the Chairman of the Board, Parkstad Limburg. Lancashire

Left and above: Boussay-La Bruffière Lancashire’s contribution to ‘Cit- station. izens’ Rail’ is the delivery of three Below: One of the services from the Region demonstration projects, described in Pays de la Loire, which is taking forward more detail below. Further infor- station regeneration and development mation can also be found by visiting schemes www.communityraillancashire.co.uk In France, Region Pays de la Loire to the Pays de la Loire section on the Burnley Manchester Road – a will take forward station regenera- http://www.ter-sncf.com/ website community station tion and development schemes, with and clicking on the fiches horaires Burnley Manchester Road station was a heavy emphasis of new ways of section. used by around 240,000 passengers involving the community; reinvig- Three Universities - Aachen, Uni- in 2012/13 - a 6% increase on the orating Penhoet, a dockyard station versity of Central Lancashire and previous year. Patronage at the station close to St Nazaire and finding new Plymouth, are working together has been growing steadily over the uses for disused station buildings. on significant benchmarking and last three years, averaging about 9% Here the centrepiece is the develop- evaluation work. The project will per annum. The station is unstaffed ment of the strategy for the (very) be known as ‘Masterclass’ and will and the facilities provided are very underused and threatened rural line involve students from all the univer- basic for the numbers already using between (Saumur) Bressuire and la sities, including Preston. it – if four people try to huddle in Roche-sur-Yon. Public consultations the lone shelter on each platform it are underway, including liaison with Overall the budget for ‘Citizens’ would be a crowd! Worse still, it is in schools and colleges, as well as hold- Rail’ totals some €9m (approxi- a deep cutting meaning the platforms ing meetings in the local communi- mately £6.45m) and will run until lack natural surveillance and visibility ties. As a foretaste of things to come, September 2015. Plymouth Uni- from nearby roads, all heightening a Saturday only service is being versity (Devon & Cornwall Rail users’ sense of isolation and insecu- introduced this summer, linking Sau- Partnership) is the lead partner, with rity. From May 2014, patronage at mur (on the Inter Loire main line) responsibility for overseeing the the station could easily rise by 100% with the seaside resort of Les Sables whole project, which was officially following the introduction of the new d’Olonne on the Atlantic coast, via la launched in the House of Commons Manchester service, taking the station Roche-sur-Yon. Just how bad the cur- last October. Transport Minister footfall close to ½ million. Clearly rent timetable is can be seen by going Norman Baker and Torbay MP Adri- the time had come to do something about the station, with its modernisa- tion identified as a priority by Burnley Borough Council and the County Council, which has recognised this in the commissioning plan for Burnley and the Local Transport Plan. To facilitate the modernisation of Burn- ley Manchester Road and extend the present inadequate facilities, the Bor- ough Council has acquired land that had originally been part of the station but was sold off when it was closed. This includes the former Lancashire and station building (with the picture opposite showing the old L&Y station building.)

6 Train Times 68 Summer 2013 How Burnley Manchester Road station will look (above) ... and how it looks today (right).

A master plan has now been developed for the station and provides an iconic gateway to the town, as the artist’s impressions, also featured, show. The new station will provide a much needed ‘community feature,’ including the usual facilities such as a booking and information office, booking hall, waiting area, trolley café outlet and a base for the East Lancashire Community Rail Partner- ship (ELCRP) and the three Northern Rail Community Ambassadors. The platforms will also benefit from much needed larger waiting shelters, passenger information screens and CCTV and the area will be cleared of over- Northern Community Ambassadors grown vegetation to make it much more visible. Through Interreg IVB, Northern Rail employs three The partners in ‘Citizens’ Rail’ have all helped with the ‘Community Ambassadors’ who work on their own detail for the design, especially in addressing how to sections of route in East Lancashire and Yorkshire. The make the station feel safer and improve visibility from project aims to break down barriers to using the local adjacent roads, despite being in a cutting. The station at railway amongst black and ethnic minority groups and Penhoet in France is located in a former ship building socially excluded groups, forging links with local colleges area and has similar problems, with the ideas engaged by and recognising that young people form a substantial Pays de la Loire helping inspire the design for Burnley. part of the market for local rail services in East Lanca- shire. In other words, they will take the railway to the Construction of the station is expected to start in May local community. and be completed by December 2013, in good time for the start of the new Manchester service. The Ambassadors work alongside the two Lancashire Community Rail Development Officers, the ELCRP and Northern Rail and will have a purpose built base provid- ed at the new Burnley Manchester Road station, to which they can bring small groups for meetings and introduce them to the working railway.

An aerial view of the new-look Burnley Manchester Road

Train Times 68 Summer 2013 7 Connected to Manchester’ – introducing the new Blackburn to Manchester via Burnley Manchester Road service At 0618 on Monday 19th May 2014, a train service will depart Blackburn and go to Manchester using the new- ly reinstated Todmorden West Curve. This will be the first time for nearly half a century that Accrington, Rose Grove and Burnley Manchester Road will have had a direct train to Manchester! In the lead up to this, an intensive marketing campaign will take place, making prospective passengers aware of the new service and its opportunities. Young people form a large part of the rail market in East Lancashire, so any promotion needs to use media they are familiar with, which means less paper and more Twitter, email, Facebook and QR codes! At the the ways in which this can be achieved (or not as the case same time, the Community Ambassadors will be forging may be). A detailed manual will set out the results so that links with local colleges and businesses, as well as con- others can follow the lead of the UK, the Netherlands, tinuing their work with ‘hard to reach’ groups. Initially France and Germany. the service will be hourly and linked across Manchester with Wigan. This is good news as it means the trains As markets change, so too will the regional rail network. will also call at Salford Central and Salford Crescent for But before a line is closed, every effort should be made Salford University and Media City, which is just a short to be sure it really is surplus to requirements. Here in the bus link away. If the train service meets or even exceeds UK, that means learning one of the key lessons from the expectations, then it may be possible to look at a half Beeching/Marples era - that the future will almost cer- hourly peak service as the next development, using diesel tainly not turn out as we expect. Expect the unexpected multiple units, released as electrification proceeds across and keep all (or as many as can be afforded) options open large parts of the North West rail network. – including railway lines! Conclusion About the author Richard Watts is the Rail Development Team Manager and ‘Citizens’ Rail’ aims to show some of the ways to max- Community Rail Partnership Secretary for Lancashire County imise the benefits of regional railways. The gap between Council. He has been in post since 1990 and during that time revenue and subsidy should be reduced as better use is has been involved in a range of projects with the railway industry made of the lines and trains and communities should including station refurbishments at Colne, Brierfield, Bamber Bridge, Burscough Junction, Parbold, Ormskirk and the recently be more aware of their local rail service, which they will completed Accrington Eco Station project. hopefully use more frequently. What ‘Citizens’ Rail’ won’t do is show how regional railways can make a profit – it just won’t happen. However, it should demonstrate to local, regional and national governments that by selective investment, it is possible to make these lines work harder, offering better value for money to the local community and enabling the demonstration projects to show some of

