Bath & North East Somerset Council

Bathampton Station Park & Ride Scheme

GRIP Stages 1 & 2 (equivalent) Report

prepared by: OTB Engineering UK LLP in association with Servant Transport Consultants and MDS Transmodal Ltd

Report No. UK11024/R02.3 Issue date: 18th September 2013 Bath & North East Somerset Council Bathampton Station Park & Ride Scheme GRIP Stages 1 & 2 (equivalent) Report ISSUE AND APPROVAL CONTROL SHEET

Client: Bath & North East Somerset Council

Address: Riverside, Temple Street, Keynsham, BS31 1LA

Project: Bathampton Station Park & Ride Scheme

Document Title: GRIP Stages 1 & 2 (equivalent) Report

Document No: UK11024

Title Rev No. Date Format

Draft Report 2.1 5th February 2013 PDF

Final Report 2.2 25th February 2013 PDF & hard copy

Final Report with 2.3 18th September 2013 PDF & hard copy amendments to Section 8

Prepared by: D Baker / M Garratt / M Brooker

Checked by: D Hindle

Approved by: M Brooker

OTB Engineering UK LLP 52 Lant Street, London SE1 1RB Tel +44 (0)207 099 2608 Fax +44 (0)207 099 2611 www.otbeng.com OTB Engineering UK LLP, in association with Servant Transport Consultants and MDS Transmodal Ltd., have prepared this report in accordance with the instruction of its client Bath & North East Somerset Council, for their sole and specific use. Any other persons who may use any information contained herein do so at their own risk.

© OTB Engineering UK LLP. 2013

Document Number UK11024/R02.3, September 2013 Bath & North East Somerset Council Bathampton Station Park & Ride Scheme GRIP Stages 1 & 2 (equivalent) Report CONTENTS

CONTENTS Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... IV 1 INTRODUCTION...... 1 1.1 Project description...... 1 1.2 Commission...... 1 1.3 GRIP 1 Output definition...... 1 1.4 GRIP 2 Output definition...... 1 2 TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT. THE NEED FOR A PARK & RIDE SCHEME TO SERVE THE EAST SIDE OF THE CITY OF BATH...... 2 2.1 Outline of the planning and highways background...... 2 2.2 Brief summary of the recent 50 years of Bath traffic and transport studies...... 2 2.3 The urban area traffic needs case (i) road traffic and people entering Bath today...... 3 2.4 Improving on current performance of the train services...... 4 2.5 The urban area traffic needs case (ii) car parking...... 4 2.6 Travel time from car parks to destinations in the central area...... 6 2.7 Travel time from a station in the Bathampton area...... 6 3 INITIAL DESCRIPTION AND COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS OF POTENTIAL RAILWAY STATION SITES FOR A NEW BATHAMPTON PARK & RIDE RAILWAY STATION AND LARGE CAPACITY CAR PARK SCHEME...... 7 3.1 Comparative evaluation of potential station sites...... 7 3.1.1 Site (A)...... 7 3.1.2 Site (B) ...... 8 3.1.3 Site (C) ...... 9 3.1.4 Site (D)...... 9 3.1.5 Site (E)...... 10 3.1.6 Site (F)...... 11 3.2 Site options, initial conclusions...... 12 4 NEW STATION PROJECT INCEPTION REPORT...... 15 4.1 Introduction...... 15 4.2 Context. The need for a Park & Ride scheme to serve the east side of the City of Bath...... 15 4.3 Objectives...... 15 4.4 Outcome...... 16 4.5 Transport needs statement...... 16 4.6 Station Design...... 17 4.7 Site suitability...... 18 4.8 Railway planning context...... 18 4.9 Requirements considered during the development of the Bathampton P&R Station proposal ...... 20 5 CONSULTATION WITH PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE OPERATORS...... 21 5.1 Introduction...... 21 5.2 Outline Agenda for discussion with Train Operating Company...... 21 5.2.1 Without prejudice and in confidence...... 21 5.2.2 Purpose of the discussion...... 21

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5.2.3 Operator of the new station...... 21 5.2.4 Car park operator...... 22 5.2.5 Track layout...... 22 5.2.6 Train services...... 22 5.3 Notes of discussions with the four franchise bidders...... 22 5.3.1 Franchise bidder A...... 22 5.3.2 Franchise bidder B...... 23 5.3.3 Franchise bidder C...... 24 5.3.4 Franchise bidder D...... 24 6 GUIDE TO RAILWAY INVESTMENT PROJECTS, GRIP STAGE 1 SUMMARY REPORT...... 25 6.1 GRIP Stage 1,...... 25 6.1.1 Output definition, Network Rail guidance for railway development schemes...... 25 6.1.2 Output definition, Bath & North East Somerset, Part 1 report...... 25 6.2 Incremental Network Capability outputs...... 25 6.2.1 Capacity...... 25 6.2.2 Journey time and frequency...... 26 6.2.3 Train operations ...... 26 6.3 Problems at Bathampton Junction today and the opportunities associated with the proposed new station scheme...... 26 6.3.1 Train Speed ...... 26 6.3.2 Track layout and signalling ...... 27 6.4 Next steps: pre-feasibility and feasibility design study, GRIP stages 2 & 3 ...... 27 6.4.1 Railway engineering and operational studies ...... 27 6.4.2 Highway engineering and new semi-underground car park...... 27 7 GRIP STAGE 2. DESK TOP DESIGN, COST AND BUSINESS CASE PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY...... 29 7.1 Site (F) the Tyning Paddock site, initial railway land and infrastructure assessment...... 29 7.2 Environmental impacts (I) - Existing land use designations...... 29 7.3 Environmental impacts (II) - noise and visual impact ...... 31 8 RAILWAY OPERATIONAL ISSUES AT BATHAMPTON JUNCTION AND AT A NEW STATION ...... 34 8.1 Assessment of the existing railway track layout at Bathampton Junction...... 34 8.2 Train service and rolling stock options...... 35 8.2.1 Shuttle service option...... 35 8.2.2 Mixed Shuttle and Regional service option...... 35 8.2.3 Regional service option...... 35 8.3 Phase 1 track layout at Bathampton Junction for a new station on a new curve alignment.....36 8.4 Phase 2 track layout at Bathampton Junction...... 37 9 DEVELOPMENT OF THE HIGHWAY AND CAR PARK ELEMENTS OF THE SCHEME...... 39 9.1 Junction onto the A4 Batheaston Bypass...... 39 9.2 The semi-underground, three level car park...... 39 9.3 Disability Discrimination Act compliant access to the car park...... 40 10 DEVELOPMENT OF THE RAILWAY TRACK AND STATION ELEMENTS OF THE SCHEME...... 41 10.1 Track geometry and switches...... 41 10.2 New Bathampton Station...... 41 11 ESTIMATE FOR THE PROPOSED SCHEME...... 43 12 TRAIN PLANNING, TRAIN PATHING, TRAIN DIAGRAM AND TIME TABLE STUDY...... 45 12.1 Track Capacity...... 45

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12.2 Schedule of train services...... 45 12.3 Improving reliability ...... 47 12.4 Incremental train operating costs...... 50 12.4.1 Cost of 2nd shuttle train, Bristol – Bathampton...... 50 12.5 The case for mainline platforms...... 50 13 PRELIMINARY BUSINESS CASE...... 52 13.1 Introduction...... 52 13.2 Strategic Fit...... 52 13.3 Objectives...... 52 13.4 Commercial aspects ...... 53 13.4.1 Options for procurement and operation...... 53 13.4.2 Private Finance Deal Structuring ...... 53 13.5 Charging ...... 54 13.6 Capacity, utilisation and daily revenue...... 55 13.7 Capital expenditure and revenue net of operating costs...... 56 13.8 Achievability...... 57 14 SUMMARY OF THE GRIP 2 PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDIES & RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT STEPS. ..58 14.1 Bath & North East Somerset’s objective at GRIP 2 pre-feasibility stage...... 58 14.2 Taking the scheme forward through railway industry procedures...... 59 14.3 Taking the scheme forward through the statutory Town & Country Planning process...... 60 15 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER PHASES OF STUDY...... 61 15.1 Part 3 - Comparative assessment of Options Report...... 61 15.2 Part 4 - Engineering Feasibility Study and Report...... 62 15.3 Part 5 - Planning Act 2008, development consent order (DCO) preparatory work & report...... 62 APPENDIX A Pre-GRIP Need Analysis - Report. APPENDIX B General Arrangements and Sections - Drawings

Document Number UK11024/R02.3, September 2013 Page iii Bath & North East Somerset Council Bathampton Station Park & Ride Scheme GRIP Stages 1 & 2 (equivalent) Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Bath, the attractive city. Bath is a hugely attractive city. It is recognised as a World Heritage Site for its Roman archaeology, its Georgian architecture and the natural beauty of its setting in the Avon river valley. In addition, there are the “hot springs” that attracted the Romans and Georgians and have made the city a health and recreation centre throughout its history, including through a rich medieval period, less often recognised but still evident in the form of the central area. All this makes the city an attraction for travel. Recent traffic count data at an outer cordon around the city indicated about 48,000 vehicles entering and leaving the city each day. Bath is so attractive that many people who need to move to it, can never move away. “We moved here in such and such a year and could never bring ourselves to move away” is a common refrain. Ministry of Defence staff sent by the Admiralty, stay on and, over the recent 40 years, many students who came here never moved away again. This has contributed to about 18,000 Bathonians commuting outward from the city each day. In the other direction, the value of the wonderful environment, and the pressure of so many university places, has pushed house prices up and many who do have jobs within the city must commute inwards; about 20,000 each day. In addition, the central area is a regional shopping centre attracting shoppers from far afield and the health care facilities serve a region of about 500,000 people. And then of course there are the purely recreational visitors, the tourists. A smaller, but challenging, proportion of the traffic is just passing through.

Capacity and the agreed need. Many of those who want to reach, or depart, the central area do use rail services. The Joint Local Transport Plan (JLTP) records that between 2003 and 2010 rail use in the area increased by a commendable 65%. Others use the successful park & ride sites to north, south and west of the city, so successful that their capacity is currently being increased by 50%. And others use the central car parks, on the north-west and south sides of the central area. Yet traffic levels continued to rise through the JLTP period. The Bath local authority, Bath & North East Somerset set itself the target that traffic in the central area should be reduced to, and kept below, 10% below 1999 levels. This means that as well as seeking to reduce traffic levels, growth in economic activity within the central area that needs any vehicular access can only be accommodated by re-deploying some of the current capacity, meaning that facilities must be put in place that enable some of the existing usage to be replaced by a non-private car mode. A big challenge here is that today there is no park & ride facility on the east side of the city, there is hardly any long-stay car parking capacity on the east side of the central area; yet about 33% of the traffic is crossing the outer cordon on east-side arteries. It even gets worse: much of this traffic from the east must drive right through the central area to find a parking place in a car park to the west, then drive back through the central area to get home. There is wide agreement that an east-of-Bath park & ride facility is needed. What had been less easy to find was a suitable site for the car park and an attractive “ride” for the transit service.

The Bathampton Park & Ride railway station proposal. Consultation on alternative sites for a bus-based park & ride scheme together with the concept of a rail-based park & ride scheme are in progress at the time of completion of this report.

Document Number UK11024/R02.3, September 2013 Page iv Bath & North East Somerset Council Bathampton Station Park & Ride Scheme GRIP Stages 1 & 2 (equivalent) Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This document describes how a park & ride facility comprised of a large-capacity car park linked to a new railway station in the area of “Bathampton Junction” on the railway network could meet the need. Six station sites adjacent to the railway junction are considered, including their implications for the location of the car parking capacity. One site is taken forward through the study to provide a basis for civil engineering cost estimates to use in the assessment of the business case for such a scheme. At first glance, because this site involves an entirely new length of railway, this might be judged the most costly scheme but the nature of railway civil engineering work is such that this is not necessarily the case and the evaluated scheme is able to deliver other, additional, benefits to the operation of the railway network. Charging for use of the new facility has been based on the time required between a visitor crossing the outer cordon (sic ) and reaching their destination within the central area using the new park & ride facility being approximately the same as if they had used a central area car park. This means that charges for use of the park & ride facility have, for this study, been based on current charges for use of car parks in the central area of the city. It is because the travel time by rail is so fast, 4 minutes, that a Bathampton park & ride-by-rail scheme should not be categorised with the three existing bus-based park & ride facilities in terms of charging. The frequency and passenger carrying capacity of rail service that would be needed to achieve the financial performance that has been shown, could be provided in a range of ways. At one extreme two, two-car, trains could operate a simple shuttle service between Bathampton and Bath’s central station alternatively existing and projected trains passing Bathampton could be strengthened, or un- used capacity on other existing and projected trains could be utilised intelligently, or of course by a combination of these measures. For the projections shown in this report we have assessed that a maximum of 6 additional carriages might be justified, with per kilometre operating costs and appropriate additional staffing costs. The net financial performance of the scheme appears, at this stage, to indicate a strong financial return and the benefit to cost ratio is in the range 1.54 to 2.1, depending on discount rate, even without any societal benefits being evaluated and taken into account in this initial BCR evaluation. Such societal benefits will include reductions to noise, pollution, particularly NOx in the London Road and Bathwick areas of Bath, together with reductions in congestion that assist achievement of Bath’s congestion reduction targets, the saving of delay minutes both to users of the new park & ride service and to other travellers and deliverers of freight who must use the central area highways, and of course the overall improvement in the visual environment of the streets of the World Heritage City. Further work on these aspects will be taken forward as the scheme develops but it is clear even at this early stage that a full evaluation of the societal benefits added to the straightforward financial costs and revenues, will indicate a strong BCR.

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Project description Bath & North East Somerset Council (Bath &NES) wishes to establish, or to have established on their behalf, a large "park & ride" facility on the east side of Bath. Bus-based "park & ride" schemes have been, and continue to be, examined but no suitable site has been identified. A proposal has been put forward to create a railway-based "park & ride" scheme utilising the existing Trowbridge Line, which connects to the Bristol to Portsmouth main line at Bathampton Junction and incorporates a new car park (partly sub-surface) linked to the A4 and an adjacent new railway station at Bathampton. The scheme will involve re-modeling the railway junction and realigning part of the Trowbridge Line to the south through the new station. It is intended that the critical track work is timed to be carried out whilst the railway is closed during the planned electrification of the main line. Network Rail's Guide to Railway Investment Project (GRIP) process defines the nine stages (GRIP 0 to GRIP 8) through which a scheme such as this must be developed in order to comply with their evaluation and approval requirements. Further comparative evaluation work on possible "park & ride" sites to the east of Bath is on-going. It is planned that when the business case for the proposed Bathampton Station Park & Ride scheme is developed to GRIP 3 "Option section", a level equivalent to the business case for the bus-based alternatives, a comparative evaluation can be made as between all of these options. A ”Pre-GRIP Needs Analysis” required at the commencement of internal railway industry projects was prepared by OTB during October 2012 and the document (Appendix 1) was submitted to Network Rail for comment.

1.2 Commission Bath &NES have appointed OTB Engineering LLP and its sub-consultants Servant Transport Consultants and MDS Transmodal Ltd. under an NEC 3 Professional Services Agreement to undertake a study of the proposed Bathampton Station Park & Ride scheme and prepare reports that will go forward to Network Rail as their GRIP 1 and Grip 2 submissions. This report addresses the key requirements of GRIP 1 and Grip 2.

1.3 GRIP 1 Output definition. The following is the definition of Network Rail’s Guide to Railway Investment Project Stage 1 (GRIP 1) requirements:  Aim: To define the output for the project (in terms of the incremental network capability required by the investment’s "client"). This is described in terms such as increase line capacity or reduce train delays.  Main output: Defining the needs and requirements – the problem or opportunity through stakeholder consultation.

1.4 GRIP 2 Output definition. Network Rail defines the second phase of the GRIP process as the pre-feasibility study phase  Aim: To produce a pre-feasibility level design, estimate the construction cost of the scheme and an initial Business case  Main output: identify alternative site options, adopt an option for taking forward at this stage, provide a design for the scheme with civil engineering cost estimate, test the railway operational effectiveness of the train service and test the estimated costs and revenue of the scheme as a whole in an initial business case.

