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meeting JOINT COMMITTEE ON STRATEGIC PLANNING & TRANSPORT

date 19thOctober 2008 agenda item number

from: JOINT OFFICER STEERING GROUP

RAIL ISSUES UPDATE

Purpose of Report

1. To update the Committee on key rail issues for the Greater Local Transport Plan (LTP) area.

Nottingham station resignalling scheme enhancements

2. A £14million scheme of enhancements to the signalling and track layout in the area was included in Network Rail’s Strategic Business Plan in 2007, and submitted to the Office of the (ORR) for approval. On 5th June ORR announced its ‘Draft (i.e. provisional) determination’ on schemes included in the business plan. It approved funding for only a minority of enhancement schemes across the rail network, including a £55million upgrade of the . However, the Nottingham Station Area signalling and track layout enhancement was in the majority of enhancement schemes for which funding was not approved.

3. The enhancement of the signalling and track layout in the Nottingham Station area is important because the current layout is very inflexible and often results in trains having to wait outside the station before gaining access to a platform, causing delay. The enhancement will resolve the current problems, and allow trains to go faster, with less delay. It will enable journey times to be cut by a couple of minutes, and it will mean that all train services run more reliably. It will also allow for future expansion of services as and when they are needed.

4. The ORR draft decision was subject to consultation over the summer. Led by the two authorities, with Network Rail, the Train Operators, the Greater Nottingham Transport Partnership and other key partners, the case for the enhancements was refined and resubmitted to ORR, formally requesting that this decision be reversed.

5. On 30th October ORR announced its final decision, which included approval of the £14million (£9.8m, plus £4m for contingencies) for the Nottingham enhancement. This was the only enhancement scheme anywhere on Britain’s rail network for which ORR reversed its original refusal to provide funding.

6. Design works on the scheme continue. The County Council has proposed a layout which would include provision of an additional platform 7, and Network

1 Rail is actively considering this. The Councils are working closely with Network Rail to ensure that the best layout is adopted.

Nottingham station Hub scheme

7. The Hub planning and listed building consent applications are on programme to be re-considered by the City Council's Development Control Committee on 17th December following re-design of the Station multi storey car park cladding. Should Committee Members resolve to grant consent the application has to be referred to the Government Office for the (GOEM) since the scheme affects a Grade 2* listed building. An expeditious response from GOEM will assist in maintaining momentum on the Hub scheme. In the meantime the City Council have mobilised for the delivery of the highway works, including the closure of Station Street, which are necessary to facilitate the Hub scheme.

8. The Hub Outline Business Case (OBC) has been updated to support the funding application which has recently been submitted to East Midlands Development Agency (emda). The OBC will be finalised following the conclusion of Network Rail's ongoing negotiations with and the regarding Rail Industry funding. The three principal funding sources remain Network Rail, the local authorities and emda.

9. Network Rail who will be delivering the majority of the Hub project has commenced initial procurement activity, including pre-qualification processes for appointing Design and Build contractors. The Invitation to Tender is subject to funding authorisation which is itself dependent on successfully completing the planning process. However a start on site late 2009 with completion late 2012 remains realistic.

New services from December 2008.

10. The new winter timetable commences on 14th December 2008. It will see a number of new services to Nottingham.

Nottingham -

11. Currently Nottingham and Leeds are the only pair of adjacent ‘regional capital cities’ without a direct train service. Several previous attempts have been made to get a direct service, notably • in 2000 from the Midland Main Line franchise extension, when new trains were purchased partly to run a Nottingham to Leeds service, and • in 2003 from the M1 multi-modal study. However, none of these previous attempts succeeded.

12. In January 2006, the County Council made a formal proposal for a Nottingham to Leeds service, and this was included in the East Midlands regional submission to the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF). DfT did not take the proposal forward under TIF, but after further joint work by the County

2 Council and the All-Party Parliamentary MML Group, DfT announced approval for a new service, to be operated by Northern Trains.

13. The new service is scheduled to start on December 15th. It will comprise 28 trains per day i.e. each way, every hour, throughout the day. The Councils expect that around a million passengers per annum will use the service once it becomes established. It is the most significant improvement to Nottingham’s train services since the 1993 re-opening of the .

14. Ceremonies to mark the start of the new service are to be held in Nottingham and Leeds on 15th December, at which Northern Trains will name the inaugural train ‘County of Nottinghamshire’ in recognition of the role played by the Council in bringing the new service into being.

Robin Hood Line

15. On 14th December a Sunday service will be introduced on the Robin Hood Line, comprising 20 trains per day (10 each way). 8 trains will run to/from Worksop, and a further 12 to/from Mansfield Woodhouse. It is anticipated that the service will be used by 1800 passengers per Sunday, once it is established.

16. Currently the last evening train on the Robin Hood Line departs from Nottingham at 21.05, which is too early. From December 15th an additional train will run, departing Nottingham at 22.00.

Nottingham - Matlock

17. At the instigation of DfT, a new service will run every hour throughout the day between Nottingham and Matlock. It will increase the number of trains between Nottingham and Derby by 35%.

18. This service will call at Beeston and Attenborough, enhancing the service at both places. It will give Attenborough the most frequent regular interval service it has ever had.

Combined effect of the new services

19. It is notable that Nottingham is the first station since the 1960s to have more than one train service starting at the same time. A very small number of other places - Cardiff, Edinburgh and Leeds - have had more then one new service over many years, but nowhere other than Nottingham has had this on the same day.

East Midland Parkway

20. Construction of the new £20million station is nearing completion. A dispute had arisen between an adjacent property owner(s) and Network Rail over access to adjacent properties, which caused a small delay, but this is now resolved and the station is expected to open in early 2009.

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RECOMMENDATION

17. It is RECOMMENDED that Members of the Committee note the contents of the report.

Background Papers

Network Rail Strategic Business Plan, 2007. Office of the Rail Regulation, Periodic Review 2008

Contact Officers

Jim Bamford, Communities Department, Nottinghamshire County Council Tel: 0115 9773172 E-mail: [email protected]

Chris Carter, Environment and Regeneration, Nottingham City Council Tel: 0115 915 55220 E-mail: [email protected]

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