Todmorden West Curve as it used to look and (right) as it is now

8 Train Times 68 Summer 2013 Association of Community Rail Partnerships Annual Report 2012-13

Prizewinners at the 2012 Community Rail Awards

From The Chair

This was a challenging year for ACoRP, balancing another successful awards evening in Swindon last September with an acute awareness of the increasing difficulty faced by many of our members in sourcing funding. Devolu- tion, LEPs and LTBs bring new challenges to be addressed and new opportunities to seize. It is pleasing to note too that four new partnerships took root during the year. Our office move from Slaithwaite to the renovated water tower at Huddersfield station was frustrating in detail but was successfully concluded in November; however, this was achieved only at the expense of much addition- al staff and board time and effort. A particular word of thanks goes to those behind the scenes who assisted so much with this endeavour. Alongside our continuing daily work with members, industry and government in England and Wales our com- pass expanded this year to include community rail in Scotland. Early days yet, but a great sense of anticipation is attached to this exciting new development. Much continues to be done to spread the message of community rail, including seminars, conferences and press releases; plus of course our annual high profile event ‘Community Rail in the City’. A great deal occurs also that is neither apparent nor immediately visible, including negotiations with govern- ment and funders. The board of ACoRP met on four occasions during the year 2012-13, and the Finance & General Purposes Committee on another four occasions. Without the ongoing support of board and committee members and our committed and hard working staff team our achievements would be so much the less. My thanks to you all for all that you do for ACoRP and all our members. Peter Roberts, MBE Chairman, ACoRP May 2013

Annual Report 2012-13 I General Manager’s Report for the year ended 31 March 2013

Late 2012 was a time of great change for ACoRP as we Assisting with Delivery of the Community Rail finally moved into our new office outside Huddersfield Development Strategy railway station. The grade 1 listed water tower has been created as an exemplar of environmentally-sound con- ACoRP continued to provide help and guidance to the version of a historic building and includes photo-electric increasing number of Designated Lines in support of the cells creating electricity and air exchange equipment DfT’s Community Rail Development Strategy. During providing heat. Part of the European-wide CAP’EM 2012-13 there have been two new designations: the Avo- project, principal funding came from the EU’s Interreg cet Line, between Exeter and Exmouth; and the Bentham IVb programme, with further support from the Railway Line between Skipton, Lancaster and Morecambe. There Heritage Trust, who helped fund the external renovation have also been three expressions of interest in designa- work. Network Rail and First Transpennine also contrib- tion from the Yorkshire Coast Line (Hull – Scarborough), uted to this innovative project. The move went very well the (Manchester – Sheffield) and the indeed and the ACoRP staff are delighted with their new line (Manchester – Hadfield/Glossop) premises. The only problem we faced was being let down by Open Reach, who somehow managed not to install Providing Training for New Project Officers our new phone lines for four months! ACoRP continues to provide training for new CRP With an eye on future development and sustainability, officers as and when required and ran a training session the ACoRP Board continues to refine the ‘New Challeng- in October 2012. Working with the IRO (Institute of es’ document, which it hopes to have completed early in Railway Operators), the organisation also arranged a 2013-14. Meanwhile, passenger loadings continue to rise professional training day for existing CRP officers. En- inexorably, with some of our CRPs now becoming gen- titled ‘An Introduction to the Rail Industry’, it provid- uinely concerned about over-crowding, something that ed a deeper insight into the operation and practices of Beeching and Marples, whose infamous report reached the modern railway. This was considered to be a great its 50th anniversary in March 2013, could not have im- success by those who attended and we hope to be able to agined in their wildest dreams.. develop this as a series of sessions in due course. Thanks go to ACoRP’s Operations Manager, Brian Barnsley, for Network Rail has also stepped up to the plate with its managing to arrange this alongside the many other tasks Alternative Solutions Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS), he has to perform in his busy schedule! which looks at alternative, cost-effective technical options for rural and local lines and features an entire section on community rail and Community Rail Partnerships. Much of the latter part of the year was taken up with re- franchising, although it all came to nothing as the process imploded in November 2012. The new franchising time- table, released at the end of our year, seems to make a lot more sense and will spread the refranchising load more evenly. For now, the hiatus inevitably leaves ACoRP and its membership in an uncertain place, although it does at least give us more time and space to rethink our strate- gies and how we might best present the value of CRPs to future bidders. Be assured that ACoRP will do its best to champion the cause at a strategic level. Training for New Project Officers: although not strictly relevant to the 2012-13 reporting year, this photograph does introduce our new Scottish Development Officers, Linda Ferguson and James Wilkin (centre) at their ‘induction’ in May 2013 in our refurbished premises in the water tower. Chairman Peter Roberts (left) and Gordon Macleod of Transport Scotland (right) complete the picture.

II Annual Report 2012-13 Seminars and Events to Producing Quality Operating Small Grants Promote Community Rail Publications Schemes A key task for ACoRP during the ACoRP has continued to produce ACoRP continues to maintain a year is to help spread best prac- its house magazine Train Times number of grant funds on behalf of tice and this is done at a local level although it has proved increasingly its members and has awarded the through advice and information difficult to fund. With costs of both following grants to CRPs during given electronically or by personal printing and postage spiralling and 2012-13: visits. A wider audience is also ad- electronic communication becom- English Small Grant Fund (provided dressed by means of our publications ing the norm, it was decided to by the DfT): 57 grants worth a total Train Times and Train on Line, as review the way we disseminate our of £26,080 well as a series of conferences and information. seminars. Welsh Small Grant Fund (provided It was agreed that Train Times by the Welsh Government): 8 grants The annual members’ seminars were should become bi-annual, focussing worth a total of £20,280 held early in 2012, followed by a predominantly on in-depth features. station adopters’ seminar in July. More time-specific information The Designated Community Rail The 2012 Community Rail Awards such as news items and comment Development Fund (provided by took place at ‘Steam’ in Swindon would be moved into an expanded DfT, Network Rail and ACoRP): 39 and were once again well-attend- version of our monthly electronic grants worth a total of £90,824 ed by an enthusiastic audience! In newsletter Train on Line, formerly ACoRP also continues to hold a contrast, however, with funding cuts for members only, which would grant fund on behalf of train oper- beginning to bite, it proved difficult be mailed out to a wider audience. ator East Coast and which is being to attract sufficient delegates to our The new arrangements are due provided as a franchise commit- November conference on communi- to be introduced in early 2013- ment. This fund supports four CRPs ty involvement at stations and it was 14. Philip Jenkinson continues to which adjoin or are in close prox- reluctantly postponed until 2013. produce these quality publications imity to the East Coast Main Line, A positive note was struck by our and supplies us with some splendid in addition to supporting some of first seminar in Scotland. Having comments and introductions from ACoRP’s other work, most notably seen the success of community rail in time to time! the Community Stations Initiative. both England and Wales, Transport On behalf of the DfT’s Community Developments in Scotland will also Scotland felt it was time to explore Rail Steering Group, ACoRP pro- introduce a Scottish Small Grants the possibilities it may offer to Scot- duced a report on affordable waiting Fund. Worth £20,000 pa, it will help tish lines. After a number of months shelters and the cost-drivers associ- provide ‘seed-corn’ funding for new exploratory work, ACoRP was finally ated with them. A revised Station projects, although it will only be awarded a three-year funding pack- Adoption Handbook is also being available to newly-formed commu- age to help facilitate community rail produced and expected to be availa- nity rail partnerships that have been development in Scotland, the first ble in early 2013-14. approved by the Transport Minister. output being a well-attended seminar in Leith entitled ‘An Introduction to Community Rail’. The year concluded with the annual Designated Line Seminar, held in Southampton and run jointly by ACoRP and the DfT. It’s a tribute to the organisational and fundraising skills of our Events Organiser, Hazel Bonner that ACoRP’s calendar of events and seminars goes so smooth- ly every year!