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2 TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT. THE NEED FOR A PARK & RIDE SCHEME TO SERVE THE EAST SIDE OF THE CITY OF BATH.

2.1 Outline of the planning and highways background. Bath today has Park & Ride car parks with bus services into the centre of the city for car users approaching from the north, the west and the south but not from the east. A particular challenge for a Park & Ride scheme on the east side of the city is that a bus service between the car park and the central area would need to use London Road, the most congested, slowest moving route into the centre, despite the in-bound bus lane. A car park site was proposed at Bathampton Meadows on the north side of the A4 Batheaston Bypass and Great Western railway corridor. The site would have taken approximately 4.8 hectares from the Green Belt, currently all green fields clearly visible from the surrounding hills. It has been estimated that a P&R bus service from a Bathampton Meadows car park site should take 14 minutes for the journey into a central area terminus but might take up to 18 minutes during peak periods. Residents of villages overlooking this part of the Avon river valley felt that the visual and noise impact of the Bathampton Meadows scheme would have been unacceptable and, following the local government elections of May 2011, the scheme was dropped as a result of democratic process.

2.2 Brief summary of the recent 50 years of Bath traffic and transport studies. The 1965 Buchanan Study promoted the concept of “full motorisation” which was to include up to 13,000 parking spaces in a transformed central area. By 1976 traffic engineering thinking was beginning to change, Jamieson Mackay & Partners (JMP) did not envisage more central area parking but introduced the concept of Park & Ride sites around the city. Happily, since that time successful Park & Ride sites have been developed to north, south and west of the city. But no suitable site has been agreed for traffic approaching from the east, including in fact, traffic approaching from the north on the main road from the motorway, the A46. Following a comparative assessment of a number of possible sites to the east of the city, a site at Bathampton Meadows was selected, but this scheme, at 1,500-1,850 spaces, on one hand might have been too small to meet certain recommendations set out in the relevant Department for Transport guidance yet on the other hand was felt by the authors of the Bristol/Bath to South Coast Study, to be "by the very nature of the size... environmentally damaging to the green belt and unlikely to be acceptable to local residents..." and residents of Bathford, Batheaston and Bathampton, went on to confirm their objections. "Bus-Based Park & Ride: A Good Practice Guide", published jointly by the Department for Transport and the English Historic Towns Forum, recommends, for example, (Chapter 3, Site location) schemes "should preferably be surrounded by sufficient adjacent land to allow expansion should levels of demand warrant this" and (Chapter 6, Site design and facilities) "it is sensible to think ahead so that future extensions can be accommodated with the minimum disruption". The Bristol/Bath to South Coast Study (WSP, Final Report, City of Bath, Chapter 5: Transport options for Bath) found that an east-of-Bath park & ride facility would give significant beneficial traffic impact and consequent environmental benefits to the London Road and other areas of the city. However, the appraisal summary tables (ASTs) of an initial environmental impact assessment of the then-proposed Bathampton Meadows site found that: "the AST indicates that a large adverse impact can be expected. At this location the site would be very visually prominent...."; and at Chapter 6, Summary paragraph 6.4: "... it would be very environmentally damaging to the green belt. ... by the very nature of the size of such a site its visual intrusiveness into the natural valley landscape is unlikely to be accepted by the local community. It is therefore recommended that it should not be progressed.... an alternative site found...." Currently, the city's three park & ride sites have about 2,000 spaces and are being extended to provide a total of about 3,000, estimated to be used by about 2,700 cars per day, about 13% of the visiting vehicles. These P&R car parks are to the north, south and west of the City. To the east no suitable, potentially effective site has yet been agreed. Meanwhile, east of the central area, London Road is the residential area of Bath that is worst effected by traffic, commuter traffic, through traffic and visitor traffic.

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At the same time, Bath & North-East Somerset Council has adopted the planning objective of seeking to reduce traffic entering the central area by 10% below 1999 levels; about 900 cars plus traffic growth over the recent 12 years @ 2%, say a total of 2,000 vehicles. About 3,000 daily visitors need to be persuaded to change their mode of transport.

2.3 The urban area traffic needs case (i) road traffic and people entering Bath today. The City of Bath has an average of 48,500 vehicles per day entering and 48,500 leaving, from north south, east and west, at a cordon drawn outside the Park & Ride sites, of which  about 33% appear to be Bath residents travelling out in the morning and returning later,  about 10% is general traffic just passing through,  about 12% commercial vehicles, vans or HGVs and  about 1% service buses and coaches from outside the city. So about 21,000 cars and light vans visit the city each day. At about 1.5 people per vehicle this means about 31,500 people visit the central area each day by car. Of these about 2500 visitors and 1700 cars use the Park & Ride sites (see Table 2.1 & Figure 2.1 below). After deducting use of the existing park & ride facilities about 29,000 people and 19,300 cars enter the city wanting somewhere to stop. Many of these will be destined for nodes outside the central area; earlier studies found that about half were destined for the central area, half for points such as the Royal United Hospital, the universities, schools, the MoD office sites and the suburban shopping centres; say 15,000 people with about 10,000 vehicles entering the central area during a typical day (24hr). Visitors to the central area travelling by public transport are made up of:  about 2,500 who left their cars at a park & ride site,  about 4,500 use service busses from outside the city outer cordon,  about 4,000 use tourist coaches and  about 7,150 arrive and leave by train each day, so these are also visitors who enter the city centre, but without their car. About 18,150 people from outside the city already enter and leave the central area each day by non-private car modes. Hence, we can say that around 47 thousand people each day come from outside Bath into the city as a whole to work, shop, study or just to admire the “World Heritage City” and about 55% of those who come into the central area do so without their private car. Service buses and tour coaches are successful in making major contributions to this achievement. Rail services and Park & Ride services could be looked to, to do better. [Traffic data in this paper are taken from current Bath & NES traffic counter stations with additional analysis based on earlier studies and reports including: Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study; Bristol/Bath to South Coast study; and JMP studies for Avon CC. Rail passenger figures in this paper are from the Office for Rail Regulation database and the Network Rail Great Western Rail Utilisation Strategy] INBOUND OUTBOUND 5day average, all vehicles Lansdown Site 25 6215 5575 Kelston Rd Site 24 3262 3439 Newbridge (estimate) Site 8 5280 6160 Lower Bristol Rd Site 9 5200 5985 Odd Down Site 17 8118 7654 Glasshouses Site 16 4631 4573 Warminster Rd Site 44 5042 5430 London Road Site 1 9662 11136 Totals: 47410 49951 Table 2.1 Traffic crossing Bath outer cordon station (Source: Bath &NES traffic count stations data, 2011)

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Figure 2.1 Diagrammatic map. Traffic entering Bath outer cordon, 5 day average

2.4 Improving on current performance of the train services. The Bristol/Bath to South Coast (BB2SC) studies that were completed in 2004 included analysis of rail services on the Bath – Salisbury corridor and concluded that with a series of improvements including a “clock face” half-hourly services, about 3680 journeys per day would transfer to rail, say 1840 inbound and 1840 outbound, equivalent to say 1300 vehicles each way. Further work on such schemes throughout the Bristol area was completed in 2006 during the Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study. The exact measures required were then identified in the Network Rail, Great Western Route Utilisation Study (GW RUS) of 2010 and came to be referred to as the “Greater Bristol Metro” scheme. This project is now included in the specification for the new Great Western franchise that is to be let later this year.

2.5 The urban area traffic needs case (ii) car parking. The map, Figure 2.2 below, shows how the three existing bus-served Park & Ride sites, Lansdown to the north, Newbridge to the west and Odd Down to the south, are in fact all to the west of the central area. Within the urban area the largest facility is Charlotte Street car park, 1075 spaces, and this is also west of the central area. The only existing car parks east of the central area that are available for long stay parking are the small units at Manvers Street, 161 spaces, and at the Cricket Ground, 150 spaces. Bath serves as a regional employment, education, shopping and health services centre for a wide area but particularly for the West Wiltshire towns which lie to the east of Bath. Yet for visitors from West Wiltshire the most attractive car park for stays in excess of 4 hours is at Charlotte Street, west of Queen Square. To reach this car park and to return homeward, visitors from West Wiltshire must drive the length of London Road, London Street, The Paragon, George St, Gay St and all four sides of Queen Square; they must drive right through the Georgian heart of the city, twice.

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Figure 2.2 Map showing existing long stay car parks in and around Bath. Table 2.2 below shows the order of costs at each of Bath’s central area car parks, all of which are well used, on most days of the year used in excess of 80% of capacity. This indicates that the current table of charges has been set at levels that the market is content to pay. Up to: 2 hours 3 hours 4 hours 6 hours 8 hours 11+ hours Spaces Avon Street £ 3.10 £ 4.30 £ 5.40 £ 7.40 £ 9.90 £ 12.50 661 Southgate £ 3.50 £ 4.50 £ 5.50 £ 8.00 £ 10.00 £ 13.00 876 Manvers Street £ 3.10 £ 4.30 £ 5.40 £ 7.40 £ 9.90 £ 12.50 161 Cricket Ground £ 3.10 £ 4.50 £ 5.80 £ 8.40 £ 10.80 £ 13.00 150 Charlotte Street £ 5.40 £ 6.40 £ 8.50 1075 coarse price structure for long stay users The Podium £ 3.40 £ 4.50 £ 5.50 4 hour maximum stay permitted 550 Pulteney Street £ 3.70 short stay only permitted on-street: 2hr max Queen Square £ 2.90 short stay only permitted on-street: 1hr max Table 2.2: Existing Bath central area car parking, charges and total capacity. The consistency and stability of these parking charges indicates that for an east-of-Bath Park & Ride facility in the Bathampton area, the total price, parking plus transit for, say at this stage, four people should be of the order of £ 5.60 for up to 4 hours and £ 9.20 for up to 8 hours at 2013 prices. Clearly, drivers of cars from points east of Bath will save on car operating costs by terminating in the Bathampton area and this might currently be assessed as about 55p/mile, but taking only the “avoidable cost” of fuel @20p/mile x 3 miles each way, this will provide an average saving to each driver of about £1.20 per visit to Bath. Rather than attempt to capture this through what would be

Document Number UK11024/R02.3, September 2013 Page 5 Bath & North East Somerset Council Bathampton Station Park & Ride Scheme GRIP Stages 1 & 2 (equivalent) Report REPORT seen as a premium above central area parking costs, this should simply be regarded as the minimum net benefit to a driver paying about the same to park at a new Park & Ride in the Bathampton area as he would do today to use a long-stay site in the central area.

2.6 Travel time from car parks to destinations in the central area. Having arrived and parked at one of these central area car parks most of the central area shops and other objectives will be within 10 minutes walk. Given that for drivers from origins east of Bath, their travel time outside the peak periods between passing the Bathampton area and parking at a central area car park will be at least 14 minutes then from crossing the River Avon at Batheaston to arriving at, say, the Roman baths at the centre of the central area will be at least 24 minutes. (During peak periods, 10 minutes central area walk plus travel in direction of peak flow between central area parking and the bridge at Batheaston requires of the order of 35 minutes.) Fixed charge parking + bus Spaces Published Journey times Spaces to be added Lansdown £ 3.00 490 11 minutes 390 Newbridge £ 3.00 500 10 minutes 250 Odd Down £ 3.00 1000 12 minutes 230 Table 2.3: Existing Bath outer urban bus-served Park & Ride sites, charges, capacity & time Bath’s three existing Park & Ride sites offer 4 or 5 regular interval journeys into the city centre every hour, varying with route and time of day. We can therefore, say that average elapsed time between parking, average waiting time, the bus journey, 10 minutes walk from the bus stop and arrival at a central area location will be about 28 minutes. This analysis indicates that to be acceptable, a Park & Ride facility in the Bathampton area needs to be able to offer a total elapsed time between the bridge at Batheaston and arrival at a location in the central area that is competitive with the range 24 to 28 minutes, including parking time, waiting for the transit service and a ten minute walk within the central area.

2.7 Travel time from a station in the Bathampton area. If a car park site could be identified near to the railway junction at Bathampton at which a railway station could be built, then the rail journey into Bath Spa main line railway station would be about 3.75 minutes - based on current Westbury line train operating time-tables. If four equally spaced, regular interval, train services could call at the station each way, each hour then the average waiting time would be 7.5 minutes. Add 2.5 minutes for car arrival, parking, ticketing and walking through the station, then a further 10 minutes for walking in the central area gives a total average elapsed time between a car crossing the bridge at Batheaston and the traveller’s arrival at a location in the central area of 24 minutes, the lower bound of the range 24 to 28 minutes identified in section 2.6 above. Hence, we can say that a park & ride car park with rail service from a site in the Bathampton area would be competitive as an alternative transport offer to present day users of private cars on this eastern approach to Bath in terms of journey time. The electrification of the Great Western Main Line (GWML) provides a once-in-a-lifetime window of opportunity for the development of stations and track improvements on this railway route, including a feasible station site at Bathampton.

Document Number UK11024/R02.3, September 2013 Page 6 Bath & North East Somerset Council Bathampton Station Park & Ride Scheme GRIP Stages 1 & 2 (equivalent) Report REPORT

3 INITIAL DESCRIPTION AND COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS OF POTENTIAL RAILWAY STATION SITES FOR A NEW BATHAMPTON PARK & RIDE RAILWAY STATION AND LARGE CAPACITY CAR PARK SCHEME.

3.1 Comparative evaluation of potential station sites. The Railways and Other Guided Transport (ROGS) regulations require that in the course of development of any guided transport infrastructure, alternative schemes are considered and evaluated comparatively to ensure that the most appropriate scheme is taken forward for development. Six possible sites for a new station and its car park can be identified in the area of Bathampton Junction on the railway network and within reach of the A4 Batheaston Bypass for road users, the market for the scheme: On the Great Western Main Line: (A) The original Bathampton GWML station site. The NR document “Investment in Stations” recommends that promoters should consider former station sites because many of the features required for a station may still be in place. (B) A site immediately west of Mill Lane, Bathampton, adjacent to the Up Passenger Loop and the car park of The George Inn (C) A site with platform centre approximately 250 metres east of Bathampton Junction on the GWML, adjacent to the existing peak in the longitudinal profile of the A4 Batheaston Bypass to enable an underpass to a car park on the south side of the railway On the Trowbridge Line railway: (D) A site on the Trowbridge Line with platform centre approximately 350 metres from Bathampton Junction, adjacent to Bathampton Farm (E) A site on the Trowbridge Line with platform centre approximately 700 metres from Bathampton Junction, adjacent to an existing industrial site, a former timber merchant’s yard now not intensively used for general storage (F) A new site approximately 250 metres from the existing Bathampton Junction, south of the existing railway curve. The scheme would include re-alignment of a length of the Trowbridge Line. A new park & ride station site should be assessed in terms of: (i) its impact on train operations and railway infrastructure, (ii) the feasibility of mitigating any deleterious impacts on train operations, (iii) the relationship of the car park to the A4 Batheaston Bypass in highway engineering terms, the “market” for the facility. 3.1.1 Site (A) The original site of the Down (westbound) platform is now occupied by the lead of the Down Trowbridge track and its connection into the Down Main. A new Down platform could be built alongside this track, slightly to the east of the original position to avoid the existing connection into the Down Main. On the Up side the existing position of the facing crossover between Up Main and Down Main means that either this crossover would need to be moved eastwards or that the new Up platform would need to be to the west of the original site, partly under Mill Lane Bridge, but even in this position it would interfere with the existing position of the connection from the Up Passenger Loop (UPL) back into the Up Main. This could be avoided by moving the UPL connection westwards by about 80 metres. With part of the platform under Mill Lane Bridge this structure would need to be rebuilt with an additional single track span to the north of the double track main line span (as the existing three- arch structure).

