Bill Young, Vice-Chair, Strathallan Community Rail Partnership. Thursday 30th November 2017 Strathallan Community Rail Partnership • Includes Bridge of Allan, and Gleneagles stations • All three stations are ‘adopted’ • Aims to bring the communities and the railway closer • Formally established on 19 December 2015 by the transport minister • Over 885,000 passenger journeys made in 2015/2016. Bridge of Allan Dunblane Line opened in 1848 – 23 years after Locomotion was put on the railway track at Heighington prior to pulling the first passenger train Between Stirling and Perth

• In 1848, there were stations at Bridge of Allan, Dunblane, Kinbuck, Greenloaning, Blackford, Gleneagles ( Junction), , , and • By the end of 1965, only Dunblane and Gleneagles were left. • The current Bridge of Allan station opened in 1985 • In 1848, the first journey from Glasgow to Perth took 3 hours & 5 minutes.

Original station - just north of rail bridge over A9

Current station - just south of rail bridge over A9 Dunblane station Gleneagles Station Background Figures of passenger use in 2015/2016

Station Passenger use Increase from 2014/2015 Bridge of Allan 278,942 1.44%

Dunblane 539,412 1.0%

Gleneagles 66,698 12.38% Strathallan Community Rail Partnership Passenger Rail Usage Report

Tayside and Central Transport Partnership (TACTRAN), on behalf of Strathallan Community Rail Partnership, commissioned SYSTRA Ltd to undertake a rail travel passenger survey at the three stations. Purpose of survey

To determine: 1. Which communities use the three railway stations 2. Why passengers use these stations 3. Identify issues to attract more passengers 4. Provide details of journey origins and final destinations (rather than station to station information) Passenger origin

• At BoA, 63% of passengers originated within BoA, while 24% started their journey from ‘north Stirling’. • At Dunblane, 74% of passengers originated from within Dunblane. • At Gleneagles station, 35% of passengers originated from Auchterarder.

Reasons for using rail travel

Many reasons given but most passengers chose their station of choice because of its ‘closeness to home’

BOA 82% Dunblane 92% Gleneagles 93% Travel to each station

BOA Dunblane Gleneagles Car driver 52% 26% 47% * Car Passenger 13% 18% 37% Bus 1% 1% 5% Bicycle 3% 5% 0 Walk 27% 47% 0 Train 2% 3% 0

* 12% passengers arrived at Gleneagles by taxi Car Parking at Stations

• Bridge of Allan - 88% of people travelling by car used the station car park; 12% parked on adjacent streets. Car park full by 08.45. • Dunblane – 35% used Springfield terrace lower (P&D Council run); 35% used the dual carriageway; 19% used Millrow. • Gleneagles – 100% of passengers travelling by car used the station car park. Car park almost half full by 10.15. Actual destinations for passengers

• The most popular trains for boarding at Dunblane and Bridge of Allan were those going to Edinburgh with Glasgow (Queen street) the next most popular. • At Gleneagles the most popular trains for boarding were those going to Glasgow with the London train the next most popular. • Small numbers travelling north. Passengers travelling to Perth and Dundee During the survey:

• 2% of passengers from BoA travelled to Perth while 2% travelled to Dundee

• 2% of passengers from Dunblane travelled to Perth while 5% travelled to Dundee

• Nobody travelled from Gleneagles to Perth while 7% of passengers travelled to Dundee.

There is potential to attract many passengers if fares are attractive.

What can we do? • Adopt a higher profile for the CRP – web-site, leaflets, noticeboards at stations and within the communities holding an annual conference to include AGM - Note the Date 21st April 2018. supporting events such as the 50th anniversary of the closure of the Crieff railway • Improve customer awareness of services – noticeboards and web-site • Identify ways to increase use of rail services – keep stations attractive (thanks to station adopters) improve car parking facilities develop a use for vacant facilities improve connections between buses and trains • Improve information for visitors to our stations produce leaflets on walks and cycle routes showing cafes restaurants cycle stations, etc. use of a web-site

Those were the days my friends!

A reminder that the coming of the railway brought prosperity to our towns and villages – The CRPs can help today’s railways to continue to do just that.