First Impressions: Stations are gateways between the railway and the community. The Friends of Dronfield Station have created an attractive transition between the two, creating a favourable impression of both. Annual Report 2012-13 III Support new and existing CRPs In addition to providing on-going phone, email and personal support to existing CRPs, ACoRP helps de- velop new partnerships. Four new CRPs came into being during 2012-13, notably Fenland (Peterborough – Ely and branded Hereward); Redhill – Tonbridge and Seaford-Lewes (both of which were added to the Sussex CRP portfolio; and Braintree-Witham, which was taken on by the Essex & South Suffolk CRP.

Two further CRPs are being developed in the Thames Valley on the Taplow – Henley on Thames and Marlow – Maidenhead branches, whilst the potential of a Lin- coln-Grimsby CRP is being investigated. Jonathan Denby of Greater Anglia launches the new Hereward The new Scottish project is beginning to get underway Line Partnership at March in Cambridgeshire. with initial work on developing a Stranraer-Ayr CRP well advanced. ACoRP has also been working with the Office premises and general management Campaign for Borders Rail on developing a CRP that As mentioned elsewhere, ACoRP’s move to new premises will work in tandem with the new Borders Railway when went well and the organisation has quickly established it opens. This is an interesting experiment which aims itself in Huddersfield. Elements of the CAP’EM project to engage and prime local communities and businesses still remain to be completed, notably the exhibition and prior to the opening, thereby ensuring the new line gets public dissemination of information but the project is off to a good start. otherwise complete. The process of employing two Scottish Development Although the water tower is ideal for ACoRP’s purposes, Officers is underway and they are expected to be in post it has reduced the amount of space available for storage. by early 2013-14 As a result, it was decided to close the Resource Centre, which was, at the best of times, little used. The develop- Community Stations ment of electronic storage and web-based information The Community Stations Initiative continues its success technology has also reduced the need to maintain ‘hard- in finding community use for unused station property. copy’ files of most publications. The intention is how- A key development during 2012-13 has been the ‘Op- ever, to maintain a watching brief on publications and tions To Let’ scheme, which aims to secure a group of report items that may be interest to our members – prin- stations identified as having potential community use. cipally through the medium of Train on Line. Taking them off the commercial market, albeit tempo- Day-to-day management is important as ACoRP con- rarily, allows time to identify possible not-for-profit uses tinues to expand and become more complex and the and organisations, thus ensuring a sound foundation monthly staff meetings are a vital element of keeping for any project. Northern and c2c have been enthusias- a grip on the many and various projects. Dawn Wol- tic in following this process, with Staffordshire County rich, ACoRP’s Office Manager, continues to keep an eye Council expressing a wish to adopt a similar scheme for on both the finances and organisational aspects and is many of its local stations. Train operator Greater An- invaluable in ensuring everything is in hand. To help glia, with its new 99-year station leases, is also keen to deal with the ever more complex financial arrangements, develop many of its local stations in this way. Sue Miles, ACoRP engaged a part-time Management Accountant, ACoRP’s Community Stations Officer is a mine of infor- Roger Tolson, who is proving indispensable.. mation and has helped the organisation with technical and legal aspects of the move into the water tower too.

The exterior of the new ACoRP offices in the refurbished Huddersfield water tower IV Annual Report 2012-13 Press, Publicity and Promotional Events It’s important to maintain the pro- file of community rail and ACoRP continues to have a presence at many high level meetings, including the Transport Select Committee and All-Party Parliamentary Group on heritage rail, together with the APPG on rural affairs. We are also members of the newly-formed National Rail Accessibility group and continue a good dialogue with the current Un- der Secretary of State for Transport A number of press releases has been issued during the year and there have been community rail-related features in various magazines, including Promoting community rail: Brian Barnsley, Amanda Ward and Peter Roberts at the Country Life, OV-Magazine (Neth- Community Rail Festival on Bristol Temple Meads station in September 2012. erlands public transport magazine, Britain’s Railways and The Modern Industry Consultations With devolution of rail in the north of England gaining pace, ACoRP Railway; we have also featured on Keeping abreast of the latest rail and has been involved in a number of television (The One Show and Look other developments is a vital part of meetings with lead partners of the North) and local radio (Newcastle) ACoRP’s work and to this end, mem- consortium to identify ways forward bers of staff have attended a number Monitoring community rail success for both the organisation and its of conferences throughout the year. is made easier by the Lennon data members and current discussions received from both ATOC and other Sponsorship from Abellio has have been encouraging. Similar TOCs and this has formed the basis enabled us to create a set of dia- conversations are being had in other of several press releases and briefings grammatic maps detailing not only regions, notably in the West Mid- for both ministers and the media the wide spread of CRPs but also lands, although they are not so far over the year. each individual partnership. The advanced. variants of these maps will enable us ACoRP remains on the list of con- to provide more professional infor- sultees for Network Rail land dispos- mation to, amongst others, franchise Community artwork brightens up many als and continues to keep a watching bidders, as well as maps for ACoRP’s stations on the network; this example is at brief on any that may impact ad- own publications and website. Worle in Somerset versely on CRPs or other community rail projects. During 2012-13, the organisation commented on 62 pro- posed disposals.