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To reverse trains they would have to cross the Down Main, join the Up Trowbridge and use a new crossover to regain the Down Trowbridge for the new Down platform. Nearest feasible car park site would be the Bathampton Meadows site, directly opposite these platforms on the north of the railway and A4 Batheaston Bypass, with highway access to and from the A4 Batheaston Bypass as previously designed. This would require a pedestrian bridge over the four track railway and dual carriage highway with Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) compliant lifts at the car park and at both railway passenger platforms. However, the environmental impacts of a car park at Bathampton Meadows have previously been held to be unacceptable to residents of the three adjacent villages and the site rejected through democratic process. The original highway access to Bathampton Station was from the village but that is not the objective of this scheme. The creation of a facility that might attract travellers on the A 36 to drive through the village and park on the streets or in the village pub car park, The George Inn, would not be acceptable and would need to be provided against. 3.1.2 Site (B) A single platform alongside the Up Passenger Loop (UPL) could be used as a train reversal facility with a new trailing crossover to the west of the UPL as proposed in a report on the Bristol Metro proposals by Halcrow for the West of England Partnership (WoEP). The platform would need to be centred about 200m west of Mill Lane Bridge to avoid the existing connection back into the Up Main. To enable the platform to extend eastwards, nearer to Mill Lane and possible car park sites, the track connection UPL to Up Main should be moved eastwards by, say, 100m, without disturbing other existing Bathampton Junction track fittings. Mill Lane Bridge would need to be rebuilt with an additional single track span to the north of the double track main line span (as the existing three-arch structure); abandoned track bed is available for this track extension. A station of this form could only be served by terminating trains reversing at Bathampton, so either two shuttle trains providing 4 services per hour (see sections 8.2 to 8.4 below) or a combination with reversing Bristol metro trains. It would not provide any options for future development of use of the station by regional services working east of Bathampton. A second platform, Down side, could be achieved by moving the existing connection from the Down Trowbridge into the Down Main, west by about 250 metres. Mill Lane Bridge would need to be rebuilt with an additional single track span to the south of the double track main line span (as the existing three-arch structure); abandoned track bed is also available for this. This arrangement would allow both reversing trains and through Trowbridge Line trains to call at the station but some westbound services would depart from the Up side and some from the Down so passenger information would need to be carefully managed. Use of the existing Up Passenger Loop in this way for a high frequency of passenger trains calling at a new station, many of them reversing, would make it impossible to use the UPL for “refugeing” freight trains to allow fast passenger services to pass. This change of utilisation of the UPL may not be acceptable to the network operator or to the freight train operating companies (FOCs). Additional crossovers might resolve these problems but this would have to be the subject of a specific consultation under Railways Act 1993 “network change” procedures. A car park on the north side of the A4 Batheaston Bypass, directly opposite this station site, would be difficult to achieve because the bypass is in deep cutting at this point, although it may indicate that a multilevel structure could be built within a small land-take. The junction onto the highway would be at grade and may be considered by the Highways Agency to be unacceptably close to the slip roads of the A46 junction to the north-west. By moving the UPL connection a little to the east the platform could be accessible from the Bathampton Meadows car park site.

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Use of either of these car park sites on the north side of the A4 would require a pedestrian bridge with DDA compliant lifts (just 2) and resolution of the criticisms noted at (A) above. A further difficulty may be that an unacceptable number of car users feel attracted to park in the car park of The George Inn, including driving from the A36 through the narrow streets and over the canal bridge of Bathampton village. These issues would need to be resolved. To facilitate the range of track layout options in the Mill Lane area for this and other site options we suggest that Mill Lane Bridge should be rebuilt as a four track span structure to enable the possible utilisation of abandoned track bed to the north and to the south of the existing main line tracks at this point - as the existing, life expired, three-arch structure. 3.1.3 Site (C) This site would be on the main line approximately 250m east of the existing location of Bathampton Junction, at the position where the A4 Batheaston bypass pavement level is at a peak, about the same level as railway track. Here it would be reasonably straightforward to build a grade separated junction off the A4 with an underpass beneath both the through highway and the main line railway to a car park site at Bathampton Farm. A car park at this site could be partly cut into the slope of the ground back to the existing boundary of the Trowbridge Line railway. To provide a three level structure of the order of 2200 space capacity would require the demolition of Bathampton Farm. DDA compliant access to the platforms would include a passenger underpass beneath the main line and lift up to an Up side platform. If station platforms were constructed beside each of the existing main line tracks they could only be served by regional train services. There are today no regional train services that might make an additional stop at this location, as indicated by the difficulty of getting the railway industry to actively support the proposed Corsham station. It would be possible to extend the Up Passenger Loop (UPL) to this point, largely on abandoned railway track bed with the connection back into the Up Main moved eastward by about 650m to a position just east of a new, single, station platform on this extended UPL. Shuttle and reversing trains would be able to serve this single platform station as with site (B) above and return via a new trailing crossover to the west of the UPL, as for (B) above. No regional services on the Trowbridge route would call at this station. Regional services on the GWML could be added later with Up services using the UPL platform and construction of a second platform: on the Down Main for Down regional services. As with site (B) above, use of the UPL for an intensive passenger train service would need to be consulted on with the infrastructure operators and FOCs and sanctioned through the “network change” procedures. Also as with (B) above Mill Lane bridge would need to be reconstructed as a three track span for the additional track to the north of the existing main lines. 3.1.4 Site (D) This site 350m into the Trowbridge Line would also be convenient for a 2200 space three level car park structure and A4 highway access exactly as described for site (C) above, again requiring the demolition of Bathampton Farm. DDA compliant passenger access would in this case be a passenger underpass beneath the existing Trowbridge Line railway. At this location the existing Trowbridge line is in fact on a radius of 577 metres with significant installed track-cant of up to 110mm approaching a 290m radius curve. If a new station were built here installed track cant would have to be reduced and speed through the 300m radius curve may have to be reduced from the present 40mph Up and 50 mph Down. There would also be increased wear and rail-wheel contact “squeal” as a result of increased flange contact at maximum permissible speed.

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This 300m radius curve geometry means that it would not be possible to insert an additional turn-out east of the existing connection between the Down Main and the Up Trowbridge, the beginning of the Trowbridge Line, ahead of the station site so as to provide a bay platform and reversal siding between the through lines. A two platform station at this site could be served by through regional trains on the Trowbridge route and by terminating regional or shuttle trains by means of a new crossover installed between the Up and Down Trowbridge Lines further to the south-east. This would mean trains reversing in a through line, away from the passenger station, with the result that of the order of 6 minutes would be added to the train diagram for each reversal and the train would occupy either the Up Trowbridge or the Down Trowbridge line, at the platform plus at a reversal location for an extended period of time with each train reversal. An alternative approach would be to allow Up direction terminating trains to use the existing facing cross-over between the Up and Down Mains just east of Mill Lane, enter the Down Trowbridge, “wrong direction”, then stop at a Down side platform at this site. Here passengers would alight and board while the train was prepared for reversal and the potential time lost to the train diagram at each reversal would be saved. This reversing train would, however, block the Down Trowbridge during this process for 6 minutes for each reversing train, at least twice per hour. The problem could be overcome by the installation of a facing crossover between Up and Down Trowbridge lines to the south-east of the new station (as the sub-option described above) to enable through Down Trowbridge trains to pass a stationary, reversing, train in the Down platform by using the Up Trowbridge line “wrong direction” and its existing connection into the Down Main at Bathampton Junction. This sub-option would require some development of the signalling system. The first 120 metres of the Down Trowbridge is in fact straight which means that a right hand turnout could be installed before the start of the 290 metre radius curve and a new terminating track and bay platform built to the south of the existing pair of through lines. Terminating, Up direction, trains would then enter the Down Trowbridge at the existing connection to the Down Main, turn right into the new siding terminating at a new bay platform. In this case the railway track bed would need to be widened to the south-west. Material would be excavated from the existing cutting side to the south-west and the cutting side itself moved back to provide width at track level for the new bay platform. All of this work would need to be carried out on and adjacent to the “live” railway. Operationally the disadvantage is that each arriving, terminating, Up train would have to occupy the Down Trowbridge track for a space of time and this would take capacity from the Down Trowbridge route. A further alternative might be for the station site (D) to in fact move towards site (E) so that a site with correct track geometry could be found for a turn-out into a bay platform and reversal siding between the through lines. The Down Trowbridge would then be moved about 8 metres to the south west by widening the cutting to provide space for the new bay platform and reversing siding between the through lines. To enable Down Trowbridge regional trains to call at the station rather than provide a separate Down-side platform, the new platform should be an island platform, two faces, both offering trains towards Bath, thereby also saving a DDA lift. This would, however, require the cutting to be widened and the Down track moved 10 metres to the south-west. All of this work to widen the cutting and build a new platform between the through lines would need to be carried out on and adjacent to the “live” railway. 3.1.5 Site (E) This site 700 metres into the existing Trowbridge Line would be alongside a length of track with a curve radius of approximately 420 metres. This is not ideal but station platforms could be made to work in this area with some realignment of tracks north-west and south-east of new platforms. Ideally, a new bay platform should be inserted between the two through tracks in conjunction with some track realignment work. This would enable terminating regional and/or shuttle trains to reverse at a platform off the through lines, which avoids trains blocking a through line, makes better use of train and crew diagram time and simplifies time-table planning by avoiding the need for coincident paths in two through tracks.

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The challenge with this location is that it is much further from the A4 Batheaston Bypass than any of the other site options. A grade separated highway junction and underpass beneath both the A4 and GWML could be exactly as for sites (C) & (D) above but with a further bridge for the access road to pass under the Trowbridge Line at about the site of the existing “Glass’s” level crossing, the existing road access to Bathampton Farm. The Farm building would not need to be demolished. The access road to the park & ride facility would then be about 400 metres in length, between the centre of the A4 junction and the entrance to the car park. A car park could be established in the former timber yard, an area of land currently having established use as a B2 or B8 site in planning terms. The site is nevertheless in designated Green Belt and an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB). With excavation over an area enclosed by the railway and by an existing line of poplar trees, an underground car park might be able to accommodate up to 2000 spaces but site access for earth- moving plant between this works site and a possible disposal site on the opposite side of a “live” railway would be difficult. This industrial site is clearly visible from houses in Bathford today and it would be difficult to screen. Even with an earthwork bund established between the railway and the river the horizontal and vertical distances between the site and potential observers produces a sight line at an angle that rises quite steeply from this option (E) car park site. An earthwork bund screen on the east side of the railway, the left bank of the river, would be very close to the flood plain boundary and it would be difficult for an adequate screening bund to avoid straying into the flood plain at this point. This group of issues might be capable of resolution but will require further development of a mitigation scheme. 3.1.6 Site (F) Development of a new railway station alongside a new length of railway would enable all of the construction to be carried out in “Green Zone”, a railway civil engineering term meaning: work not immediately adjacent to an operational railway. This means that construction of the station works would be much cheaper than for construction of new station platforms around an operational railway. The new station and the new length of the Trowbridge Line railway would be constructed in a paddock off Tyning Road, Bathampton, with the two ends of the work connected into the operational railway over one weekend (possibly two) after all work on or near the new length of railway and the station platforms built adjacent to it, were finished. The scheme requires the existing track connections for Up and Down Trowbridge traffic to be moved westwards. The work of moving these railway track fittings should be taken as an opportunity to change the existing fittings that have speed limits of 40 mph and 50 mph respectively for 60 mph fittings and improve speed for fast services not calling at the new Bathampton Park & Ride station. The existing and feasible new track fittings and their net characteristics are discussed in detail in Chapter 8. To make best use of the opportunity to achieve a new layout at Bathampton Junction with faster speed in and out of the Trowbridge Line and greater capacity for Up Trowbridge direction train movements, as with options (B) & (C) above Mill Lane bridge should be reconstructed as a four track span. This will enable extension of the existing UPL track to the north of the existing main lines and the new position of the connection from the Down Trowbridge track. The new car park structure, a semi-underground structure cut into the slope of the field in the angle between the two railways in the final alignment of the Trowbridge Line, could provide 1850 at an initial stage of development and be enlarged to provide 2850 spaces at a later stage. The Bathampton Farm building would not have to be demolished but should probably be acquired and redeployed as an ancillary facility to the park and ride scheme. Screening of the structure from viewpoints to the east would be by means of an earthwork bund, north-south from about the position of the existing level crossing, east of the Farm building. The vertical distance between the top level of parking, about railway track level, and viewing points with the village of Bathford would be similar to that for site (E) above but the horizontal is greater and there is more space outside the flood plain for the construction of an adequate bund.

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The bund itself would be the disposal site for material excavated from the car park structure site and would be reached by contractors’ plant without crossing a live railway or public highway. Highway access would be exactly as described for sites (C) (D) & (E) above, crossing beneath the A4 Batheaston Bypass and GWML at about the level of the ground floor of Bathampton Farm and the yard in front of this building. DDA compliant access would be via lifts to each platform from the mid level of the three level structure with Blue Badge parking on this mid level. With the construction of a new station and new tracks in a clear site away from the live railway, the platform and track layout should be planned to give maximum capacity for the future development of services to the new station and points further east using the Trowbridge Line. If services are expected to include terminating regional services and/or shuttle services for a number of years then a bay platform between the two through lines should be provided. This will enable arriving, terminating, trains to leave the Up track without entering the Down and enable departing trains to join the Up track without impacting the Down. If regional services to stations further east on the Trowbridge Line will be planned to call at the new station then platforms on the through lines should also be provided ab initio, while it is simple and economical to build them at a site where no “live” train services are passing.

3.2 Site options, initial conclusions. The above evaluation of the six site options will need to be revisited at an options workshop involving the participation of railway industry and Bath & North East Somerset officials and their advisors. Without prejudice to the outcome of a final choice of station site with its associated car park and highway access works, at this stage the most promising of the six is taken forward through the rest of this study to produce a “proof of concept” cost, revenue and business case assessment. A first glance evaluation of the alternative schemes may suggest that, as a result of extensive permanent way works, Site (F) might be the most expensive, but by taking this option forward for the pre-feasibility study, equivalent to GRIP stage 2, it enables us to evaluate the business case using infrastructure costs that might generally be accepted as the upper bound for costs for a scheme based on any of the six basic site options described in this section of the study. Through the remainder of this document Site (F) is referred to as Tyning Paddock.

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The only nearby car park site option would be Bathampton Meado Figure 3.1 Bathampton park & ride station site options (A) (B) & (F) and their car park site options. Site (A) is the original Great Western Bathampton Station site. Site (B) is to the west of Mill Lane, probably only a single platform station. Nearest car park option is on the opposite side Site (F) in the angle between a new railway chord, also indicated, could have three platform faces and be adjacent to its car p

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car park would be at an existing industrial site. Site (F) in t at the same site, in angle between the two railways. rk could be built in the angle between the two railways. Figure 3.2 Bathampton park & ride station site options (C) (D) & (E) and their car park site options. Site (C) is on the Great Western Main Line. The car pa Site (D) is on the Trowbridge Line. Its car park could be Site (E) is on the Trowbridge Line beyond the sharp curve. The new railway chord, also indicated, could have three platform faces and be adjacent to its car park. Document Number UK11024/R02.3, September 2013 Page 14 Bath & North East Somerset Council Bathampton Station Park & Ride Scheme GRIP Stages 1 & 2 (equivalent) Report REPORT

4 NEW STATION PROJECT INCEPTION REPORT.

4.1 Introduction. This chapter presents a short report prepared in accordance with the recommendations of Network Rail document “Investment in Stations. A guide for promoters and developers”. Written during September 2012 the document was circulated to the four Great Western passenger train service franchise bidders for comment. The scheme is to provide a new Bathampton Park & Ride railway station at new platforms on the Trowbridge Line at the same time as carrying out works to rebuild the railway track layout at Bathampton Junction to improve its flexibility and capacity in preparation for 25kV AC overhead line electrification of the Great Western Main Line. Adjacent to the new station a new car park on three levels would be built mainly on railway land of the original station yard and in the angle between the two existing railways, with the lowest level at about that of the base of the embankment, outside the flood plain.

