Rail Transport in Cumbria Task Group Review
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Communities and Place Scrutiny Board Rail Transport in Cumbria Task Group Review Contents Page Summary of the Group’s Findings and Recommendations 3 Background and Context 5 Evidence Gathered and Witness Interviews 6 Findings and Recommendations 12 Appendix – Discover Cumbria by Train Summary of the Group’s Findings and Recommendations The Rail Task Group was established by the Communities and Place Scrutiny Advisory Board at its meeting on 10 January 2014. Rail Transport in Cumbria had been identified as a suitable subject for a scrutiny review during the work programme setting session held the previous year. It was recognised that there are many strands to rail transport in Cumbria and there are currently several issues facing the industry that could impact on future rail services within the county and connections to services outwith Cumbria. An appropriate rail transport system is vital to the economic wellbeing of the county particularly in respect of promoting sustainable economic growth. The timing of this review is opportune as the current arrangements for the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises are due to come to an end shortly and at the time of writing the Government is expected a consultation on the arrangements for the refranchising in early June 2014. A major tenet of this review is therefore to examine the current arrangements and recommend to Cabinet areas which it is felt the Government should include in the new franchises. SMB agreed that the aims and objectives of this review would be: ● To consider the current rail refranchising exercise and to make suggestions to Cabinet regarding the council’s response to the consultation on the proposals. ● To look at the other rail lines within Cumbria to explore how these could be used to further support economic development and investments in the county. In undertaking this review the Task Group gathered evidence from a range of sources from within the County Council, existing franchise holding rail companies and community rail partnerships. As a result of this work the Group has developed a series of recommendations which are outlined in this report for consideration. Members would also like to highlight a number of key issues and points that they were made aware of over the course of this review. ○ when the Northern franchise was last let it was on the basis that little growth was expected in rail travel, however, the opposite has in fact been the case and the railways now carry more and more passengers year on year however investment, services and rolling stock have not kept pace with these increases. The Task Group felt that issues of governance of the franchises need to be properly explored and mechanisms for reviewing growth and capacity should be built in before the franchises are let ○ the planned developments on the Energy Coast will place more pressures on infrastructure requirements. The Task Group wished to highlight the role of the railways in serving passengers and freight and that this will be crucial to the future prosperity of the area and to protect the environment from increasing vehicular use; ○ there is a need to run Sunday and 24 hours services on the Cumbrian coastal route to help service the nuclear industry, to allow local people to travel by rail to shop and attend health appointments and to make car-free travel more appealing to tourists. This is currently being expanded by the provision of electric cycles and cars at some stations. ○ the Community Rail Partnerships play a crucial role in bringing communities together to support their local station and rail line and they are successful at attracting substantial external funding for their projects by initially providing small amounts of funds which are then added to by external bodies The Chair of the Task and Finish Group would like to thank everyone who supported and gave evidence to this review, particularly Sam Wheelan, Rail Officer for his ongoing support, and would like to put forward the following recommendations for consideration. The Task Group recommends that: Recommendation 1 Cabinet be recommended to ask the Corporate Director – Environment and Community Services incorporate the following into the Council’s response to the consultation on the rail refranchising: ○ future franchises should not be offered on a steady state basis; ○ the successful company(ies) should be required to work closely with any Community Rail Partnerships within their area; ○ the new franchises be drawn up with a view to being able to respond to the future development of the nuclear industry and other developments on the west coast of Cumbria and to provide better services for the local community (including those attending health appointments, students and shoppers) and the increasing numbers of tourists who use the railways; ○ any new timetables for the Cumbrian Coastal Line should be drawn up following consideration of the work patterns of those employed by the nuclear industry; ○ Continued investment in railway stations be encouraged. Recommendation 2 Cabinet be recommended to lobby at every opportunity for: ○ the expansion of electrification of the Lakes and Furness lines and ultimately also for the Cumbrian Coastal Line; ○ the extension of the Cumbrian Coastal Line timetable to incorporate Sunday and evening services recognising that even out with the developments on the Energy Coast there is a need for improved services for the local community; ○ the continuation and increase in services between Barrow and Manchester International Airport and Windermere and Manchester International Airport; ○ further investment in passing loops to enable more frequent services on the Cumbria Coastal Line in particular at St Bees. Recommendation 3 Allerdale, Barrow, Copeland and South Lakeland Local Committees be requested to invite the Community Rail Partnership officers to talk to members about the work they carry out and the possibilities for improving the rail experience for passengers and the local communities which might be possible if the Local Committee is able to allocate small amounts of grant funding and this take part on a regular basis. Carlisle Local Committee might like to consider forming a similar relationship with the CRP for the Tyne Valley line and Eden Local Committee the Settle to Carlisle Line Partnership. 1 Background and Context 1.1 In setting its work programme for the forthcoming year the Communities and Place Scrutiny Advisory Board at its meeting in January 2014 agreed that given the importance to the economy of the county of the rail industry particularly in light of the future developments on the Energy Coast and the forthcoming refranchising arrangements this was an area that would merit a scrutiny review. 1.2 The timing of this review is opportune as the current franchise arrangements for both TransPennine Express and Northern are due to come to an end shortly and the Government are expected to issue their consultation on the arrangements for the refranchising in early June 2014. A major tenet of this review is therefore to examine the current arrangements and recommend to Cabinet areas which it is felt the Government should include in the new franchises. 1.3 As part of the review it was also agreed that the group would look at the current situation with other rail lines in the county and in this respect the Task Group held extremely interesting witness sessions with Community Rail Partnership officers. 1.4 Cumbria is the second largest county in England with a population of 500,000 spread across this large area making it the second less densely populated county in the Country. The distribution of the population across this large area with its hills, rivers and valleys brings its own issues in respect of transport connectivity for local people travelling for work, health appointments or pleasure. Added to this are a number of other factors such as: ● the industrial nature of the west coast; ● the likelihood of new nuclear developments coming to fruition; ● the need for easy access for employees, the general public, those needing to travel to health appointments and students; ● the increasing potential for freight movement; ● the opportunities presented by the tourism industry and the benefits to the environment that could arise from a greater number of visitors arriving in the county by rail. 1.5 The County Council recognises the importance of rail transport in its current Council Plan by stating that we will work to ensure that we retain and improve Cumbria’s rail services, infrastructure and connectivity, through active engagement in the national refranchising and investment programmes. 1.6 The rail network across Cumbria is extremely complex with a number of different rail companies offering different levels of services. The current rail network in Cumbria is shown on the map attached as an appendix to this report. 1.7 Refranchising is set to have a big impact on the county and will, in time, apply to all lines in Cumbria ie the West Coast Mainline, Cumbrian Coast line, Furness, Lakes, Tyne Valley and Settle-Carlisle Lines. Refranchising provides a major opportunity to secure improved services. Contracts will be let for 7-10 years 1.8 Membership of the Task Group was sought across all non-executive members of the Council and membership of the Task Group was subsequently agreed as being: ○ Geoff Cook ○ Keith Hitchen ○ Joe Holliday ○ Neil Hughes (Chair) ○ Eileen Weir ○ Mark Wilson 2 Evidence Gathered and Witness Interviews 2.1 The Task Group is keen to ensure that the findings of this review were based on robust information and evidence and as such agreed to undertake witness sessions with some of the existing franchise operating companies to assess their experience of the existing arrangements and to establish any areas of improvement they would suggest for the new franchising companies – which may or may not be the existing companies.