Photos courtesy of Paul Bigland (i, vii); Neil Buxton (ii, iv lower); Brian Barnsley (iv upper, v upper); Friends of Dronfield Station, Severnside CRP, Community Rail Lancashire and Friends of Penmere Station. Annual Report 2012-13 V The Future With the continued reduction of pub- lic funding, 2013-14 will be a difficult year, particularly for our member CRPs who rely substantially on local authority support. It will be vital therefore to ensure local authorities appreciate that community rail deliv- ers much more than simply transport from A to B. Access to work, health and education are key government aims and local regeneration is often heavily reliant on tourism. All this can be promoted and encouraged and many lines are showing considerable increases in patronage as a result. However, this doesn’t happen on its own and a CRP officer is vital if these benefits are to be realised. Another tribute to Community Rail’s voluntary sector; the approach to Penmere Platform For its part, ACoRP will continue to on the Falmouth branch in Cornwall. argue with both local authorities and train operators for financial support With two new Development Officers in Scotland, funded by Transport for CRPs. The revised franchising ar- Scotland, ACoRP’s focus early in the year will inevitably be on developments rangements announced by the DfT in in that country, although it’s not our intention to lose sight of our current late 2012-13 will offer further oppor- work in England or Wales. There are a number of opportunities to develop tunities to argue for CRP funding and new CRPs in England and the Wales community rail study, completed in late recent responses from bidders have 2012-13, offers some exciting opportunities to take community rail forward been encouraging in this respect. there. Rolling stock continues to be an issue The water tower project will also be coming to a conclusion this year and for our membership and although some work still needs to be completed, particularly on the exhibition and ACoRP appreciates that no imme- with regard to disseminating information, before the formal launch in March diate answers will be forthcoming, 2014. In the meantime, ACoRP will continue to provide advice, guidance and we will continue to make attempts to support by all available means, including publications and events and will be influence the debate and push for an attempting to develop more professional learning opportunities by building early resolution to the current chronic on last year’s successful IRO training day. shortage. Neil Buxton, General Manager May 2013

ACoRP Members 2012-13 For rail partnerships, see map on page viii. Individual members: Chris Austin OBE, John Davies, Tony Francis, John Hummel, Peter Roberts MBE, John Yunnie. Founding Member (Honorary): Paul Salveson MBE

The future: an illustration of Community Rail Lancashire’s work with schools as the pupils’ work is unveiled at Mill Hill near Blackburn. Take your seats for the 2012 Community Rail Awards

Management Board 2012-13 Members Attendance at Meetings Chris Austin OBE ACoRP BOARD MEETINGS 2012/13 Philip Ayers 13-Jun-12 17-Oct-12 06-Dec-12 08-Mar-13 Totals Marjorie Birch (Vice Chair) Mike Bishop Peter Roberts MBE (chair) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 of 4 Richard Burningham MBE Sheila Dee ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 of 4 (retired during the year) Richard Burningham MBE x x n/a n/a 0 of 2 Sheila Dee (Vice Chair) John Hummel ✓ ✓ ✓ x 3 of 4 David Edwards Marjorie Birch ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 of 4 John Hummel (Vice Chair) Chris Austin OBE ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 of 4 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Faye Lambert David Edwards 4 of 4 (elected during the year) Bobby Lock x ✓ n/a n/a 1 of 2 Bobby Lock Keith Walton ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 of 4 (retired during the year) Mike Bishop x ✓ x ✓ 2 of 4 Peter Roberts MBE (Chairman) Philip Ayers ✓ ✓ ✓ x 3 of 4 Jim Trotman Jim Trotman ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 of 4 ✓ ✓ Keith Walton Faye Lambert n/a n/a 2 of 2 ✓ ✓ Richard Watts Richard Watts n/a n/a 2 of 2 (elected during the year) ACoRP F&GP MEETINGS 2012/13

Elections and retirements effective 10-May-12 09-Aug-12 28-Nov-12 06-Feb-13 from 28 November 2012 Sheila Dee (chair) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 of 4 Marjorie Birch ✓ x ✓ ✓ 3 of 4 Keith Walton ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 of 4 Peter Roberts MBE ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 of 4 Philip Ayers x ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 of 4 John Hummel ✓ x ✓ x 2 of 4

Annual Report 2012-13 VII Thurso

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Montrose Routes of members of ACoRP

West Highland Lines Places with multiple stations on different lines Oban Crianlarich Perth Dundee Not all stations shown Gleneagles Not all lines shown in London Dunblane Stirling Dunfermline Kirkcaldy Development of ACoRP map sponsored by: Larbert Alloa Fife Circle Inverkeithing Upper Balloch Helensburgh Grahamston Edinburgh Waverley Milngavie Croy Falkirk Central North Berwick High Haymarket Dumbarton Queen Abbey Line CRP 1 Street Westerton Cumbernauld Bathgate Springburn Newcraighall Barton Cleethorpes CRP 2 Partick Port GLASGOW Coatbridge Drumgelloch Berwick-upon-Tweed Glasgow Inverclyde Central Bentham Line CRP 27 Whifflet Gourock E Wemyss Bay Gilmour St Cambuslang Shotts SA Paisley Bishop Line CRP 3 Ayr T Largs Line Canal Motherwell Stewarton Newton Galashiels C AO Bittern Line CRP 4 Ardrossan Kilwinning Hamilton Neilston Carstairs Burns Line East Tweedbank S Rail Partnership 5 Troon T Kilmarnock Kilbride Morpeth Prestwick Larkhall Lanark Cambrian Rail Partnership 6 Ayr

39 Galloway Dumfries Lockerbie Chester - Shrewsbury Rail Partnership 7 Line Stranraer Annan 42 Clitheroe Line CRP 8 Carlisle Newcastle Durham Coast Line Conwy Valley Rail Initiative 9 Workington 12 Hexham Hartlepool

Bishop Durham Stockton Cotswold Line Promotion Group 10 Penrith Appleby

Whitehaven S E W Auckland 3 Bishop Line Middlesbrough Crewe - Manchester Line CRP 11 Saltburn