4.2 Context. The need for a Park & Ride scheme to serve the east side of the City of Bath. The World Heritage City of Bath today has Park & Ride car parks with bus services into the centre of the city for car users approaching from the north, the west and the south but not from the east. A particular challenge for a Park & Ride scheme on the east side of the city is that a bus service between the car park and the central area would need to use London Road, the most congested, slowest moving route into the centre, despite the in-bound bus lane. A car park site was proposed at Bathampton Meadows on the north side of the A4 Batheaston Bypass and Great Western railway corridor. The site would have taken approximately 4.8 hectares from the Green Belt, currently all green fields clearly visible from the surrounding hills. It has been estimated that a P&R bus service from a Bathampton Meadows car park site should take 12 minutes for the journey into a central area terminus but might to take up to 20 minutes during peak periods. If a car park site could be identified near to the railway junction at Bathampton at which a railway station could be built, then the rail journey into Bath Spa main line railway station would be about 3.75 minutes - based on current Bristol to Westbury service train operating time-tables. Phase 1 of a multi-level car park at a new Bathampton Park & Ride station would provide 1850 car park spaces. Ground works necessitating heavy construction plant would also be carried out to enable Phase 2, up to a further 1000 spaces, to be added when required, total 2850 car park spaces. The electrification of the Great Western Main Line (GWML) provides a once-in-a-lifetime window of opportunity for the development of stations and track improvements on the route, including a feasible station site at Bathampton on the Trowbridge Line. Although additional platforms on the GWML would also be feasible this would add cost to the scheme.

4.3 Objectives. (1) A new Bathampton Park & Ride railway station to the east of Bath would complement the existing, highly successful, bus-transport based facilities to north, south and west of the city. Cars entering the city from the east today must use a congested highway, taking up to 20 minutes during spread peak periods, and do not have easy access to the existing car parks on the south and west of the central area. Use of a new station at Bathampton would offer travellers:  a capacious car park at a price similar to that of central area car parking  a journey into Bath Spa station within the central business district of the city taking under four minutes, and  a saving of the order of 30 minutes each working or shopping day  the option of travel through to Bristol, avoiding traffic congestion on the approaches to both cities.

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The value of time saved and the convenience of the large car park, compared with the alternative of driving into the central area from the eastern approach, should be expected to mean that a new Bathampton Park & Ride by rail facility would perform more successfully than the existing Park & Ride facilities to north, west and south of the city. Further objectives are to: (2) Provide a productive train turn-back site to the east of Bath Spa station for Bristol Metro services, initially 1 additional train per hour but later two per hour, to and from which trains would carry passengers rather than just run east of Bath as empty stock. (3) Improve speed through Bathampton Junction for Portsmouth train services and thereby improve the feasibility of the Bristol – Westbury service option which could provide additional trains calling at the new Bathampton Station.

4.4 Outcome. This should be expected to result in of the order of 800 departures plus 800 arrivals per day from soon after opening of the facility, building up to 1800 departures plus 1800 arrivals, total: 3600 passenger movements per day through the station. At that stage a further 1000 car park spaces could be added raising total passenger movement to: of the order of 5200 per day, 2600 each way. Most of these journeys will be to and from Bath Spa but a proportion will be to and from Bristol. Other local benefits will include reduction of NOx pollutants in what are today the most severely affected areas of the World Heritage City of Bath.

4.5 Transport needs statement. About 30,000 people travel into and out of Bath each day. Office of Rail Regulation statistics indicate that about 8000 of these use rail services. There has been a series of studies on road traffic conditions within and around the World Heritage City of Bath and a great variety of recommendations for major highway schemes. One of the only major road schemes to have been built is the A4 Batheaston Bypass that runs parallel to the GWML at Bathampton Junction. The proposed new station car park would have a direct link onto this road by means of a new bridge under the GWML and under the existing bypass. As a result of a street pattern within the urban area that has altered little during the recent 60 years, the A4-A36 highway route around the east and south of the city, and particularly the London Road, suffers congestion and high levels of NOx pollutants for long periods each day. London Road traffic operates at saturation load over peak periods that effectively “spread” from 07.00 to 19.00 with a daily total of about 23,000. This is a single carriageway road originally developed as a residential street with of the order of 1500 dwellings fronting onto the road. About 9% of the 23,000 vehicles per day are through traffic that would not be affected by a Park & Ride scheme. A further 40% are trips internal to Bath and 2% are heavy goods vehicles. This indicates a possible market for usage of a Park & Ride scheme to enter and return from the central area of about 11,500 light vehicle occupants per day or 5750 each way. To the south of Bath the Odd Down Park & Ride site is alongside a route with 18,000 vehicle movements per day, and easier access to central area car parks. This P&R site has 1000 spaces and a bus service capacity of 320 passengers per hour taking 10 to 12 minutes to reach the central area. About 1800 trips per day are made using this facility. At Bathampton user costs will be higher but benefits will also be significantly greater. Detailed evaluation of comparative costs and benefits as between the P&R facilities will form part of the Business Case development for the scheme. Highway access to the Bathampton Station Park & Ride site will be via the A46 from the north and the M4 Motorway, the A4 from the east including the Box, Corsham and Melksham areas, and via the A 363 from the Bradford-on-Avon area and other rural areas around the West Wiltshire towns.

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Bath & North East Somerset is a member of the West of England Partnership (WoEP) and is wholly supportive of the Bristol Metro enhanced rail service network proposals put forward by WoEP. The new station at Bathampton and its associated car park and track works are also entirely consistent with the Bristol Metro objectives. The proposed reconstruction of Bathampton Junction as an integral part of the scheme will also deliver 65mph running into and from the Trowbridge Line compared with 40mph Up direction and 50mph Down direction today, together with increased train capacity by obviating the need for coincident paths in the GWML Up and Down Mains for Up Trowbridge trains to cross the GWML Down Main at Bathampton Junction. Bath & North East Somerset unitary authority intends to act as the promoter of the scheme and will initiate a Public Enquiry under the Planning Act 2008, to obtain planning powers, acquire the land needed for the scheme, enter into an agreement for the long term lease of the car park site with a car park developer and operator, and enter into any such agreements as are required with parties in the railway industry concerning the construction and operation of the station and the operation of train services to the station.

4.6 Station Design. The initial design for the station was drafted on the basis that a Park & Ride train service might need to stand alone if the enhanced frequency of train services proposed in the Bristol Metro scheme were not to come forward. This layout is based on a single, central, turn-back track with an island platform for disembarking and embarking passengers. This would be the most “land hungry” layout as a result of the island platform and the need to allow for the development of two further platforms alongside the Up and Down Trowbridge tracks. If, following the conclusion of the franchising process, the train operator were to prefer to operate all Bristol Metro services through to Westbury so as to enable all Portsmouth services to run non-stop between Westbury and Bath, then it would be possible to simplify the track layout to provide just two platforms, adjacent to the Up and Down Trowbridge tracks, for all of these all-stations services. Another variant of the track layout and switch & crossing fittings at the new station that would enable terminating Bristol Metro trains to turn-back in the new Down platform but be passed by Down ex-Portsmouth trains, can be developed subject to proof of concept following a detailed train time-tabling study. The car park will have three levels:  at about railway track level  approximately 2.5 metres below track level  approximately 5.0 metres below track level Access to the newly constructed concrete station platforms will be via a subway route to the mid car park level, approximately 2.5m below track or 3.4m below platform level and by both stairs and lifts to each platform, all providing a step free route. Parking reserved for disabled travellers will be on the mid car park level, as will toilets and other station facilities including booking office, a City of Bath information centre and a number of shops to ensure that the whole facility complies with Equality Act requirements. Train operational staff accommodation and storage could be provided in the same area, at platform level or at the lower level, subject to detailed design. Accommodation for car park operational staff including security will also be provided and the extent to which this is integrated with train operating staff facilities will be decided as the design develops. The whole facility, both station and car park, will be covered by CCTV and a lighting scheme that will seek to minimise light pollution within the sensitive site area in the River Avon valley floor. The station platform and underpass construction will be carried out in “green zone” around the new Trowbridge line alignment that will provide the improved speed through Bathampton Junction. Completion of the underpass route to the multi-level car park, and this structure itself, will then be completed, in “green zone”, after train operations have transferred to the new track alignment. Cycle and pedestrian access routes will also be developed from the village of Bathampton and from the right bank of the River Avon by up-grading an existing pathway that crosses the River using the St James railway bridge to a point midway between the villages of Bathford and Batheaston.

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4.7 Site suitability. The proposed station site is off the main Great Western running line in order to minimise impact on the GWML working time-table. This is not the site of the original station with platforms on the GWML tracks. At present, the first 1200metre length of the Trowbridge Line falls away from the GWML at 1 in 330 and then runs virtually level for the next 1800m. The new station can be configured with level tracks at the platforms and a short length of gradient falling from the junction with the main line. The existing 290metre radius curve on the Trowbridge Line approaching the junction will be replaced by a new alignment to the south-west. The new alignment will include straight lengths for platforms 140 metres in length with curves of about 400 metres radius up and down from the platforms. [However, if the new train operator wished to operate a service such as Oxford to Bristol Temple Meads calling at additional stations such Royal Wootton Basset, Corsham and Bathampton, then additional platforms and their access facilities could be provided adjacent to the main line on the north side of the car park structure.] The existing “Glass” user worked level crossing will be superseded by a new access route through the car park to lands to the east of Bathampton Farm. Modifications to the signalling layout would be required in association with modifications to signalling at the junction together with the re-location of the signal cabling route when the Trowbridge Line is moved to the south west. The general arrangement of the site, the new junction track fittings, the station and the multi-level car park, have been designed to avoid disturbing the Signalling Relay Room. The two connections for the Trowbridge Line move from Up mileage of the Relay Room to Down mileage of the Relay Room. At the date of writing this new station Project Inception Report, the Department for Transport has issued Invitations to Tender (ITT) to four pre-qualified train operating companies and bids are due to be returned by 25th October 2012. This means that in order to take the project forward the promoters, Bath & North East Somerset unitary authority (Bath &NES), are presenting this Project Inception Report to all four bidders and to the Department for Transport, Franchise Director, as well as to Network Rail. This means that options as to train services and the eventual station layout are being kept open and provision has been made in the initial design for the most “land hungry” station layout option likely to be required. Existing First Great Western services on the Trowbridge Line include one Westbury stopping service per hour and the stopping service to Weymouth may be being increased to one regular interval service per hour, subject to new franchise bid proposals. The “Bristol Metro” priced option in the new franchise Invitation to Tender document calls for one additional train per hour each hour between Severn Beach and Bath Spa, turning back in the Bathampton area, exact location, track S&C and signalling to be utilised, not defined in documents so far. As this report seeks to make clear, the Bathampton station and junction redesign proposed would create the required turn-back facility. This would provide three trains per hour. Ideally, Bath & NES would wish to see a regular interval service of at least four t.p.h. and this is a subject they wish to discuss with the eventual train operator. The February 2012 document “Bathampton Parkway. A scheme to provide a Park & Ride railway station and high capacity car park, largely on existing railway land at Bathampton Junction” circulated with this Project Inception Report, has been sent to the West of England Partnership and to Network Rail to provide information as to the background and early development of the scheme.

4.8 Railway planning context. The City of Bath has been in need of a Park & Ride facility to the east of the city for many years and this has been an objective of local plans. A further problem has been that bus-based schemes that had been put forward (a) utilised car park locations that imposed unacceptable environmental impacts and (b) the bus service into the central area would have taken an unacceptably long time during commuting hours.

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Strategic transport planning for Bath & North East Somerset is now developed co-operatively with the neighbouring three Bristol area local authorities as the “West of England Partnership” (WoEP). WoEP policy now very clearly looks forward to the initial establishment and ongoing development of the Bristol Metro network of regular interval local train services. The Bathampton Park & Ride Station and associated railway infrastructure works are entirely consistent with the objectives adopted by the WoEP. The Bristol Metro network as a whole, including the Bathampton scheme, are entirely consistent with guidance given by the Department for Transport that the new franchise including particularly the Bristol Metro Option, should facilitate “aspirations for greater localism and devolved decision-making” and the Department’s hope that “these local services (can be provided) in a more cost effective manner”. The new franchise ITT had taken the Great Western Route Utilisation Strategy and developed from its findings the specification of improved services on the Bristol to Portsmouth route. One constraint on this route is that the existing Switch & Crossing layout at Bathampton Junction restricts speed in the Up direction to 40mph and in the Down to 50mph. Another constraint is the frequency of stations in the West Wiltshire and Avon valley area. The proposed Bathampton scheme includes the opportunity to increase train speed through the junction to 65mph in both directions and is consistent with the associated development of new all-stations services between Bristol and Westbury. Upon authorisation of this Project Inception Report and confirmation from Network Rail Wales & Western route to proceed with development of the scheme design, full operational modelling will be completed using RailSys to understand any problems that could arise operationally. Initial analysis suggests that a dwell time of 40 seconds and the extra journey time added by deceleration and acceleration for the station will not affect the Bristol to Westbury all-stations service route diagram. Additional rolling stock over and above that required for the Bristol Metro priced option, Severn Beach to Bath service will not be required to allow the train diagrams to operate as proposed. Demand forecasts for the new station, based on a large body of work previously developed for a bus- based Park & Ride scheme, point to the probability that there will be significant use of the station by people who reside to the east of Bath and routinely travel to the city for work, shopping, leisure or healthcare purposes, quickly reaching1600 passenger movements per day and building up to 3600 movements per day. To comply with guidance set out by the Department for Transport for the design and development of Park & Ride facilities generally, the car park design provides the feasibility of further expansion should demand so indicate and passive provision is being considered for enhancement to the options for onward transport into the central area of the City of Bath. Capacity on the route between Bristol and Westbury plus the Bristol Metro service to a point on the east side of Bath as envisaged in the Department for Transport Great Western ITT will be sufficient to accommodate the extra travellers, although strengthening may be required within 5 years. DMUs currently using the route are usually operated in 2-car or 4-car formation. The new station is proposed to be built with 6-car platforms to cater for potential future train lengthening. The additional cost to the project of providing longer platforms when the station is being built in “green zone”, before diversion of the running line, will be marginal. Consideration has been made of the use of this route by existing W6 loading gauge freight movements. However, it is unlikely that the Avon Valley length of the route between Bradford Junction and Bathampton Junction will be enlarged for intermodal trains because of the difficulty of improving loading gauge clearance through the short tunnelled structures at Dundas Aqueduct and Avoncliff Aqueduct. The projected cost of the scheme as a whole is currently being re-evaluated. It is intended to pass the freehold of the station site to the network operator upon completion of the facility by means of a land swap agreement.

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4.9 Requirements considered during the development of the Bathampton P&R Station proposal These Ongoing comparative assessments of alternative Park & Ride sites to the east of the City of Bath.  There is no nearby existing facility that might be replaced or developed.  Land of the former Great Western Bathampton Station has been utilised in the scheme although the platform location is moved 200 metres to the east.  Characteristics of railway operations currently and as proposed under the new franchise ITT have been reflected in the design of the scheme.  Including in particular existing and proposed service mix and stopping patterns on the Trowbridge route.  The specific location of the proposed station has been based on: o minimisation of environmental impact in the floor of the Avon valley; o best use of redundant railway land; o avoidance of disturbance to the existing signalling room; o best location for grade separated highway access passing under the A4.  The scheme is entirely consistent with Bristol area rail planning policies developed from the March 2010 GW RUS to inform the July 2012 Department for Transport ITT.  The scheme will enhance capacity through Bathampton Junction so that, despite additional trains being required entering and leaving the Trowbridge Line, the proposal remains compatible with the Capacity Utilisation Index (CUI) for the routes involved.  The scheme will be compliant with all design requirements of new stations.  Topography of the site at the side of valley floor and in relation to the existing railway and highway rights of way has been utilised in the design of the scheme: o characteristics of the existing permanent way have been utilised in the development of the proposed improved layout of Bathampton Junction.  The Park & Ride site will have direct, grade separated, access from the A4 Batheaston Bypass: o during the construction period arrangements will need to be put in place to provide routine contact between the contractor and railway signallers to enable the existing “Glass” Level Crossing to be used by heavy construction plant.  First order build costs have been estimated for the complete scheme.  Part of the new station and car park are proposed to be built on land currently owned by Network Rail, final status of station freehold land boundary will be developed from a land swap agreement.  Information has been provided and high-level discussions have taken place with the existing TOC and NR. Further information has been supplied to the four pre-qualified bidders for the new passenger train operating franchise during the bid period.  A Transport Needs Statement is being developed from the series of traffic studies carried out in the City of Bath area and on-going traffic count data over recent years, including the “Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study” by Atkins, 2006, and ongoing work for the West of England Partnership of local authorities by Halcrow and the “Bristol/Bath to South Coast” studies by WSP for the same regional authorities and others. These have all pointed to the need to encourage greater use of rail services throughout the Bristol and Bath region: o these studies lead to the conclusion that a large rail-served Park & Ride facility to the east of the City of Bath would represent an optimal public transport solution.  Station design details are in course of development. The initial scheme is based on the maximum probable land-take required.  Consideration of appraisal guidelines, abstraction issues and procurement issues have been commenced and will be completed as part of work following commission of a full business case appraisal.

