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South West Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy Draft for Consultation Correct at time of going to print 2 Foreword I am pleased that we are publishing the Draft required to review these alternative options for Consultation Document for the South before moving forward. West Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy. In taking these options forward, we need to The document is the result of several months make best use of the resources available work in collaboration with rail industry partners to us. Where appropriate, these options and wider stakeholders whom I thank for may need to be considered as part of the their contribution. Government’s High Level Output Specifi cation The recent Government White Paper, The as an input to the 2008 periodic review. Future of Rail, conferred signifi cant additional This is the fi rst RUS for which we have been responsibilities upon Network Rail, largely in responsible and it will shortly be followed by the areas of industry planning and accounting others. We are also publishing a Consultation for performance. The publication of this Guide explaining the RUS process, how Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) is one of the people can contribute and a programme of fi rst concrete manifestations of these new work for the remainder of the network. We will responsibilities. also be publishing a more detailed technical We are proud that Network Rail has been manual in the near future. entrusted with these additional responsibilities, I hope that everyone interested in the future of including the Route Utilisation Strategies. rail will participate in this consultation and give Our approach to carrying out this role has their views, bearing in mind the challenges drawn heavily on the previous experience and constraints facing us as we move forward. of the Strategic Rail Authority. However, we now seek a more collaborative approach with the rest of the industry, actively seeking John Armitt their views and holding meetings with various Chief Executive stakeholders in order to integrate this work with our own plans for a more route-based approach to the long term planning of the network. This consultation document sets out the options for change to meet the growing requirements of all railway users within the relevant constraints. At this stage, the proposals are simply options for consideration. The views of stakeholders responding to this consultation are of tremendous importance to us and we intend to undertake more work as 3 Executive summary Improved use of rail capacity is a central The scope of the SWML RUS encompasses element of the Government’s plans for most rail lines within west Surrey, Hampshire effective delivery of its rail objectives. and parts of Dorset, Devon and Wiltshire, The key requirement is to make effi cient use together with many lines within south-west of the current route capacity and to develop London that connect into the central London this capacity where appropriate within the termini. The strategy will primarily cover the available funding. anticipated duration of the South Western franchise period of 2007 to 2017, although it Demand on the South West Main Line (SWML) will look further into the future to identify major is dominated by the London commuter market, factors that infl uence future infrastructure with around 85,000 people alighting at either projects in particular. Waterloo or Vauxhall each morning. Some routes experience serious overcrowding. The RUS has been developed in conjunction Passenger kilometers on the route in the with the Department for Transport (DfT), the morning peak are forecast to grow by 19% Association of Train Operating Companies, over the 10-year period of this RUS. There South West Trains, Transport for London, is no easy way to deal with this demand; the and the Freight Operating Companies. analysis so far suggests that a signifi cant These organisations have worked together volume of investment may be required to through a Stakeholder Management Group, enhance the capacity and capability of the being joined in the regular meetings by the SWML railway system. Offi ce of Rail Regulation as an observer. The South West Main Line was chosen to be The key issues for the area covered by the the pilot Network Rail led RUS for the following SWML RUS are as follows: reasons: ■ Passenger demand has increased ■ To inform the development of signifi cantly since the mid 1990’s, with the specifi cation for the South the number of journeys for the main Western franchise. operator, South West Trains, increasing from 118 million in 1997/98 to 144 million ■ Overcrowding and growth issues on certain in 2003/04, which represents growth of sections of the line need to be addressed. approximately 22%. ■ The future of the Waterloo International ■ Around 80% of journeys in the morning Terminal after the expected withdrawal peak (07:00 to 10:00) are commuting of Eurostar services in 2007 is being journeys. examined, and capacity at London Waterloo is critical to any future ■ With this high level of demand, requirements for the SWML. overcrowding is an increasingly important issue. The Passengers In Excess of ■ To inform the development of the Department Capacity measure has been consistently for Transport’s High Level Output above the target level of 3.0% since the Specifi cation for an area where there is late 1990’s, being typically in the range of signifi cant congestion on parts of the route 4-5% on average across the morning and combined with substantial potential growth. 4 evening peaks combined. Crowding is, ■ Demand forecasting work has indicated however, more severe during the morning that large scale growth in passenger peak as the evening peak tends to be less demand throughout the period 2003 to concentrated within a certain time band. 2016 is expected across the majority of services within the SWML area. This ■ Rail freight demand is primarily focused is demonstrated by a predicted 23% around the fl ows from Southampton to the growth in passenger kilometres travelled North of England. Demand for this traffi c when unconstrained by service capacity has been consistent over the last few and of 19% growth when overcrowding years. This demand is currently adequately constraints are applied. accommodated by the existing network, although the lack of a W10 gauge cleared ■ Freight growth is predicted to be in the route is becoming an important issue. region of 15% to 20% by 2017. This is There are a number of smaller fl ows spread across the three main commodity across the SWML RUS area but these are types of intermodal, aggregates and not predicted to change signifi cantly over automotive, with the levels varying the period of the RUS. between these types of traffi c. Whilst this level of growth could almost certainly be ■ Rail network capacity is heavily utilised carried by the existing network, it would in many key sections of the SWML RUS place some additional pressure on the area. This constrains the extent to which operational performance of the network. additional services can be accommodated, and has a signifi cant impact on the ■ Signifi cant growth is predicted in the performance of the existing services. proportion of freight traffi c comprised of Locations that are particularly constrained 9’6” containers. This traffi c requires W10 include London Waterloo, the section gauge if it is to be transported by normal of line between Clapham Junction and height wagons. London Waterloo, the Woking Junction ■ The new timetable introduced by South area, the Portsmouth area and sections of West Trains in December 2004 has the West of England Line (primarily due to made a signifi cant contribution to the the low infrastructure capability). improvement in performance seen since The issues outlined above indicate that that date. This required changes to the the rail network in the SWML RUS area is network operating rules which in some intensively used, and that there are high levels cases restrict further utilisation of network of demand for passenger and freight services capacity. There are also areas that are still across many parts of the route. These factors vulnerable to timetable driven performance already impose signifi cant pressure on current issues, in particular the Portsmouth and operations, but there are also a number of Southampton areas where there is a predicted changes that will infl uence the complicated interaction between different optimum strategy for the period of the SWML passenger and freight train operating RUS. These include: companies’ services. 5 The issues and forecast changes detailed and while there are possibilities identifi ed above lead to a number of signifi cant gaps to potentially exploit the fi rst two, their between what is currently deliverable and usefulness is to some extent dependent what is required to meet future demand and on the effectiveness of the proposed peak aspirations. These gaps are: management activity. ■ Overcrowding of the network in the ■ Suburban Platform Lengthening – peak period. investigating the costs and impact of the lengthening of selected London ■ A potential imbalance between suburban platforms to allow either performance, service level and capacity. 10 or 12 car trains to operate. ■ A shortage of station car parking capacity ■ Current timetable analysis – investigating to satisfy predicted demand. the capacity implications of the changes ■ Future passenger numbers in excess of made in the South West Trains December station capacity at London Waterloo. 2004 timetable revision and analysing the ■ Limited main line stops at Clapham trade-offs between capacity, journey time Junction in the peak periods due to and performance. network capacity constraints. ■ Review of under-utilised stations ■ A lack of capacity at Woking Junction to – examining the level of current and future provide the desired mix of service level demand at stations, identifying where and punctuality.

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