T Darlington

Cumbrian Windermere 26 C Whitby CRP 12 Coast Kirkby Stephen

Line O Battersby 17

Kendal A Settle & CRP Carlisle Line 13 T S Scarborough 12 Oxenholme 35 Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership 14 Lake District 19 Northallerton East Lancashire CRP 15 Malton Barrow-in-Furness Ulverston Settle Thirsk Bridlington East Suffolk Lines CRP 16 Carnforth Hellifield Knaresborough Morecambe Ilkley Yorkshire Coast Line Lancaster Heysham 45 27 Harrogate Esk Valley Railway Development Co 17 Skipton Church Beverley Clitheroe 27 Fenton Airedale Essex & South Suffolk Rail Partnership 18 Colne Line Shipley 8 Forster Dearn Square Valley Burnley Hebden Line CRP 19 38 Preston Blackburn 15 Bridge Bradford Brough North Hull Halifax Interchange Selby Line Heart of Wales Line Forum 20 Blackpool Kirkham 15 Todmorden Castleford Pontefract South & Wesham Calderdale Dewsbury Rochdale Line Heart of Wessex Rail Partnership 21 43 Westgate Barton-on-Humber Southport 43 Kirkgate Huddersfield 8 Goole Hereward CRP 22 Bolton Salford Wakefield 2 Ormskirk 43 Crescent Stalybridge Doncaster Barnetby Grimsby Formby Kirkby 33 High Peak & Hope Valley CRP 23 Wigan Victoria Penistone Cleethorpes New Brighton MANCHESTER Hadfield Scunthorpe Habrough Isle of Wight CRP 24 LIVERPOOL Piccadilly Moorfields Lime St Guide 23 Barnsley Market Rasen Bidston Airport 37 Bridge Glossop Swinton Kent CRP 25 West Kirby Earlestown Romiley Gainsborough Birkenhead Marple Rotherham Central Parkway Central Strines Wirral Ellesmere 11 Stockport 23 Worksop Lakes Line CRP 26 Llandudno 5 Runcorn Warrington Lincoln Lines Port Bank Quay Hooton Hope Valley Line Menai 31 23 New Mills Sheffield Retford Lymington - Brockenhurst CRP 28 Bridge Colwyn Bay Prestatyn Shotton Altrincham Chesterfield Mansfield Castle North Holyhead Wilmslow Gate Bangor Llandudno Rhyl Buxton Erewash Robin Marston Vale CRP 29 Junction Chester Hartford 30 Valley Hood Newark Macclesfield Line Line Skegness 11 AE Poacher Conwy Valley Line 5 Alfreton Line Mid Cheshire Rail Partnership 30 Borderlands Matlock Betws-y-Coed Line 7 S Sheringham Cromer Congleton T Boston North Cheshire Rail Users Group 31 9 13 32 Sleaford Blaenau Ffestiniog 5 Grantham Crewe Kidsgrove Derby General 32 34 4 Bittern Line North Staffordshire CRP 32 Pwllheli Wrexham Central Alsager Nottingham C Kings Lynn Porthmadog W E T S A O Uttoxeter Norwich Brundall 44 Partnership 33 6 Ruabon Nantwich Stoke-on-Trent Spalding North & TS Fen Line Great Yarmouth 7 Y Barmouth West Line Wherry Gobowen R CRP 34 C 44 Lines T Thetford Cambrian Coast Whitchurch O Stone Line Machynlleth Welshpool A TS N Loughborough THE U BROADS Dovey Junction Shrewsbury IM Settle-Carlisle Railway Development Co 35 22 Ely Reedham Newtown 6 CO Peterborough Wellington Burton-on- D Aberystwyth Diss 44 Severnside CRP 36 Trent AL March 6 Stafford Oakham Lowestoft N Church Stretton SS East South East Manchester CRP 37 D Bury Telford Suffolk 20 Shifnal St Edmunds Line 16 South Fylde CRP 38 Rugeley CRO Leicester Huntingdon Beccles Craven Arms Walsall Stowmarket Lichfield Market 16 Stranraer - Ayr Line Support Association 39 Wolverhampton Harborough Westerfield Sandwell & Dudley Snow Tamworth Hinckley Newmarket Ipswich Hill Sussex Community Rail Partnerships 40 Nuneaton Cambridge 16 Felixstowe Knighton Smethwick Stourbridge New BIRMINGHAM Kettering 18 Ludlow Manningtree Three Rivers CRP 41 Street International Sandy Heart of Wales Line Stourbridge Junction Trent Valley Line Harwich RY Wellingborough Mayflower Line Letchworth Tyne Valley CRP 42 T Moor Coventry Llandrindod N Street Rugby Hitchin Stansted Colchester Thorpe-le-Soken Kidderminster Solihull Northampton Bedford Walton-on-Naze Leominster Warwick Stevenage Sudbury 18 Colchester West of Lancashire Rail Partnership 43 Bromsgrove COU Marston Marches Redditch Town 18 Line Leamington Vale Braintree Line Luton Hertford Bishops Clacton Wherry Lines CRP 44 Llandovery Stratford- Spa Marks Tey upon-Avon 29 Stortford 18 Droitwich Spa Milton Welwyn N E N Witham Hereford 10 CROSS R Banbury Keynes Broxbourne Yorkshire Coast CRP 45 Shrub Hill St Albans Enfield TE Merthyr Tydfil Rhymney Foregate Street Bletchley Fishguard Great North Abbey Llandeilo Aberdare Malvern Cotswold Line Clarbeston Road Worcester Line Aylesbury 18 Southminster Valley Moreton-in- Bicester 1 Chelmsford Whitland Lines Chingford Crouch Valley Line Treherbert Cheltenham Spa Evesham Marsh Watford Junction G T E A S Caerphilly Abergavenny Town W Hampstead Wickford 10 COUNTRY Dalston Shenfield Milford Haven Coryton Princes 20 Pontypridd Gloucester Stroud Risborough Willesden Romford Tenby Ebbw Vale Junction Pembroke Radyr Golden Valley Llanelli Maesteg Chepstow Line Oxford High Victoria CARDIFF Wycombe St Pancras Kings Stratford 36 Kemble Didcot Central Queen Street Newport Parkway Cross Southend Neath 36 Henley Marlow Euston Upminster Central Port G T W E S T E R N Shoeburyness Marylebone Liverpool Talbot Bridgend Bay Severn Pilning Parkway Slough Paddington Parkway Barry Tunnel Swindon Street Penarth Junction BRISTOL LONDON Rhoose 36 Temple Meads 36 Reading Charing Cross Fenchurch Street Tilbury Barry Chippenham Windsor Victoria Island Severn Beach Heathrow Blackfriars Ebbsfleet Sheerness-on-Sea Kensington London Bridge Gravesend Newbury Bath Trowbridge Strood 25 Weston-super-Mare Dartford Spa 21 Berks & Hants Line Wokingham Richmond Waterloo Swanley GH I Faversham Margate G T W E S T E R N CROSS Farnborough Ramsgate North Woking Clapham J H Sittingbourne Bridgwater Westbury Basingstoke R N Bromley Otford 36 S O U T H W E S T E South PSE Streatham East 25 W Deal Barnstaple Castle Farnborough Croydon 14 Taunton Warminster Canterbury Cary D Tarka Alton Guildford Epsom Oxted E E Line Tiverton Andover Maidstone 1 Heart of Winchester Sevenoaks Parkway Wessex Line Salisbury Dorking Redhill W Folkestone Okehampton Crediton Reigate Dover Yeovil Pen Paddock Mill Romsey Haslemere Gatwick 40 Tonbridge Sherborne East Wood Ashford St Davids Honiton Junction 41 Eastleigh Three Bridges 40 Central Grinstead E Newton Abbot Parkway Haywards Royal U Petersfield Uckfield Tunbridge Marsh Link R Channel Gunnislake 14 Axminster Heath O S Tunnel Bere EXETER 14 Southampton Wells Tamar Avocet Central Fareham Horsham T Alston Line Maiden Newton 21 A R Newquay Valley Riviera Coastway Line 40 Hastings Line Line Exmouth Coastway Line Totnes ChichesterWest Worthing Lewes Torquay Bournemouth East 14 14 Wareham Atlantic 14 Dorchester Havant Barnham Newhaven Eastbourne Coast Liskeard Plymouth Brockenhurst Brighton Continental Line S W Littlehampton Europe Looe Valley Paignton Poole Portsmouth Bognor 40 Line 28 Seaford Looe Lymington Regis St Austell Par Weymouth Ryde Truro St Ives 14 24 Island Line St Ives Bay Line 14 Shanklin St Erth Maritime © 2013 Andrew Smithers Line Penzance www.projectmapping.co.uk Falmouth

ACoRP summary map v1 1/5/13 Up The Junction Though Train Times’ format may have changed, A.N. Onymous still has room for a rant ...