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5 CONSULTATION WITH PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE OPERATORS.

5.1 Introduction This chapter presents a note issued ahead of confidential discussions with representatives of each of the four Great Western passenger train service franchise bidders with the object of (a) explaining the scheme and (b) hearing the bidders’ views on the train operational issues. Written during September 2012 the document was circulated to the franchise bidders.

5.2 Outline Agenda for discussion with Train Operating Company 5.2.1 Without prejudice and in confidence. These notes and any statements made during discussions that take place between a Great Western passenger train franchise bidder and advisors to Bath &NES are without prejudice and in confidence. The objective of Bath &NES and its advisors is to seek to ensure that as the design of the Bathampton facility is taken forward the views and advice of the eventual train service operator are reflected to as great an extent as is practicable. 5.2.2 Purpose of the discussion. The promoters of the scheme, Bath & North East Somerset Council (Bath &NES) have been advised by Network Rail that they intend to progress their own scheme for the electrification of the Great Western Main Line to GRIP stage 3 by the end of 2012. Since the track layout required for the new Bathampton station involves alterations to the existing layout, it is important that the development of the station scheme proceeds in step with the planning of the electrification works. As with any scheme for the construction of a new railway station, it is very important that the train service operator is included in the discussion of proposals for a new Bathampton railway station and the development of the design. However, by the time the Bath &NES scheme reaches a GRIP 3 options and risks workshop meeting, expected during December 2012, it will not be possible to include the participation of the future train operator because the Department for Transport do not expect to be able to announce the award of the new franchise until March 2013. The purpose of a discussion with possible train operators at this stage, September 2012, is therefore to try to consider some of the issues and options that we might expect to have discussed at a GRIP 3 options and risks workshop with other railway industry colleagues. 5.2.3 Operator of the new station. Freehold ownership of the station site is expected to be placed with Network Rail as part of a final land swap agreement. The question of which party will take the roles of leaseholder, Station Facility Owner and Operator has not been pre-judged. Bath &NES hopes to see four trains per hour arriving and four departing, with 3600 passenger movements per day through the station from an early stage. Ticket sales are likely to be largely by self service machine integrated with car park ticketing but the large number of passengers during peak periods, possibly also the reversal of trains at a platform at this station, indicates that train dispatch staff may be required. Clearly, Bath &NES cannot expect any firm commitment from a train operator at this stage but we would find it helpful if you could indicate your general policy on these matters and the possible approach you might take. The proposed station is not part of a section 106 agreement or any other planning gain agreement under Planning Acts.

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5.2.4 Car park operator The promoters of the scheme, Bath & NES, has a large car park operator "waiting in the wings" who is prepared to make the greater part of the investment in return for a long lease to operate the car park facility. This car park operator has judged it to be commercially viable. Bath &NES have made no commitment to this party and neither will they before the new Great Western franchise operator is in place and has had the opportunity to consider taking up the option to act as car park operator as well as station facility operator (SFO). The local authority will retain freehold ownership of the car park site after it has been acquired other than the area of the new railway alignment and the new station site which will be transferred to Network Rail as part of a land swap agreement. Bath &NES is prepared to negotiate a long, low cost lease of the car park site. Where your train operating company is also the Station Facility Operator and there is a car park adjacent to the station, do you prefer to be leaseholder and operator of the car park as well as the station? 5.2.5 Track layout. The new track layout proposed at Bathampton Junction and at the new station have objectives:  To make best use of under-utilised railway land within the Green Belt and World Heritage site;  To improve speed through Bathampton Junction for both Up and Down Bristol to Portsmouth and other fast services;  To enable a local “Bristol Metro” service to turn-back at Bathampton;  To enable other Up or Down Trowbridge Line services to pass a stationary Bristol Metro train turning-back at the new station. There are various options for the station track layout and the drawings to date indicate the most “land hungry” layout. Final selection can only be made in the light of a RailSys study but we would appreciate any comments you may have at this stage. 5.2.6 Train services. The scheme promoters would like there to be 4 trains per hour to and from Bath at regular 15-minute intervals. We understand that there are to be  all-stations trains between Bristol and Westbury each hour  the Weymouth service is to strengthened to hourly and with longer trains  the Bristol Metro option starts with one train per hour from the west side of Bristol through to Bath, turning back in the Bathampton area. We would like to discuss how a fourth regular service might be added as early as possible and any other issues you may see with respect to the achievement of a four train per hour, regular interval time-table.

5.3 Notes of discussions with the four franchise bidders 5.3.1 Franchise bidder A.  Recognise that there is great potential for the proposed new station.  The promoter needs to convince the Network Rail Route Planner.

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 Need to be able to address the question of potential abstraction of traffic from Avon valley and west Wiltshire stations during a more detailed demand study. Also need to know impact of stopping times and their values.  Would want to be operator of the new station, the SFO, and to use new smart ticketing system.  Would prefer also to be operator of the car park and ready to negotiate an agreement with the proposer that would deliver this.  We assume the infrastructure will be designed and paid for by someone else?  3600 passengers per day is not a large number.  What about using the new station as a terminus for bus services to and from points east of Bath? Will the bridge under the main line be tall enough? Traffic congestion currently slows busses heading into Bath, there would be great benefits from a bus interchange outside the central area of the city.  Main line fast trains will continue to be 2 services to London Paddington and 1 to Portsmouth each hour.  There could be scope for main line fast trains calling during the peaks.  A new semi-fast main line service might be introduced but this would depend on the re-opening of several other stations such as Shrivenham, Corsham, Royal Wootton Basset. This could be reintroduction of the Bristol – Oxford service but extended to Milton Keynes. Such a service would depend on final capacity on the main line between Royal Wootton Basset and Didcot.  One hourly local train will continue to be the all-station Westbury service.  Second could be the Weymouth service which would be operated by four car trains and a regular hourly service pattern.  Third service: the first additional “Bristol Metro” service, reversing at Bathampton. We had been assuming reversal at bath Spa station but there are performance ramifications.  A fourth local train might be added at “Bristol Metro Phase 2”, probably running to Bradford-on- Avon then to Melksham, 1 train per hour 5.3.2 Franchise bidder B.  This operator plans to approach new station schemes in a new way and intends to open or re- open a number of stations in the franchise area if his bid is successful.  Also plan to put a lot of investment into car parking capacity throughout the franchise area.  Would be interested in the opportunity to fund the whole scheme, perhaps directly or perhaps with others.  Would want to be operator of both the station and the car park. Would also directly provide staff for both station and car park.  This would be at least a category E station requiring staffing, staff accommodation, platform canopies and other passenger facilities.  Would expect to be able to operate as a barrier-less facility, all ticketing using smart technologies.  This bidder noted that this was the first consultation they had had with a local authority regarding a new station in the greater Bristol area.

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5.3.3 Franchise bidder C.  Bidders has been putting his own time-table together based on services specified in the Department for Transport Invitation to Tender plus a few more.  All of those in the ITT including the Bristol Metro Option such as Severn Beach to Bath have been included. – No one is going to submit a none compliant bid.  This service may be operated through to Westbury as the existing local service to Westbury perhaps with varying stopping patterns to achieve efficient rolling stock and staff diagramming.  Bristol Metro is the right direction to go; you are doing exactly the right thing with this proposal.  We are prepared to go beyond the ITT obligations where we believe it to be right, such as for example, providing extra capacity on certain trains.  Bristol Metro Phase 2 services are not yet an obligation but we are sympathetic to the aspirations. These developments will be brought forward separately.  Financing of stations and car parks is not our core business but we understand the objective of an integrated product for the customer and we do not see any commercial barrier to it being built and financed by another party.  Exchange of information well in advance is helpful and avoids unnecessary misunderstandings. It is important to recognise the scale of the scheme and identify who is going to fund it. 5.3.4 Franchise bidder D.  Would want to be operator of both the station and the car park. In the future payment for both station car parking and tickets will use contactless “smart” technology so it becomes logical to integrate at the point of sale. It is also important that tickets are fully integrated with revenue protection practices throughout the rest of the franchise.  Too early to say whether we would be interested in funding. A partnership with a contractor would be attractive.  We are proposing to operate all of the services specified in the ITT including the new Bristol Metro service to Bath and we recognise that this could be operated to Bathampton.  Other services on the Trowbridge line might be able to call at the station.  The proposed track layout would clearly offer benefits for trains operating between Bristol and Westbury.  We could not envisage stopping services on the main line at Bathampton.  It is too early for us to comment on any further additional services but we would take part in ongoing studies if we are awarded the franchise. We are grateful for this early consultation.

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6 GUIDE TO RAILWAY INVESTMENT PROJECTS, GRIP STAGE 1 SUMMARY REPORT.

This chapter presents a short summary report prepared to support Network Rail standard for new investment projects.

6.1 GRIP Stage 1, 6.1.1 Output definition, Network Rail guidance for railway development schemes The definition for stage one of the development process for new infrastructure schemes in the railway industry given in Network Rail’s “Guide to Railway Investment Projects” (GRIP) is as follows: “Aim: To define the output for the project (in terms of the incremental network capability required by the investment’s “client”). This is described in terms such as increase line capacity or reduce train delays. Main output: Defining the needs and requirements – the problem or opportunity through stakeholder consultation. This is the Output Definition stage” NR. 6.1.2 Output definition, Bath & North East Somerset, Part 1 report Bath & North East Somerset (Bath &NES) wishes to establish, or to have established on their behalf, a large “park & ride” facility on the east side of Bath. Bus-based “park & ride” schemes have been, and continue to be, examined but no suitable site has been identified. Further comparative evaluation work on possible “park & ride” sites to the east of Bath is on-going. It is planned that when the business case for the proposed Bathampton Station “park & ride by train” scheme is developed to GRIP 3 “Option section”, a level equivalent to the business case for the bus- based alternatives, a comparative evaluation can be made as between all of these options. The output in terms of “incremental network capability” to be achieved by this scheme is the set of increments to the capability of the railway sought by the promoter of the scheme: the Bath & North East Somerset local authority. This set of increments is considered under three main headings:  Capacity.  Journey time and frequency.  Train operations.

6.2 Incremental Network Capability outputs 6.2.1 Capacity It is obvious that a new station and additional train services would have an impact on the capacity of this area of the railway network. The initial proposals for the scheme, therefore, include modifications to the layout of Bathampton Junction that would deliver a greater increase in capacity at this junction than would be taken out by the proposed additional train services. Train delays would also be reduced. The train routing and loop holding options capability of the existing junction layout would not be diminished by the proposed modified track and switch & crossing layout. A further benefit of the proposed junction layout is that it will improve speed through Bathampton Junction for Up and Down Trowbridge line services not calling at the proposed station. This will deliver further route capacity improvements and journey time savings that will offset the impact of the additional train services that are envisaged will call at the new station. Journey time savings for Bristol to Portsmouth services has been identified as a desirable objective for the Greater Bristol area local authorities in the Bristol & Bath to South Coast Study (BB2SC, 2004).

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The proposed station would be intended to serve as the eastern terminus for train services that are planned as part of the “Bristol Metro priced option” (within the Department for Transport Invitation To Tender (ITT) for grant of the Great Western passenger train service franchise) to operate between a point west of central Bristol and Bath Spa station, then go forward as empty stock to a turn-back facility at Bathampton (West of England Area Rail Studies for the West of England Partnership, Halcrow, March 2012). This proposal was put to all four bidders as part of a package describing the Bathampton Station scheme during the franchise tender period. 6.2.2 Journey time and frequency Journey time into central Bath and into central Bristol for (i) car drivers, (ii) bus P&R passengers and (iii) train P&R passengers, will form part of the comparative analysis of the several park & ride scheme options that will be evaluated at by Bath & North East Somerset at GRIP 3. Initially there will be one “Bristol Metro” train per hour. The promoter of the scheme, Bath &NES, will seek two “Bristol Metro” trains per hour from as early a date as possible following construction of the new station and car park. These services would be in addition to calls by Weymouth services and all- stations Westbury services, a total of four trains per hour each way. A time-table, train planning and rolling stock diagram study will be developed at GRIP 3&4 with the object of identifying a feasible regular interval service at Bathampton, so far as is possible. This will include working with the new passenger train franchise operator from as early a date as possible. 6.2.3 Train operations Operation of trains to the proposed station would involve up to 700 metres running over and above that which would be required if the existing Bathampton Up Passenger Loop (UPL) were utilized as a turn-back facility as proposed in the March 2012 report to the West of England Partnership. The additional 700m running would include running through the proposed modified junction layout to the proposed station, then after departure from the station, rejoining the GWML Down Main without further impact on Up main line train paths. Capacity implications of these train movements will be evaluated and compared with the alternative turn-back operation: using the existing UPL and a new trailing crossing that would need to be installed to the west of the UPL. Bath &NES will also pursue matters concerned with these increments to train operations through the West of England Partnership following advice from the Department for Transport after they have completed evaluation of tenders they receive.

6.3 Problems at Bathampton Junction today and the opportunities associated with the proposed new station scheme. 6.3.1 Train Speed Train speed today through Bathampton Junction in the Down Trowbridge direction is limited to 40mph and in the Up ex-Trowbridge direction it is 50mph. At this stage the writers of this GRIP 1 report have no information as to the types and angles of the existing Switch & Crossing (S&C) fittings at the junction, their condition, nor as to planned renewal dates for these fittings. The first 600metre length of the existing Trowbridge Line at Bathampton Junction is laid at a curvature as tight as 300 metres radius. This also contributes to the limited feasible maximum speed at Bathampton Junction. With the Trowbridge Line moved southwards at this curve and the connections at Bathampton Junction re-modelled to assemble space for the new station and its car park in the angle between the GWML and the Trowbridge Line, an initial draft permanent way design shows that a speed of 65mph through the junction and around the curve in both directions can be achieved.

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6.3.2 Track layout and signalling At this stage the writers of this GRIP 1 report have no information as the signalling and switch control equipment installed at Bathampton Junction, nor as to planned renewals. However, it is noted that there is a Signalling Relay Room at the site and within the area of the proposed works. From the earliest stage of the development of the track and station layouts for the proposed Bathampton Station and Car Park scheme, these have been designed to avoid disturbance of the Signalling Relay Room. On the Down (south) side of the Down Trowbridge line at Glass’s user worked level crossing (UWC) there is an existing electricity sub-station. From the earliest stage of the development of the track and station layouts for the proposed scheme, these have been designed to avoid disturbance of the electricity sub-station. A track diagram indicating the existing layout at Bathampton Junction and initial draft track diagrams for two possible future track layouts are shown in Figures 8.1, 8.2 & 8.3 below . These track diagrams include references to existing S&C fittings that would be retained, those removed, and S&C fittings that would be newly laid.

