Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Role of Rail 4 3. The Tees Valley Rail Network 6 4. Aspirations for Tees Valley Rail 18 5. Interventions 25 6. Action Plan 33 2 Draft Rail Implementation Plan 1. Introduction Tees Valley Combined Authority is the local transport authority for the Tees Valley. This is the Tees Valley Rail Implementation Plan, part of the first Strategic Transport Plan for the region, for the period up to 2029. It has been developed by the Combined Authority in collaboration with our five constituent Local Authorities, Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees. The Combined Authority has ambitious plans to grow the region’s economy and our Strategic Economic Plan aims to create 25,000 Our vision for new jobs and deliver an additional £2.8billion into Tees Valley by Tees Valley is: 2026. We are also developing a Local Industrial Strategy, an agreement between us and the Government on how we will To provide a high improve our economy over the next ten years and how this will quality, clean, feed into the Government’s overall UK strategy. quick, affordable, reliable and safe In order to ensure that everyone in Tees Valley is able to work, transport network study, enjoy and fully participate in these ambitious plans for the for people and future, we need a world-class transport system that also encourages inward investment. Transport is about connecting freight to move people and businesses in Tees Valley and beyond. Delivering a within, to and from world-class transport system that is fit for the future is a critical Tees Valley. enabler for the success of the area. In preparing the Strategic Transport Plan, a framework was developed based upon six themes, which are closely linked and will all require improvement in order to meet the overall transport vision for the Tees Valley. The six key themes are: National Rail. Major Roads. Connecting Economic Centres. Unlocking Key Sites. Local Journeys. Deliver Social Equality and Protect and Enhance the Environment To support the Strategic Transport Plan itself, a series of Implementation Plans have been prepared which go into more detail on the current and future issues, and the interventions needed, across the six themes listed above. This Rail Implementation Plan covers issues relating to the first theme in the above list in particular, but also links to the third, fourth and fifth themes as well. It explores the importance of rail services (both passenger and freight) to Tees Valley and briefly reports on the work done to date in enhancing the rail network, before setting out the key elements of rail improvements that are needed to support our ambitions. As with the Strategic Transport Plan, we are looking for feedback on this supporting document, before it is finalised towards the end of 2019. Please visit our website to provide your input. www.teesvalley-ca.gov.uk/consultations Draft Rail Implementation Plan 3 2. Role of Rail The rail network in the Tees Valley plays a key role in linking our main centres of economic activity and in providing crucial connectivity to other parts of the country. Rail contributes considerable lasting benefits to the productive potential of the Tees Valley, helping to reduce congestion on the road network and facilitating the development of clusters of economic activity around stations. More specifically, the Tees Valley rail network: Supports commuting to/from urban centres and other economic clusters of activity, leading to an increase in the density of employment which raises productivity; Allows the development of business links and market opportunities as a result of inter-city connectivity; Increases output in other sectors of the economy, since rail services reduce transport costs relative to journeys made by road; Delivers other productivity impacts such as enhancing trade between firms; Supports the tourism and leisure economy by providing access to and from the airports and specific attractions; Improves quality of life through improving access to education and training, improving social inclusion, lowering the number of killed or seriously injured on the transport network and reducing environmental impacts of road travel; Supports international connectivity by facilitating access to major ports and airports and helps to attract inward investment; and Supports the movement of goods in a sustainable way. Passenger rail in the Tees Valley has continued to show significant growth in recent years, and is key to providing good public transport access between our main economic/retail centres, Teesport, Teesside International Airport and many of our major employment and regeneration sites. Between 2000 and 2018, patronage at all Tees Valley stations has grown by 75%, and this growth has largely been maintained through recent challenging economic conditions (for example, there was a 6.3% increase between 2012/13 and 2017/18). Freight movements by rail have also continued to increase as epitomised by the growth in container traffic into and out of Teesport, which has increased by an average of 7% per annum over the last 5 years. Approvals and funding are already in place for the Northern Gateway Container Terminal expansion at Teesport which will significantly add to this by more than doubling the container capacity to 1.1 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) and creating up to 4,000 direct and indirect jobs. The future development of the South Tees Mayoral Development site could also open up further opportunities for freight growth in this area. To support our future plans, we need a rail network that has high quality vehicles, frequent services and goes to where people will want to travel now and in the future. Our rail links to London and Scotland via the services on the East Coast Mainline are critical for business and leisure travel. This is highlighted by recent research which showed that existing East Coast services at Darlington benefit the Tees Valley economy by £400 million. Hartlepool and Eaglescliffe also continue to benefit from the direct links to London provided 4 Draft Rail Implementation Plan by Grand Central. It is important that these links are retained and enhanced to offer optimum provision for Tees Valley passengers and support the economy. Connectivity to the Midlands and beyond to the south west, as well as to Yorkshire, is also important and is currently provided by CrossCountry services. There are 742,000 Cross Country journeys per year from Darlington which equates to almost one third of all rail demand at this key rail gateway for the Tees Valley. East-west connectivity across the North is provided by the TransPennine Express franchise from both Darlington and Middlesbrough (plus Thornaby and Yarm) to York, Leeds, Manchester and Manchester Airport, in particular. The economic linkages between the Tees Valley and the Leeds and Manchester city regions are important to the economic vitality of the area. In particular, there are strong economic, social and cultural links between Tees Valley and Leeds. The link to Manchester Airport is critical in that it is currently the only direct link between the area and one of the country’s major international airports for businesses that require international connectivity. Local rail connectivity within the Tees Valley, for both passenger and freight services, is also vital to our economic growth to ensure that our key centres of population and economic activity are well connected together as well as to the national rail network. This is highlighted by the fact that “Connecting Centres” is one of the five main themes within the Strategic Transport Plan framework. The Northern franchise provides the majority of local rail services which operate on our rail network. Addressing the needs and unlocking the potential of both the national and local rail networks is the fundamental principle behind the Tees Valley’s rail ambitions, which aim is to provide a 21st century transit system in a cost effective and efficient way. Draft Rail Implementation Plan 5 3. The Tees Valley Rail Network Extent of the Rail Network The current Tees Valley passenger rail network is illustrated below. Tees Valley Passenger Rail Network Whilst the network is fairly extensive, it is still based, to a large extent, on historic patterns of development and travel demand and it does not necessarily fully meet our future needs. Passenger service levels, quality and connections are also not up to a sufficient standard to fully support our ambitious plans: most existing local timetables were designed many years ago and connections between services are often far from ideal; services do not always start early or run late enough; Sunday services are often poor; and there are even gaps in service at the busiest weekday peak times. The Tees Valley is still a major hub for the movement of rail freight with the freight-only Stillington line, which branches off in a NW direction north of Stockton, providing an important additional link to the East Coast Mainline south of Durham. We also retain a number of rail-connected freight facilities operating at Middlesbrough, Teesport, Redcar, Lackenby Wilton, Boulby Mine, Skinningrove, Port Clarence and Hartlepool (Hartlepool 20" Pipe Mill and the Power Station). These are supported by large marshalling yards at Thornaby (Tees Yard) and Middlesbrough and are illustrated in the plan below: 6 Draft Rail Implementation Plan Tees Valley Rail Freight Network Our local rail-freight infrastructure has largely developed on the basis of major flows of dry and liquid bulks to and from private sidings or port facilities, relating to the area’s position as a major centre for petro-chemicals, steel-making and power generation. We also have a long history as a major centre for intermodal traffic. Stockton was in the first wave of Freightliner terminals opened in the 1960s, and we have retained a continuous Freightliner presence for almost 50 years.