Ticketing: just how hard is it? Hi speed Gripping on DB! There is no doubt that the number one complaint I hear from passengers and stakeholders is the lack of ticket So the future may be tech, but what about now? checking/sales on community rail lines. We all know the For many, the issue of ticket gates causes great excuses - slow ticket issuing machines, stops close to- angst. I do find this odd. My local ToC is in the process gether, trains too busy for the conductor to get through, of installing gates at my local station and about time too! staff cannot be bothered etc., etc. The strange thing is that the groups arguing that tickets I am not saying that this is endemic, but it does need to be checked are also the ones complaining about happen at some point everywhere on the network and it the gates - and that’s before we consider gating Sheffield really annoys the people who do pay. Station which I am certain bleeds revenue for Northern The fact is that the extra cost of collecting the last every day of the week! few per-cent of the due fares is well out of proportion to So what else can be done? How about a simplified the benefit, especially on networks like Northern’s where ticketing system? The DfT has been working on its con- the average fare is quite low compared to the South East. sultation on ticketing for quite a while now. I have fed in, (I have yet to travel on the South West Trains main line as have many others, and we all await the report, but my service where staff have not checked tickets and they guess is that it’s heading for the ‘too hard’ shelf and that seem to have gates everywhere!) will be that. So what is the solution given the above? Some Which I guess on Community Rail lines brings us advocate technology; I agree up to a point and there is no back to selling tickets on trains. I am told that there are doubt that smart card tickets work well in London with new software updates coming for the universally-used its zonal fares. I do, however, have doubts about the abil- Avantix ticket machines which we hope will help, but ity of the system to work elsewhere with the multitude perhaps the best way of getting more fares in is to incen- of fares even on my local line! As an aside, I remember tivise conductors to get out of the back cab more. On a being told by colleagues at NS back in 2008 that there trip to Germany we were most amused when a full and would be a national all modes smart card ticket in the standing ICE was gripped, with many fares being issued Netherlands within three years, and indeed they did it, at 300kph! In the UK the answer might be better com- but there is still the need to sell paper tickets on trains! I mission payments or perhaps better staff management. understand Scotland intend to introduce a similar smart Conductors are, after all, paid to collect fares……….. card ticket, so we shall see. Train Times 68 Summer 2013 9 Reviving Etchingham Nigel Whitburn of Action with Communities in Rural Kent takes up the tale of Etchingham Station, which, thanks to the local community, has seen a dramatic change in fortune…

It’s a familiar problem – a community works hard to pull together a Parish plan, but then runs out of energy and the plan is left the shelf. How can the community re-invigorate itself and start delivering on the actions identified? Maybe new people can be recruited to the Parish Plan Group? Perhaps the Parish Council takes over? But if these don’t work, then what? In answer to these ques- tions, a community from East Sussex has come up with a terrific new way of injecting impetus into its action plan. The community in question is Etchingham - a small village of less than 300 households. It had lost its pub, the community shop was failing and the village hall was old and in poor condition. All of these issues (and others) featured in the action plan and a group of local residents, The entrance to Etchingham station’s bistro. concerned at the lack of progress, decided to set a Com- listed building which had once been the Station Masters’ munity Interest Company (C.I.C) as a vehicle to deliver house. Apart from the ticket office and booking hall, the the plan. building had been left unoccupied for many years so the Set up with the support of the Parish Council, “De-Etch- C.I.C. decided to investigate the possibility of turning the ingham C.I.C” has a board of five. The Chairman, Colin almost derelict building into a pub/bistro. Phillips is semi-retired, but the other four Directors are A business plan was clearly needed, so local residents all active business people. As such, they have the skills and station users were surveyed to assess likely demand. and experience to run the C.I.C. and also have links to Train operator Southeastern assisted by providing footfall other businesses and individuals when they need to bring figures for the station and the C.I.C. were able to show in specialist support such as PR or engineering. that they could establish a viable business based on com- The first project they undertook was floodlighting the muters and “brunch” sales. A tri-partite lease for 25 years Parish Church. Apart from the complications arising was taken out with Southeastern and Network Rail (who from burying cables in consecrated ground, this was a own the station), allowing the C.I.C. the security of tenure fairly straightforward task once the funding, which was beyond any change in franchise for the train operator. raised from private sponsorship, was in place. The C.I.C. then raised £150,000 to support the conver- The next job however was much more complicated. Al- sion of the building, with the Bistro opening in April though only a small village, Etchingham does have a rail- 2010. Significant funders included Wealden & Rural way station on the line between Hastings and Tunbridge Rother Leader (WARR), Network Rail, Southeastern, the Wells/Charing Cross. The station has a very attractive Railway Heritage Trust, the European Agricultural Fund Serving customers at the bistro. for Rural Development and last but not least, the Etch- ingham Parish Council and five directors of the C.I.C. The services offered have steadily increased since open- ing, with the bistro serving drinks, tapas and weekly hot meal specials. Wi-fi has also been installed and most of the food is fresh and locally sourced. In fact, so popular has the bistro been with commuters that some passengers who previously caught the train from Stonegate, closer to London, now drive to Etching- ham so that they can get their morning coffees. Other passengers from stations closer to Hastings phone their orders ahead and have them handed to them as their train calls at the station! You can see more about the Bis- tro at the Station at www.bistroatthestation.co.uk.