6.4 Next steps: pre-feasibility and feasibility design study, GRIP stages 2 & 3 6.4.1 Railway engineering and operational studies The proposed programme of engineering pre-feasibility and feasibility study design work will cover the railway engineering and new station design together with railway operational elements as follows:  Train plan study, rolling stock capacity assessment and railway operational business case that will constitute the railway passenger service element of the scheme.  Revised track layout at Bathampton Junction and “Bathampton Up Passenger Loop”. Initial track diagrams for the existing track layout and a series of options for a new track layout are appended to this report.  New railway curve alignment to the south of the existing Trowbridge Line entry curve as part of works to: o improve speed through Bathampton Junction and o enable all existing under-utilized railway land to be employed by the scheme, o the scheme could include replacement of the existing 300metre radius curves in the Trowbridge Line, adjacent to the Junction, by a new alignment at a radius in excess of 400metres, to the south-west. An initial site general arrangement drawing is appended to this report.  Bathampton station on the new railway curve alignment. The length required for the station platform is initially assessed as 6 cars @ 22metres plus 20 metres pulling up, 152metres. This will be validated as the feasibility study proceeds. The station layout will seek to provide a straight length of track throughout the length of the passenger station platforms. Provision of a pedestrian bridge, access by stairs and by lifts, also platform canopies together with staff and public facilities. 6.4.2 Highway engineering and new semi-underground car park. The proposed programme of engineering pre-feasibility and feasibility study design work will cover the highway engineering and semi-underground car park design together with traffic impact and environmental studies as follows:  A semi-underground car park for of the order of 1850 cars including ancillary spaces at the first phase, with provision for extension to 2850 cars capacity as a second phase.  A new highway bridge under the GW main line railway just west of the exiting Bathampton Farm buildings that will provide access to the new car park.

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 The grade separated highway junction onto the existing A4 Batheaston Bypass adjacent to the new bridge under the GW main line.  The replacement highway bridge over the GWML at Mill Lane, Bathampton will be developed as the feasibility study proceeds. The existing bridge is a three-arch structure, the central arch spans the two existing main line tracks and the two side arches once spanned single track sidings. The proposed scheme will require three running lines passing under this bridge with passive provision for a fourth, hence a four track span bridge between abutments approximately at the existing positions.  The engineered earthwork structure at the bund to be constructed east of the main works.  Assessment of environmental impacts of all parts of the scheme and preparation of an initial draft Environmental Statement.  Preparation of a traffic impact study, car park occupancy study and business case for this element will be based on the body of work already developed for Bath & NES.

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7 GRIP STAGE 2. DESK TOP DESIGN, COST AND BUSINESS CASE PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY

7.1 Site (F) the Tyning Paddock site, initial railway land and infrastructure assessment. To the south of the existing road and railway corridor at Bathampton an area of "brown land", including the site of the original Bathampton Station, could provide a site area of 3.1 hectares in the angle of the railway junction and its embankments. Here a semi-underground structure of up to three levels of car parking could be arranged with the top floor just below existing railway track level, hidden behind the existing railway embankment. A total of approximately 7.3 ha. of car parking over the 3 levels, spaces for of the order of 2850 cars, could be provided. To make up the site area, the greater part would be achieved by moving track switches that form the "railway junction" about 200 metres west so that two parcels of "brown land", today divided by the railway to Trowbridge, can be utilised as a single area of about 1.9 ha. A further 1.2 ha would be taken from the Green Belt, mainly land of Bathampton Farm in the angle of the railway junction, to the south of the A4 Batheaston Bypass and the GWML railway corridor. The existing railway operational infrastructure at Bathampton Junction includes a "signalling relay room", on the south side of the main line tracks, opposite the "down main" track connection to the railway to Trowbridge and Salisbury. By moving the track switches 200m to the west it is possible to avoid the need to completely demolish and re-site this relay room and the complex signalling apparatus that it houses. Rearranging the railway junction in this way, moving the entry to the switches about 200metres to the west, would also enable the speed capability of the track fittings to be improved. Today speed through this junction for trains travelling from Trowbridge is limited to 50 mph and those travelling towards Trowbridge limited to 40mph. A new junction, using switches that permit faster speeds, could be built to deliver a speed limit of 65mph for trains in both of these directions. This is seen as a very desirable objective by Network Rail and the train operators. Journey time between a new Bathampton Station at this “Tyning Paddock” site and Bath Spa Station would be about 3.75 minutes - considerably faster than by bus travelling via London Rd. The Joint Local Transport Plan included support for a 30minute clock face interval service pattern of local service over the railway route between Bristol, Bath and points on the Trowbridge line. A 15 minute interval service to a new station would then require two of the longer distance train services to call. This aspect is more fully considered at Chapter 12. A new "Bathampton Station" could be built on the new alignment of the Trowbridge line, at the south side of the new car park. Building a new railway station alongside a new track alignment before these tracks are put into use by trains, in “green zone” for railway civil engineering safety planning and costing purposes, enables the station to be built at very, much less cost than building alongside a "live" railway. Platforms of this new station would be approximately 300metres from the canal bridge at The George in Bathampton and could therefore also provide direct services to Bath and Bristol for this community. It would also be worthwhile to up-grade the existing footpath over the 600metres to the A4 roundabout, midway between Batheaston and Bathford, so as to offer these two communities a very attractive new public transport option for getting into Bath or Bristol

7.2 Environmental impacts (I) - Existing land use designations Existing land use designations for two possible park & ride car park sites and net land taken from Green Belt have been considered in this review. The area of land taken from Green Belt for a Bathampton Meadows based park & ride scheme, (total 4.8 hectares) is shown in Figure 7.1. The existing land area taken by the railway and A4 highway at Bathampton is hatched tan, and the P&R site to the north of the road and railway corridor is hatched blue.

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Figure 7.1: Bathampton Meadows park & ride car park site.

Figure 7.2: Tyning Paddock site

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Figure 7.2 shows the area of land taken from Green Belt for a Tyning Paddock site park & ride station scheme, net of 1.9ha redeployed railway land, (total: 1.2 hectares) from Green Belt. The existing land area taken by the railway and A4 highway at Bathampton is hatched tan, and a park & ride and railway station site in the angle between two railway routes is hatched blue, showing redeployment of railway land to provide the new site.

7.3 Environmental impacts (II) - noise and visual impact An initial noise and visual impact assessment of the Tyning Paddock site has been considered in this review. A road link between the A4 Batheaston Bypass and a car park to the south of the main line railway, Tyning Paddock site, could pass under the railway at a point where track level and highway carriageway level are approximately 5.5 metres above feasible lower car parking level. It is therefore possible to achieve a link to and from the A4 eastbound carriageway passing under the railway and under this dual carriageway road, and thereby avoid the visual and noise impacts that would have been so unacceptable with the earlier "A46 to A36 Link Road" scheme. The length of the A4 Batheaston Bypass alongside and parallel to the Great Western Main Line railway between Bathampton Junction and the Batheaston bridges over the River Avon, cannot be seen from most viewing points in Batheaston, as shown for example by the pictures published by "Save Bathampton Meadows". An earth bund was constructed on the north side of this length of highway to contain noise from the road and preserve the character of the views southward over the green belt lands of Bathampton Meadows as far as the railway. The Bathampton Meadows park & ride car park site would be: a) clearly visible, and b) clearly audible within the area that the A4 bund was intended to protect. In fact the bund would have been breached by the new road access into the car park with the result that not only noise associated with the car park but also: noise from the existing highway would have found a new path directly towards the settlement of Batheaston. It is worth noting that an important reason why the earlier proposal for an A46 to A36 link road from this point on the A4 to the A36 near "Dry Arch", Bathampton, was rejected, was that the grade separated junction at the A4 would have included slip roads and a bridge rising above the A4 and out of its protective environmental bund. A further span was then to cross above the railway, continue southwards on a tall bank or viaduct, gaining height as it crossed the canal to reach a junction with the A36 at a level approximately 30metres above that of the railway at Bathampton Junction. All parts of this proposed link road would, therefore, have been clearly visible from many vantage points in Batheaston and Bathford and from the surrounding hills. Its highway noise could not have been contained. In complete contrast, the link road into a Bathampton P&R station and car park at the Tyning Paddock site, in the angle between the Great Western Main Line and the Trowbridge Line railways, would be completely hidden and inaudible from viewpoints in the Batheaston area. From Tyning Road, Bathampton, the nearest point to the Tyning Paddock site within this village, the new site would be no more visible than the existing Trowbridge Line in its 2.5m deep cutting or the front of Bathampton Farm, shown in Photograph 7.1 below, whose gutter level can be seen to be about equal to railway track level. From Bradford Road, Bathford, the view of the site today is shown by Photograph 7.2 below. The semi-underground three level car park with top level at railway track level at the Tyning Paddock site, would be largely screened by an earthwork bund of the same height as the railway embankment. Appropriate planting on top of this bund, making its appearance similar to the existing railway embankment, would complete the visual screen.

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, car park would be at about farm house ground floor and the picture, at about the level of gutters on the farm house.

Lowest floor of a Tyning Paddock, three level, semi-underground outside paved area level; top level of the car park would be a little below existing rail level. Photograph 7.1: Railway track and its ballast can be seen on the left side of Bathampton Farm.

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e, and be a new earth farm buildings, and topped with trees. the west of Bathampton Farm, seen centre-right of the pictur

railway embankment, visible behind the bank to about the level of existing 7.2: Photograph The proposed new Tyning Paddock car park would occupy the field to Bathford. the site from view of Panoramic cut into the slope. From this viewing point in Bathford the farm building and the proposed car park would be largely hidden by Document Number UK11024/R02.3, September 2013 Page 33 Bath & North East Somerset Council Bathampton Station Park & Ride Scheme GRIP Stages 1 & 2 (equivalent) Report REPORT

8 RAILWAY OPERATIONAL ISSUES AT BATHAMPTON JUNCTION AND AT A NEW STATION

8.1 Assessment of the existing railway track layout at Bathampton Junction. The existing track layout at Bathampton Junction includes, in railway terminology, the following features:  an Up Loop on the Up side of the GWML with exit to rejoin the Up Main ahead of;  a Facing cross-over in the ML between the exit from the Up Loop and the Up Trowbridge turnout;  a Trailing cross-over to the London side of the Trowbridge line connections;  a second Facing cross-over, Bristol side of the exit from the Up Loop. These connections give the railway infrastructure operator train routing options:  an Up Loop on the Up side of the GWML in which Up trains can be held before continuing on the Up Main or before taking the Up Trowbridge line;  'facing' and 'trailing cross-overs' in the main line to enable Up ML or Down ML trains to cross to operate 'wrong road' or cross from 'wrong road' working or to reverse from either direction at Bathampton Junction;  the connections also enable either the Up or Down Trowbridge Line to be operated as a bi- directional single track.

Figure 8.1: Track diagram of the existing track layout at Bathampton Weaknesses of the existing layout are that:  The route through three switches between the Up Main and the Up Trowbridge includes two reverses of curvature on un-canted track with the result that speed through this junction is limited to 40mph;  The existing layout of the Down connection from the Trowbridge line onto the Down Main also includes two reverses of curvature which, although less severe than the Up direction curves, limit speed to 50mph through the junction in the Down direction;  All Up Trowbridge trains leave the Up Main at a 'facing cross-over' and cross to the Down Main. This means that for each Up Trowbridge train, the working time-table must provide co-incident train-paths in the Up Main and in the Down Main at Bathampton Junction;  If a Trowbridge train is held in the Up Loop it must rejoin and cross the Up Main again before it can cross to the Down Main and take the connection to the Up Trowbridge line, hence it still requires coincident paths in the Up Main and in the Down Main. Any changes that a Bath & North East Somerset scheme might propose that affect the main line railway layout at Bathampton Junction must be put forward quickly and start their progress through the railway industry assessment, design and installation process as soon as possible to enable them to be integrated with the forthcoming re-signalling and electrification schemes.

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8.2 Train service and rolling stock options. 8.2.1 Shuttle service option. A simple, high passenger capacity, shuttle service operating between Bathampton P&R and Bath Spa stations could make its eastern reversal at the new bay platform at Bathampton and its western reversal at the existing Westmoreland Road sidings. The most efficient rolling stock option could be a two-car d.m.u. (diesel multiple unit) or, with electrification of Westmoreland Road siding as well as Bathampton bay platform, e.m.u. (electric multiple unit) with seating simplified to provide a longitudinal bench seating arrangement, as in many London Underground "Tube" trains, along each side of the interior of each car together with hand-holds for standing passengers for the 3.75 minute journey between Bath Spa and the Bathampton Park & Ride station. A two-car unit of this layout would offer about 100 seats plus standing room for a further 240, total: up to 340 passengers, or LUL crush load standard, total: up to 440 passengers. Initial draft working time-table input data would be as follows: Train stands Bathampton, reverse control, passengers alight & board: 3.0 min Journey to Bath Spa, Down platform, allow: 4.0 min Passengers alight Bath Spa: 0.5 min Train moves forward into Westmoreland Rd sidings, allow: 1.0 min Reverse control in Westmoreland Rd sidings, allow: 3.0 min Await signal to cross Down Main and move into Bath Spa Up platform: 2.5 min Passengers board Bath Spa, Up platform: 1.0 min Journey to Bathampton P&R bay platform, allow: 4.0 min Minimum total cycle time: 19.0 min For a service operating over a part of the main line, in amongst long distance main line trains, to provide a robust operating time-table we may conclude that one two-car train would be able to provide two return services per hour. A second two-car set would enable a 1- minute interval shuttle service to be provided throughout the day. 8.2.2 Mixed Shuttle and Regional service option. Shuttle train services would not have to be exactly 30 minutes apart. From the 19-minutes minimum cycle time shown above, minimum time-table separation of these train workings should be 20 minutes. In this way two shuttle services (a single shuttle train) might work between two regional services to provide four trains calling at Bathampton per hour, or two shuttle services (a single shuttle train) might work amongst three regional services to provide five trains calling at Bathampton per hour. If the two regional services are in fact Bristol Metro services, turning back at Bathampton, then a single bay platform station arrangement as for the purely shuttle service option would suffice. If any of the regional services are in fact going forward to Bradford-on-Avon and beyond, then Bathampton Station would need to provide platforms on both through Trowbridge lines as well as the central bay, reversal, platform. 8.2.3 Regional service option. An alternative, simpler, track layout can be defined if all services between Bath Spa station and Bathampton Park & Ride station can be provided by regional train services calling at Bathampton. At present the operator of the Bristol to Portsmouth and Weymouth services finds that there is not always sufficient “make-up time” in the working time-table to allow trains to make an additional stop even if Freshford and Avoncliff are not served by these trains. The south coast services operated today would only provide three trains every two hours, one train to Portsmouth every hour, one train to Weymouth every two hours, which is very much less frequent than is needed to support a Park & Ride service. If this group of services were re-cast with a regular pattern of four trains per hour to Bradford-on- Avon, two trains terminating at Westbury, one continuing to Portsmouth, and one to Weymouth, a 15 minute interval service to and from Bathampton Park & Ride could be provided. A weakness of this

Document Number UK11024/R02.3, September 2013 Page 35 Bath & North East Somerset Council Bathampton Station Park & Ride Scheme GRIP Stages 1 & 2 (equivalent) Report REPORT service pattern may be over-crowding of the Portsmouth and Weymouth trains. However, in this option no bay platform with connections to the Up Trowbridge and to the Down Trowbridge would be required at a Bathampton park & ride station.

8.3 Phase 1 track layout at Bathampton Junction for a new station on a new curve alignment. The proposed initial modified layout of the main line at Bathampton Junction would provide:  New Up Main to Up Trowbridge high speed turnout for 60mph or 65mph on the turnout track, 125mph on the through, Up Main, track; new fixed, natural angle, diamond crossing in the Down Main with the Up Trowbridge continuing into the new curve alignment with no reverse of curvature;  New trailing connection in the Down Main, 125mph on the through track, a high speed turnout for 60mph or 65mph on the turnout track from the Down Trowbridge; new Down Trowbridge line curve meets the connection with no reverse of curvature; o These new connections between the Up & Down GWML tracks and the Up & Down Trowbridge tracks would be 20mph and 10mph faster than the existing Up and Down connections respectively.  The existing Up Passenger Loop (UPL) to Up Main trailing connection moved approximately 250metres eastwards, though a third track span at Mill Lane bridge, to avoid the new Up Main to Up Trowbridge turnout;  Existing 'facing' and 'trailing cross-over' connections between the Up Main and Down Main to enable Up ML or Down ML trains to cross to operate 'wrong road' or cross from 'wrong road' working or to reverse from either direction at Bathampton Junction remain unaltered; o This provides the same route options as the existing layout with the exception that that the UPL is no longer accessible for Up Trowbridge traffic but an Up Trowbridge train stopped on the Up Main could be passed using the existing connection from the Up Main into the UPL then via the moved connection UPL to Up Main;

KEY Tracks indicated Blue: existing through tracks. Tracks indicated Black: existing switch & crossing fittings and UPL retained. Tracks indicated Red: new track and switch & crossing fittings. Figure 8.2 Phase 1 track layout Bathampton Junction and new station. From the new lengths of the Up Trowbridge and Down Trowbridge lines:  Connections to a central “bay” platform for trains terminating and reversing at Bathampton Park & Ride station; o train staff of a Bath-Bathampton shuttle would be able to prepare a newly arrived train for its return journey at the same time as passengers leave and join their 'park & ride' transport. o while in the 'bay' track the train will have left the Up Trowbridge but will not have interrupted or joined the Down Trowbridge and it will not interrupt the Up Trowbridge track again when it leaves, using the Down Trowbridge.

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If a complete service of four or five trains per hour is provided by “Shuttle” or Bristol Metro services that all terminate at Bathampton then only the “bay” platform would be required. However, it is likely that at least “all stations to Westbury” services from Bristol would be suitable for inclusion in a regular pattern of services to and from Bathampton and the time to build the additional two platforms on the Up Trowbridge and Down Trowbridge tracks would be: at the time of initial construction of the station in a clear work site with unconstrained access for construction works, away from the operational railway.

8.4 Phase 2 track layout at Bathampton Junction. Having extended the Up Passenger Loop (UPL) through Mill Lane Bridge and past the connections to the Trowbridge Line, it would become possible to exchange the designations of the Up Main and UPL through this length so as to enable Up Main traffic to always bypass the Up Trowbridge connection and any train waiting to use it. The Phase 2 railway works would be:  Remodelling of the existing Up Main to UPL connection at 105 miles 14 chains to provide to provide a right hand turnout facing connection for 60mph or 65mph to the middle track and o Remodelling of the newly re-sited UPL to Up Main Connection at about 104 miles 42chains to provide a left hand turnout trailing connection for 60mph or 65mph from the middle track;  The up side track then becomes the through 125mph Up Main;  The middle track becomes the Up Passenger Loop and the normal route for Up Trowbridge traffic. If as part of the same scheme of work the existing trailing cross-over between the Up and Down mains at 104 miles 41 chains were to be moved to 105 miles 14 chains as a trailing cross-over between the new UPL and the Down Main, the Phase 2 works could provide:  The middle track to become a bi-directional, loop available for Up or Down traffic, either Main Line or Trowbridge Line; o Up or Down main line passenger trains would be able to pass a freight train or slower passenger train moving in either direction;  'facing' and 'trailing cross-over' connections to the Up Main and Down Main to enable Up ML or Down ML trains to cross to operate 'wrong road' or cross from 'wrong road' working or to reverse from either direction at Bathampton Junction: o this is as the existing layout but with the additional benefits of: - being able to hold a reversing train in the central loop between its leaving the first track and joining the second, including to enable train staff to prepare the train for reversal off the running line before the train joins its new route; - being able to hold an Up Trowbridge train off the Up Main to await a train-path to cross the Down Main without needing coincident train-paths in both Main tracks of the GWML.

KEY Tracks indicated Blue: existing through tracks. Tracks indicated Black: existing switch & crossing fittings retained. plus new loop Tracks indicated Red: new track and switch & crossing fittings. Figure 8.3 Phase 2 track layout Bathampton Junction and new station.

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rk includes ½ rtnership (WoEP) of Bristol area local authorities. The netwo

ry route passing Bathampton the Bristol Metro network. his concept is currently being promoted by the West of England Pa

Figure 8.4: Diagram of T hourly services on the Westbu

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9 DEVELOPMENT OF THE HIGHWAY AND CAR PARK ELEMENTS OF THE SCHEME.

9.1 Junction onto the A4 Batheaston Bypass. The highway scheme has been designed around the following existing characteristics  The A4 crosses the River Avon to the east and to the west of the Bathampton site area. At both of these locations road level drops to about 23 m (AOD) and both of these river crossings are shown as at risk of flooding by the Environment Agency flood risk map of the area. This advice indicates a flood level of approximately 23.5m to 24 m at the proposed Park & Ride site.  Between these bridges, the length of the A4 dual carriageway on the south bank of the River Avon passes under Mill Lane at its original level and rises to a peak about 400m beyond Mill Lane and 550m from the bridge over the Avon at Batheaston. At this peak, highway pavement level is at about the same level as railway track bed level on the adjacent main line railway, parallel and to the south of the road.  Road access into the park & ride car park should be via a new bridge passing under the main line railway.  A new road junction with the A4 dual carriageway must enable access to the new bridge passing under the railway. These factors indicate that an effective and economic form of highway link between the A4 and the P&R car park will be to provide a grade separated highway junction at the peak in the existing longitudinal profile of the highway. Approaching the peak from east and from west, four slips roads would leave the riding main carriageways and drop to a level to enable an underpass under the main carriageway of the road and under the railway. Details of the design will be developed as the scheme progresses following consultation with the Highways Agency. Options for the design of the junction layout include a roundabout with two separate bridge spans or intersecting slip roads with a traffic signal controlled intersection. The bridges should have standard main road height clearance of 5.3m to 5.5m to allow double deck busses to reach the car park and railway station both for regular, time- tabled, feeder route services and for relief bus services when lengths of the railway are closed for any reason.

9.2 The semi-underground, three level car park. The lowest level of the car park should be above flood plain level, about the same level as the ground floor of Bathampton Farm. Clearance to ground floor plus first floor plus first floor structural depth would be about 5.3m to 5.5m so that through part of the car park a corridor for bus access should be provided which would bisect the parking areas at ground and first floor. Vehicle circulation would then be arranged with the “up” ramp on one side of the bus access road and the “down” ramp on the other side, all cars using the car park would cross the bus access road at second floor level, railway track level, before descending via the “down” ramp. At the north eastern side of the car park, pavement would be at about existing ground level so that this side of the structure would be open to free circulation of air. The view of this side would therefore need to be masked by the earthwork bund, shown to the east on the drawing, to the same height as the two railway embankments and topped with suitable planting. The north western and south western sides of the car park would be comprised of retaining walls alongside the two railway rights of way, top of the walls at about railway track level and therefore entirely hidden, first and ground floor levels of the car park being effectively underground at these faces. The walls would retain the earthwork foundations of the two railway routes. These retaining walls could be contiguous bored concrete pile structures.

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The western corner of the car park would extend as far as the existing railway signalling equipment building at top, railway track, level as shown on the drawing. At first floor the extent would be cut back eastwards and at ground floor cut back again as economic design indicates at detailed design stage. Circulation routes within the triangular structure suggest that a triangular area in the middle could not be utilised efficiently for parking and could readily provide a central atrium to facilitate ventilation of the lower areas of the structure. The initial phase of development of the car park should provide 1,850 spaces. This phase of construction would include all three levels of the completed scheme west of the central atrium including lifts, station access subway and all public and operational facilities for the car park and the station. To the east of the atrium only the ground floor level parking spaces and the “up” ramp would be completed for the initial phase. All foundation work for the east side structure should be carried out at the initial construction phase. When traffic demand level justifies, the first and second levels of the east side would be completed bringing final capacity to 2,850 car parking spaces.

9.3 Disability Discrimination Act compliant access to the car park. “Blue Badge” car parking would be at first floor level to minimise the need of disabled travellers to use the lifts. A lift to ground floor would also be required for users of the bus services to the station. The lift to the Up Trowbridge platform would pass second floor level so that it becomes straightforward to arrange an intermediate stop at second floor and ensure complete DDA compliant access to all areas of the facility.

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10 DEVELOPMENT OF THE RAILWAY TRACK AND STATION ELEMENTS OF THE SCHEME.

10.1 Track geometry and switches. The railway scheme starts from the objective of replacing the 290m radius curve at the beginning of the Trowbridge line and the 40mph and 50mph track fittings at Bathampton Junction with a 60 mph or 65 mph layout for through trains. At the same time, a new station is required and the new station must provide a layout at which Bristol Metro trains can terminate and be prepared to operate in the reverse direction, back towards Bristol; be ”turned back”. The standard railway switch fitting for 65 mph traffic on the “turn out” leg, the curved leg, is an RT60- SG20.25 switch, allowing 125 mph on the straight, through, track. The layout derived in the track diagrams figures 8.2 & 8.3, has been developed for the general arrangement using SG20.25 switches in the main line together with a 1: 20.25 fixed crossing, and a further SG20.25 with two wider angle fittings to give access to the turn back siding, the bay platform track at the new station The toes of both of the SG20.25 switch that form the Up Loop to Up Trowbridge and Down Trowbridge to Down Main connection are moved west from the existing positions of the equivalent existing switches, in fact they must move west of Mill Lane bridge in order to achieve the correct geometry for the new 60mph curve at the start of the Trowbridge Line. This means that the existing right-hand turnout connection from what is today the Up Passenger Loop back into the Up Main must be moved and the opportunity is therefore taken to move the replacement switch to a position about 250 metres east of Mill Lane bridge and fit a left-hand turnout SG20.25 switch for 125mph running on the northern-most of the three tracks. In this way traffic using the northern-most of the three tracks, to become the Up Main, will bypass the turnout for the Trowbridge Line and be able to pass any train waiting in the new Up or “Bidirectional” Loop for a path across the Down Main. At the west end of the Up Loop the existing left-hand turnout fitting is replaced by a right-hand turnout SG20.25 for 125mph through running into the northern-most of the three tracks, what is today the Up Passenger Loop. The layout may be completed to provide a “Bidirectional Loop” by the provision of two more left-hand turnout SG20.25 fittings to form a trailing cross-over between the Down Main and the “Bidirectional Loop”. For the design of the realigned Trowbridge Line, at this stage the transition curves and track cant for the first 700m or so of the line including the two wider angle switches, have not been fully designed. However, the track geometry produced so far does shown that an acceptable fully detailed design can be produced within the site area that has been provided for the railway works along the newly defined corridor: for the 60mph curve and the new station, on the overall scheme general arrangement drawing.

10.2 New Bathampton Station. The new station on the Trowbridge Line has been designed to provide platforms on three tracks, including a central bay platform where Bristol Metro trains would terminate and be “turned back”. The bay platform face shares an island platform with the Down through Trowbridge platform whose departing services operate in the same direction as from the bay platform; all trains departing from the island platform operate towards Bristol and call at Bath Spa station. The island platform, platform faces “Bay” and “Down Trowbridge”, has a designed width of 5.5m so greater than the minimum of 4.0m to allow for larger numbers of people using this departure platform during the morning peak. No trains will pass at speed in excess of 100km/hr so the special requirements for speeds in excess of 165km/hr do not apply. The lift and stair shafts are 1.8m wide so that minimum width at either platform face is 1.85m over short lengths. The single face platform on the Up Trowbridge track is 2.8m wide, so in excess of the 2.5m minimum requirement. Heaviest use will be passengers alighting during the evening peak period. Few passengers are expected to be waiting to board trains at this platform.

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All platforms are to be able to accept six car trains, up to 126 metres, plus 10 metres pulling up length, total: 136 metres. Track curvature through the platforms on the two through lines is 2,000m radius. Non-stopping trains could run through at 60mph with a total of 60mm installed cant plus cant deficiency. In order to ease the cant gradient up to 150mm installed cant around the two 400mm radius curves, through the platform lengths at this stage assume 60mm installed cant. This leaves 90mm of cant to be gained at each end of each through platform. Standard maximum permissible cant gradient is 1:400; if we assume 90mm gain at 1:400 then full 150mm installed cant can be provided over 36m lengths. At detailed design stage this will be achieved by providing a horizontal plain transition curve starting towards platform centre from each of the change of radius points used on the present drawing, together with the commencement of increase in installed cant approximately 36m towards platform centre from each change of radius point. This would deliver approximately 64m length of platform with the minimum 60mm installed cant although this may be improved as a result of fully detailed design. The bay platform track will have nil installed cant. Station facilities including booking office, shops, public toilets and staff facilities for both station and car park management would be provided on the mid level of the car park structure. Lifts from this level, the level of the passenger underpass beneath the three railway tracks, would provide DDA compliant access to the two platform areas, the three platform faces, together with sets of stairs between these two levels. Since part of the station would be considered to be underground for safety purposes, two underpasses and stairways will be provided. This will also assist pedestrian movement during crowded peak periods. Overhead Line Equipment (OLE) for the 25kV AV electrification would be provided from Bathampton Junction and around the curve of the Trowbridge Line in any event as a precaution against an electric train being misdirected, its pantograph coming out from under wires and then causing damage to other parts of the OLE or other infrastructure above the line. For this reason the OLE will need to extend through the station area. This will in fact make it feasible for Bristol Metro services to Bathampton P&R to be operated by 25kV AC electric rolling stock with no further infrastructure works.

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11 ESTIMATE FOR THE PROPOSED SCHEME.

The scheme is proposed to be developed in two phases, initially 1850 car parking spaces, Phase 1, with a further 1000 added when usage indicates that it is required, Phase 2. Phase 1 of the scheme must carry all of the costs for the development consent order (DCO), land & property acquisition, access works, excavation & cart away at the main car park site and at the new railway cutting, the new station and the retaining wall. The new car park structure construction costs can be split between the two phases in such a way as to redress that balance a little; car parking spaces at ground floor level can all be made available at Phase 1 with construction of all foundation works and the whole of the lowest floor slab. The Phase 2 car park works are then all comprised of construction of extensions to the two suspended floors of parking spaces. Table 11.1 below provides a summary of the estimated costs for elements of the construction work as described for Phase 1, an 1,850 parking space car park. BATHAMPTON PARK & RAIL Phase 1 GRIP 1-2 Confidence Component Bathampton Construction Cost Estimate Unit Quantity Rate £ ,000 Totals (All items to GRIP 1 confidence +/- 30%) Project reporting Liaison with Network Rail Liaison with Bath &NES Liaison with other partners including ECI Planning Act 2008 NSIP Order preparation & Enquiry £ 2,000 Land & property acquisition £ 2,500 £ 4,500 New Bathampton Junction layout Replacement of Mill Lane O/L bridge: £ 2,000 Switch & Crossing units, supply & install Main Line unit 3 £ 800,000 £ 2,400 Diamond crossing unit 1 £ 350,000 Switch & Crossing units, supply & install new line unit 3 £ 350,000 £ 1,050 Signalling modifications & restoration (Sig. Equiv.) unit 11 £ 250,000 £ 2,750 Plain line track installation m 300 £ 800 £ 240 £ 8,440 Bathampton Station (Green Zone construction) Slew Trowbridge tracks, new connections unit 2 £ 40,000 £ 80 New railway curve alignment (excluding cutting excn.) m 2,200 £ 600 £ 1,320 Two-platform station incl. u/line subway, lifts, stairs £ 3,000 £ 4,400 Car park Phase 1, 1,850 car park spaces Bridge under existing A4 £ 2,000 A4 slip roads in cuttings £ 1,500 Bridge under GWML £ 4,000 Contiguous bored pile retaining walls m 610 £ 700 £ 427 Excavation (Including new railway cutting excavation) cu m 120,843 £ 5.50 £ 665 Basement floor + road access sq m 27,810 £ 128 £ 3,560 + top deck on extg level sq m 2,465 £ 128 £ 316 Columns 6m high, 450x600@240kgFe/m3 40N/mm2/150m2 unit 85 £ 1,050 £ 90 Suspended TOP floor 800kN/sqm wide span + S20 fire sq m 12,810 £ 205 £ 2,626 Suspended MID floor 800kN/sqm wide span + S20 fire sq m 5,700 £ 205 £ 1,169 Redevelop Bathampton Farm buildings £ 250 Site East bund & general cu m 125,798 £ 3.50 £ 440 Landscaping £ 200 £ 17,241 Sub-Total Pounds: £ 34,581 Add for fees & contingencies @ 35% £ 12,103 Total allow approximately: £ 46,685 thousands Table 11.1 Estimate of cost, Phase 1 Bathampton Station Park & Ride scheme. This will also deliver all highway access and railway station works. As recommended for railway construction schemes at an early stage of development 30% is added for contingencies and “optimism bias”. A further 5% is added for fees and this is added to all costs including the planning process and land & property acquisitions.