10 Train Times 68 Summer 2013 The other new project is the develop- About the author ment of the derelict coal yard located After nearly 30 years working for British Rail and Eurostar, Nigel Whitburn joined Action next to the station. Etchingham is a with Communities in Rural Kent (ACRK) in linear village with no obvious centre, 2004 as a Rural Transport Partnership so the site was identified in the Officer. Since then, he has worked on a Parish plan as a potential open space wide range of rural transport issues and has managed the Kent Community Rail facility. It is currently being land- Partnership. Nigel has also been involved scaped, leaving a number of mature with the Sussex CRP as Chairman of the trees in place, and will provide an Marshlink Line Group since its inception. Official recognition for de Etchingham attractive area with parking for the C.I.C. Now as Community Development Manager Bistro, shop and church and also at ACRK, Nigel has a wider brief involving housing, policy work and publicity. overlooks a children’s play area. The Bistro at the Station has won several awards: As well as the Bistro, several other The progress made by De-Etching- l National Railway Heritage Award for rooms were also available at the ham C.I.C. in just a few short years Partnership 2010 station and have since been refur- is remarkable, with the C.I.C. vehicle l Best Station Retail Outlet 2011 bished, used for activities such as enabling them to deliver projects – Association of Community Rail meetings, computer training courses very quickly – partly as they are not Partnerships constrained by some of the laws and l Sussex Rural Enterprise Award 2011 and Pilates. – Campaign for the Protection of Rural procedures pertaining to a Parish England (CPRE) Sussex With the bistro going from strength Council and partly because they are to strength (see box right), the able to focus on the projects, bring- C.I.C. is now developing two fur- ing their managerial and commercial ther projects. The sole village shop skills into play. closed as a private business several years ago, before being taken over as A C.I.C. may not be the appropriate a community owned shop in 2003. solution in every community, but if Unfortunately the venture failed and your village is struggling to deliver its the shop closed in April 2011. Now Parish Plan, then it might just work De-Etchingham has taken over the for you! My thanks to De-Etching- shop and is currently refitting it, ham Chairman Colin Phillips and Bistro Manager Paul Collins for their Some passengers ... now drive to Etchingham so that they can help in researching this article. get their morning coffees. Other passengers ... phone their orders ahead and have them handed to them as their train calls Above Left: One of the refurbished station meeting rooms at the station! Below: The Etchingham Community shop, prior to reopening. ready for re-opening. Funding and assistance has been obtained from Action in rural Sussex (AirS), along with WARR, the Parish Council and a number of private sponsors and new managers from within the village have already been recruited, with the shop set to reopen in the very near future.

From train dispatch to keep fit, pilates classes now take place at the station.

Train Times 68 Summer 2013 11 A Better Way to the Heart of Wales? David Edwards of the Heart of Wales Line Forum is our guide through the past, present and future of this most scenic of railways…

This article describes work being undertaken by the Heart of Wales Line Forum, the Community Rail Part- nership covering the route between Swansea and Shrews- bury via Llandrindod and a lot of other places starting with ‘Llan’ (which means ‘church’.) The mission Our mission from the outset has been clear - to get better use from the Heart of Wales Line, which forms a key pub- lic transport ‘spine’ for a large area of mid Wales. Purists would prefer that it be known as the Central Wales Line - ‘Heart of Wales’ is a relatively recent marketing label. The background The line itself was developed in Victorian times, initial- ly for freight from the South, and in sections that were finally joined up in 1868. It was instrumental in the rapid Although still capable of taking diversionary freight (and growth of the spa towns of Llandrindod Wells, Builth excursions – both steam and diesel hauled), capacity is Wells, Llanwrtyd Wells and Llangammarch Wells. Until limited by the small number of loops, a very large num- the 1960s it was an important through route between ber of level crossings and severe gradients. There are 34 South West Wales and the North West of England, with stations including the termini, though only Swansea, Lla- the service including much freight, Burton beer trains nelli, Llandrindod and Shrewsbury are actually staffed. and mail trains to and from York. The Southern end of the route from Llanelli to Swan- Sadly, it almost became a Beeching victim and is said sea now shares approximately 10 miles of the main line only to have survived because it served three marginal from West Wales (over the recently redoubled line at political constituencies. When closure was refused, the Loughor). The same route sharing principle applies at the Swansea terminus (Victoria) was closed and the Southern northern end, between Craven Arms and Shrewsbury. route altered to include the present reversal at Llanelli. Thus, of the 120 mile end-to-end service, about 30 route The line was then extensively ‘rationalised’ and simplified. miles are shared. This has important implications for our The 90 mile ‘core’ is single track except for five passing work. Innovative operating practices for the 90 mile ‘core’ loops. Signalling is controlled by one box at Panty- of the route will be less easy to implement on the shared sec- ffynnon, linked by a BT line to token boxes at each loop. tions – and passengers do not like to have to change trains! The service we need to improve Glory Days – 1949 and `Black 5` 45190, waiting at Swansea Victoria. (courtesy of Stephen Miles and Huw Daniel.) The current service level comprises four trains per day each way Monday to Saturday, with two trains on Sun- day. Led by resource and not demand, it meets few needs. Whilst it is much better than having no railway, the sparse service makes poor use of a major infrastructure asset. Because the service is designed to minimise the use of rolling stock and staff, all trains run end-to-end and some operate at times unlikely to attract much custom – e.g. the 04.36 Swansea – Shrewsbury, so timed to achieve an 08.22 Shrewsbury arrival. The service is normally provided by a class 153 railcar, so capacity is very lim- ited. For operational convenience, routes some class 150 two car sets along the route from time to time, though other Arriva rolling stock (class 175 and 158 units) is not cleared for use on the line except in emergencies. 12 Train Times 68 Summer 2013 in 2011. Two inspirational presentations, one by Anna Walker, Chair of the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), the other by Professor Andrew McNaughton, strongly suggested that ‘there must be a better way’ to manage and operate routes such as the Heart of Wales line. First steps – start at the top! We started by setting up a steering group, at whose first meeting Professor McNaughton set out his ideas. This was followed by consultative meetings with Anna Walker and Paul Hadley of the ORR and a discussion between the steering group and Mark Langman, Man- aging Director of the newly created Network Rail Wales route. Project funding for stage one of a two stage project was secured from GLASU, a Powys Rural Regeneration Llanwrtyd station in the snow. (courtesy of Heart of Wales Line initiative. The steering group then worked to examine the Travellers Association.) range of options potentially open to us. In November 2012, the steering group produced the stage As far back as November 2001, the National Assembly one ‘pre-feasibility’ report* on its‘ Community Manage- for Wales indicated in ‘The Transport Framework for ment’ study. (*You can download this, and the Jacobs Wales’ that its aspirations were for the service on the line report as pdfs by visiting www.heart-of-wales.co.uk.) (and other rural routes) to have a two hourly frequency. The stage one report was intended to define the terms of For many years this has also been the stated aim of the reference for stage two of our work - a costed feasibility Heart of Wales Line Travellers Association (HoWLTA), study. Stage one set out six alternative options for the the 1,000 strong membership association for the route. management and running of the line, ranging from the ap- To justify some form of improvement, in 2010 a cost pointment of a senior route manager by the train operator, benefit analysis for the Heart of Wales line was completed through the establishment of a ‘rural integrated transport by Jacobs Consultancy, producing positive benefit cost authority’ to the provision of services by a local operator. ratios of 1.6 (Mon – Sat) and 3.8 (Sundays). However, In November 2012, the Welsh Government had launched even at that time, public finances were tight and the then a ‘call for evidence’ for the rail franchise that will run Minister and his successors have not so far felt able to from 2018. As already mentioned, it had indicated that announce a service improvement. the next franchise may be different in style to the current Surely there must be a better way? one. It has been suggested that it might be run by some form of not-for-profit organisation and there are also Based on this assessment of the situation and mindful of suggestions that some form of co-operative ownership other industry developments, in 2011 HoWLTA took the might be set up. view that the only feasible way of securing an improved service was to examine ‘alternative’ ways of operating and On top of this, the Welsh Government does not have the managing the route. It started to work on this approach same powers over rail as do England or Scotland. For and, later, passed the initiative to the Heart of Wales Line example, early in our investigation we learned that even Forum, of which it is a member. Redoubling the Loughor viaduct and the main line from Llanelli Our work chimed with a number of UK wide reports to Swansea - work which is now complete (courtesy of David and initiatives. The McNulty report had suggested that Edwards.) some aspects of UK rail are operated in a more expensive manner than they might be. The Department for Trans- port was starting to examine the possibilities of a more devolved approach to rail management. Finally, Network Rail was working on its ‘Alternative Route Utilisation Strategy’, looking at the roles of tram/train and Commu- nity Rail. The Forum was also mindful of the aspirations of Welsh Government (WG), which had made it plain that for the 2018 franchise renewal, ‘more of the same’ is not the desired option. A final spur to action took the form of an ACoRP sem- inar on ‘Alternative Approaches to Community Rail’ Train Times 68 Summer 2013 13 At that meeting, a group of 15 gath- ered to discuss a way forward for the line. They comprised representatives of Arriva Trains Wales, Network Rail, the ORR, Tracc (the mid Wales regional transport consortium), ACoRP, GLASU, Welsh Government and a number of ‘expert witnesses’ with wide and varied experience of Llangadog shelter – one of several railway issues. The meeting was a constructed by Railtrack in the 1990s. very positive one. The new timetable (courtesy of David Edwards.) did indeed offer a selection of more useful journey opportunities, but if it were possible to make savings in required more staff and would thus the way that (for example) the Heart cost more to operate. It also demon- of Wales line infrastructure is man- strated clearly that a service provided aged, these would not be available by two units cannot satisfy all of the to the Welsh Government to fund known travel needs along a 120 mile HRHs the Prince of Wales and the Duchess service improvements for us, but route – or even the 90 mile core. of Cornwall reopening Llandovery station. would be recycled within Network Rail or revert to the Department for of reference for our stage two work Transport. This is just one example are still being written up and will of the sort of issues currently being aim to address all of the above. They examined as background to the will also take account of an issue so refranchising process. far not mentioned in this piece – the April 19th 2013: the turning ‘international’ nature of our service. point? Though describing it in this way is sometimes an amusing throwaway, it To take our work forward, the is true that a significant proportion pragmatic decision was made to set A self powered ‘U Turn’ information unit at of our route mileage is English. The up a meeting of interested parties Llangennech station. Turning the handle franchise agreement defining the at which the ‘matters arising’ from in one direction provides information in service is for ‘Wales and the Borders’ our stage one report could be ‘brain- Welsh; in the other direction, English. and a key member of our Forum is (courtesy of David Edwards.) stormed’. In addition, Arriva Trains Shropshire County Council, with Wales kindly agreed to re-examine Discussing the route’s needs and whom we continue to work. the timetable for the route to see if a options, the group found that it was The political perspective wider range of useful journey opportu- short of facts. The stage one research nities could be extracted from the use of had started to identify demand pat- As already mentioned, the contin- the same number of class 153’s. terns, but had not been able to quan- ued existence of the line is probably tify them enough to make a proper due to a political decision. We also business case. We achieved a general know that the funding of railways consensus on where the GLASU is dependent on political support stage two funding should primarily at both national and local level. A be directed – into market research, prominent commentator on railway so we are clear as to what we want affairs recently said of our efforts: the railway service to do. The cost ‘You’re talking railways – you should implications of meeting these market be talking politics!’ needs can then be defined. In recent years, Wales has shown It was also clear that there is an considerable enthusiasm for rail opportunity to further explore the re-openings and service enhance- role that might be played by some ment – witness the spectacular suc- creative combination of a franchise cess of the Ebbw Vale service and the specified service, open access opera- increased frequency of trains on the tor and locally based service provid- Fishguard line, not to mention the er. This article was being written only ‘Flying Gerald’ (as the North – South a few days after the meeting - terms express is nicknamed.)

14 Train Times 68 Summer 2013 About the Author David Edwards works as Line Development Officer for the Heart of Wales Line Forum. Having started his career as a British Rail Management Trainee before working in a variety of sectors as a management consultant, he has now come back to his roots!

The Forum continues to work with Assembly Members, MPs and Wales’ Commissioner for Sustainable Futures in order to secure their support for the line. It is fair to say that so far, enthusiastic moral support has always been forthcoming, but as already noted, tangible support has not yet appeared. Of course, politicians face difficult choices and this is particularly true in the case of funding for rural activities. In the old Heart of Wales pre Arriva livery, a class 153 unit For example, Powys is the largest and least populated at Llandeilo station with a group of representatives of local county in Wales and it has the longest section of our businesses on a familiarisation trip. (courtesy of David Edwards.) We will continue to make sure that our political repre- sentatives are kept involved and updated about our work. As well as emphasising the improved accessibility that a better service on the line will offer, we are keen to ensure that the potential benefits of ‘localisation’, job creation and economic development (tourism is a key industry) are clearly understood in the decision making process. Where next? Stage two of our investigation beckons. The steering group is drawing up a brief for the necessary research, which needs to be completed by summer 2013. If any readers have useful suggestions or offers of help they would like to provide, we’ll be more than happy to hear Enjoying a cuppa at the new Llandovery tea room. (courtesy of from them. And a spare train or two would be put to Glyn Evans.) good use! route. Its residents suffer from high levels of deprivation Meanwhile, there’s a glorious day out on offer if you take and very poor access to services. Our railway is impor- a trip along our route, especially now, when the trees are tant to them and with an adequate service could be even not yet fully in leaf and the views are particularly good. more so, though it is in competition for support with oth- Try a Circular Day Ranger – a snip at only £34 or one er, more highly populated areas of Wales, who bang their third off with a railcard. And they make a grand cup of own drums and have more electors to take into account. tea in the new Llandovery tearoom!

Left: Knucklas viaduct. (courtesy of Tom Clift.) Above: A special train at Llanwrtyd celebrating the reopening of all passing loops on the line. (courtesy of Chris Prichard.)

Train Times 68 Summer 2013 15 ACoRP Association of Community Rail Partnerships The Old Water Tower Huddersfield Railway Station St George’s Square Huddersfield HD1 1JF Tel: 01484 548926 e-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.acorp.uk.com. Staff: [email protected]

Staff Neil Buxton General Manager Brian Barnsley Operations Manager Dawn Wolrich Office Manager Hazel Bonner Events Organiser Philip Jenkinson Company Secretary ([email protected]) Susan Miles Stations Project Officer Linda Ferguson Development Officer Scotland (South) James Wilkin Development Officer Scotland (North) Peter Roberts Chairman ([email protected])

16 Train Times 68 Summer 2013