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Rates used are current construction price data including recent out-turn cost data for railway civil engineering works. Rates for the construction of the new line of railway and the station reflect that these works would be carried out in “green zone” without restrictions as to times when the work site may be available for work to be carried out rather than adjacent to an operational railway and therefore reliant on short “track possession” periods during which work must be carried out and the track then return to operational use after a matter of just a few hours. BATHAMPTON PARK & RAIL Phase 2 GRIP 1-2 Confidence Component Bathampton Construction Cost Estimate Unit Quantity Rate £ ,000 Totals (All items to GRIP 1 confidence +/- 30%) P-Way: Switch & Crossing units, supply & install Main Line Unit 3 £800,000 £ 2,400 Signalling modifications & restoration (Signal Equivalent) Unit 2 £250,000 £ 500 Plain line track installation m 500 £ 500 £ 250 £ 3,150 Car park structure Phase 2, 1,000 car park spaces: Columns 6m high, 450x600@240kgFe/m3 40N/mm2/150m2 unit 85 £ 1,050 £ 90 Suspended TOP floor 800kN/sqm wide span + S20 fire sq m 13,200 £ 205 £ 2,706 Suspended MID floor 800kN/sqm wide span + S20 fire sq m 13,200 £ 205 £ 2,706 Landscaping £ 200 £ 5,702 Sub-Total Pounds: £ 8,852 Add for fees & contingencies @ 35% £ 3,098 Total allow approximately: £ 11,950 thousands Table 11.2 Estimate of cost, Phase 2 Bathampton Station Park & Ride scheme. A Phase 1, 1,850-space car park is estimated to cost as follows: Planning permission and land acquisitions: £4.5 million Railway works, Phase 1, including the new station: £12.84 million The car park structure, Phase 1: £17.24 million Total before fees & contingencies: £34.6 million Total with 35% for fees & contingencies: £46.7 million Exclusive of the railway works and planning enquiry costs, the cost per parking space in the multi- storey car park would be about £10,700/parking space, which is within the range expected for such schemes. Phase 2 could include further railway works to further improve capacity on the railway network, but this will be a matter for Network Rail and the train operating companies to decide. Phase 2 car park works would add a further 1,000 car park spaces at costs as follows: Railway works Phase 2 £3.2 million The car park structure, Phase 2 £5.7 million Total before fees & contingencies: £8.9 million Total with 35% for fees & contingencies: £12.0 million Having covered all land acquisition, access works, the excavation & cart away, and the retaining wall in Phase 1, the cost of the car park extension in Phase 2 drops to under £6,000/parking space so that the average for the whole site becomes about £9,000/parking space, which is lower end of the expected range.

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12 TRAIN PLANNING, TRAIN PATHING, TRAIN DIAGRAM AND TIME TABLE STUDY.

12.1 Track Capacity This chapter sets out the argument for additional railway infrastructure at Bathampton to make better use of the existing mainline route between this location and Bristol by exploiting the existing four track wide formation in the Bathampton area. Such works could allow more trains to operate along the route on a self financing basis, creating the opportunity to remove traffic from the road network. The 2 track mainline between Swindon and Bristol East Junction provides minimal opportunity for trains to pass. There is only the Up Passenger Loop at Bathampton, Westmoorland goods yard in Bath and a down goods loop immediately east of Bristol itself. As a result, and also because of conflicting movements at Bathampton and Thingley Junction, the scope for expanding the number of local trains in the Bristol – Bath corridor is constrained. The existing local trains schedule is not clock face and the trains do not run at equally spaced intervals. This difficulty is illustrated by the proposal for an extra hourly service between Severn Beach via Temple Meads to Bath. This train, the subject of considerable political support in the area and an option which is now understood to be built into all the franchise proposals for the GWML (currently on-hold), can only be achieved by running the train beyond Bath and onto the Westbury branch line, there to be turned and returned along the down track once the previous Westbury to Bristol train has passed. This can be achieved once per hour but not sensibly on the opposite half hour as it effectively duplicates an alternating hour train ex Westbury and therefore does little to improve service performance. Perhaps more important, using a Trowbridge line running track as a turnback loop may compromise network resilience.

12.2 Schedule of train services. Having examined the time-tabling difficulties, it becomes evident that an improved track arrangement is required in the area if the GWML is to be used more intensively. It is in the nature of such challenges that they have to be considered in coordination with other and wider service considerations, which is to a certain extent beyond the scope of this study. However, we do believe that we can show that the current mainline service can be maintained as at present and a significant increase in trains services introduced by: (a) adjusting the through Westbury – Bristol (including Cardiff – Portsmouth) train service timing. (b) introducing an inter-track loop/turnback at Bathampton. The current services offer a total of 38 passenger movements plus 3 freight paths in the period 1200 – 1600 through Bath. This could be increased to 46 movements given the proposed extra train from Severn Beach. The proposal set out below would allow for 64 passenger movements plus 8 freight paths (1/hour/direction) with some resilience. Figure 12.1 describes the timetable that we believe represents the maximum practical capacity and capability of the local rail network between Bathampton and Bristol, given existing track arrangements and the potential pattern of future demand. We have assumed an entirely clock face timetable that includes:  The current London - Bristol twice hourly train service, timed as today.  The current Portsmouth to Cardiff hourly service, with some timing adjustment.  A new hourly Oxford to Bristol service, as envisaged by franchise bidders, (see chapter 4.).  Local services between Westbury and Bristol (extending to such locations as Weymouth and Worcester) upgraded to twice hourly as sought by the West of England Partnership and the recommendations of the Bristol & Bath to South Coast study (BB2SC).

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 A new Bristol to Bathampton service (probably starting at Severn Beach) upgraded from the hourly service currently under consideration to two per hour, as sought by the West of England Partnership “Greater Bristol Metro” proposals, now embodied in the Great Western passenger train franchise process.  An hourly freight path. For the park & ride to be attractive, a frequent local service would be required to Bath, Oldfield Park, Keynsham and Bristol. It would be impossible to maximise track capacity and operate an every 15 minute service without slowing down fast services because of the extra time taken by the slower trains. Our proposal is therefore to flight the faster trains (taking 15 minutes between Bathampton and Bristol East Junction) and to operate a Bristol - Bathampton shuttle and a via Westbury train 12 minutes apart (21 minutes between Bathampton and Bristol East Junction), leaving alternating gaps of 12 and 18 minutes between stopping trains. We have assumed that only the stopping trains would call at Bathampton, creating a 4 times per hour service frequency. However, the very large car park that could be built there could also attract fast and semi-fast train calls and the schedule that is being proposed could deal with such extra calls, further raising service frequency. Given that mainline loadings would normally be higher to the east of a Bathampton station than to the west, such trains would have spare capacity between Bathampton and Bath/Bristol, while the stopping trains towards Bristol would have a higher loadings west of Bath, providing spare capacity for ‘park and riders’ between Bathampton and Bath. Within the 12 minute gap, a freight train could be passed no-stop between Swindon and the down Bristol goods loop (49 minutes). By only allowing one freight path per direction per hour, the existing loop at Bathampton can be used to provide resilience; a late running freight can be held at Bathampton until the next path is available on a 30 minute cycle. The hypothetical train schedule would be as follows, assuming 4 minute gaps between trains under rules of the plan. Times passing Bathampton Up trains Down trains XX.17 Bristol – London XX.21 London – Bristol XX.21 Cardiff – Portsmouth XX.25 Portsmouth – Cardiff XX.25 Severn Beach – Bathampton XX.29 Bathampton – Severn Beach XX.37 Bristol – Westbury XX.41 Westbury – Bristol XX.47 Bristol – London XX.51 Oxford – Bristol XX.51 Bristol – Oxford XX.55 London – Bristol XX.55 Severn Beach – Bathampton XX.59 Bathampton – Severn Beach XX.07 Bristol – Westbury XX.11 Westbury – Bristol Freight trains to pass at: Bristol goods XX.42 Bristol goods XX.54 Bathampton XX.01 Bathampton XX.33 Swindon XX.31 Swindon XX.03 The London train timings are based on times today as are the down Bristol – via Westbury trains. The Cardiff – Portsmouth trains currently pass Bathampton junction at XX.38 (up) and XX.31 (down). The down Westbury trains pass at XX.10 (plus an extra one at 13.00), making 5 in the 4 hour period. The up Westbury trains are not reliably clockface but at some stage one would expect an increasingly coordinated railway to impose that disciple. They currently pass at XX.17 (but there is no 14.17), two pass at XX.08 and there is also a 14.43 and a 15.03 (7 in a 4 hour period).

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The benefits of this development would be long term; allowing the Westbury – Bath – Bristol corridor to develop as a regular high capacity commuter route without compromising long distance capacity or performance. Our railway operational time-tabling work shows that this level of demand can be accommodated within the “Rules of the Plan” (a railway industry term referring to the set of rules to be followed when designing a time-table for a particular railway route), but may suffer from a lack of robustness. The proposed service pattern has been designed to provide a pair of non-stop services operating between Bath and Bristol every half hour between which a pair of stopping services operate (plus one freight train path per hour). The stopping services provide a 4 times per hour service for Oldfield Park and Keynsham. The route’s capacity is limited by the requirement for a minimum time gap of 4 minutes the between trains with conflicting movements at Bathampton Junction and elsewhere 5 minutes following the recent signalling upgrade. This work has enabled a 3 minute gap between one train leaving Bath Spa station platforms and the next train arriving, with an allowance for 2 minutes dwell time at these platform. The platforms to serve the car park at Bathampton should be located on the branch, allowing trains to either pass through or terminate at an independent turn-back platform.

12.3 Improving reliability It follows that there would be a total of 5 conflicting movements per hour where each ‘Up Trowbridge’ direction train crosses the Down Main at Bathampton Junction to enter the Trowbridge Line. The draft timetable shown as a train-path diagram at Figure 12.1 would involve 3 situations per hour where one of those movements was made only 4 minutes after a down mainline train passed, the minimum we take to be acceptable. If any of those 3 trains was more than (say) 2 minutes late the ‘Up Trowbridge line’ train would be delayed. If delayed by more than 2 minutes then the following Up Main line train would be delayed. Such perturbations could significantly disturb the good time keeping of the network, an issue that would be more accurately assessed using RAILSYS or other time-table and train performance simulation analysis. Our initial view, even without use of simulation analysis, is that the network should be so designed as to provide at least passive provision for an inter-track loop, or “middle road” that would allow any of the 5 ‘Up Trowbridge’ trains to be held so that following Up Main trains can use an extended Up Passenger Loop (UPL) (see Chapter 8 Figures 8.2 & 8.3) to continue towards London without stopping, delayed only by the maximum speed allowed through the switches. This in turn indicates that when total traffic between Bathampton Junction and Bath reaches 9 trains per hour (4 main line plus 5 Trowbridge line) it is likely to be worth fitting ‘faster’ switches at each end of the Up Passenger Loop. Delayed Up Main freight trains could also continue to be held on the UPL when required, as today.

Document Number UK11024/R02.3, September 2013 Page 47 Bath & North East Somerset Council Bathampton Station Park & Ride Scheme GRIP Stages 1 & 2 (equivalent) Report REPORT ed to evaluate the proposed time-table of train services. prepar diagram path train Draft

Figure 12.1 Document Number UK11024/R02.3, September 2013 Page 48 Bath & North East Somerset Council Bathampton Station Park & Ride Scheme GRIP Stages 1 & 2 (equivalent) Report REPORT

12.4 Train capacity assumptions. In this first, pre-feasibility and optioneering, report we have adopted the assumption that from the date of opening a Bathampton P&R station we might expect 33% capacity to be available despite present day experience that peak period, peak direction trains today have no further capacity. Trains on the Westbury to Bristol routes are currently very crowded and have been for a number of years. It has already been proposed by other parties that the existing levels of patronage indicate the need for all of the existing Cardiff–Bristol–Portsmouth and Gloucester –Bristol –Weymouth trains to be strengthened, by one carriage. The Great Western Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) 2010, put it:

The Great Western franchise Invitation to Tender (ITT) of July 2012 also called for:

And for the Greater Bristol Metro the same ITT asked for a “priced option” for:

The effect of these change compared with existing capacity in terms of units of “one carriage” will be as follows:  Existing Cardiff-Bristol-Westbury-Portsmouth services are formed of three car trains;  Existing Gloucester-Bristol-Westbury-Weymouth services (“Heart of Wessex”) are two car trains;  Existing Bristol – Westbury services are formed of two car trains;  New “Bristol Metro” services are likely to be formed using two car trains.

Carriages per 2 hours Existing Existing + Strengthening excluding excl Portsmth from Bristol to: train sets Strengthening + Bristol Metro Portsmouth adnl over extg Portsmouth 6 8 8 - - Weymouth 2 3 3 3 1 Westbury 2 3 3 3 1 Bathampton (Metro) - - 4 4 4 Totals per 2 hours: 10 14 18 10 6 As percentage of existing: 100% 140% 180% 100% 60% Table 12.1 Changes to passenger train capacity Bristol to Westbury already proposed. The table indicates that with both the planned new "Bristol Metro" services and lengthening of all other trains on the Bristol – Westbury corridor, between Bathampton and Bristol there will be 80% more capacity than today or 40% more capacity than today for the use of travellers from all stations in the Avon valley and as far as Westbury.

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It seems unlikely that passenger number on the Bristol – Westbury corridor will grow by as much as 50% by the time a new Bathampton park & ride railway station were to open in, say, four years from now. Hence, it is estimated that there should be available passenger capacity, including standing room, equivalent to at least 33% of existing capacity. It may be that the train operator will prefer to operate Portsmouth services stopping only at principal stations. In this scenario potential capacity between Bathampton and Bath would simply be equivalent to the existing train service but with none of the existing passengers who use today’s crowded hourly Portsmouth trains, or a further 33% who might, today, wish to use the Portsmouth trains but cannot because they are full. It is recognised that park & ride schemes do involve “risks of abstraction from existing public transport services” and the attractiveness of a P&R facility will be partly a function of the perceived level of “comfort” of the transit element. Detailed consideration of these aspects in accordance with the Department for Transport’s design standard “Bus-Based Park & Ride” and the “New Approach to Transport Appraisal” (NATA) requirements for the appraisal of these types of scheme are beyond the scope of the first report. However, a balance can be found between a transit service so attractive that travellers who today park at Bradford-on Avon railway station would drive to Bathampton; and a situation where there is no capacity on morning peak period westbound trains passing through Bathampton. The appropriate balance will be one that delivers adequate standing room westwards from Bathampton but not a comfortable seat for the car driver who chose not to take a seat when he could by joining the train at Bradford-on-Avon. These aspects can be examined in greater depth at a later phase of the study.

12.4 Incremental train operating costs The economies of the project could be as follows, based on the assumption that the proposed shuttle train between Severn Beach/Bristol and Bath (turning at Bathampton but without platforms) has already been established to create a local service frequency of 4 trains per hour between Bathampton and Bristol and that one more train will be required. 12.4.1 Cost of 2nd shuttle train, Bristol – Bathampton 3 cars @ £140,000 per annum £420,000 Incremental track charges: 120 tonnes of train x 45 kms x 16 x 300 day @ £0.0156: £10,800 Energy: 45 kms x 16 x 300 days x 2.2 KWL @ £0.07: £33,250 Crew, 4 @ £300,000: £300.000 Total: £764,050 per annum At this stage the other 3 trains are assumed to have 33% spare capacity between Bathampton and Bath/Bristol while some travellers normally using these existing trains would be carried by the newly provided train. This means that there should be no further incremental costs to enable car parking passenger volumes to be increased to, of the order of 2,500 per day. There will also be additional costs for station platform staff and ticketing which will vary more nearly in proportion to rail service patronage.

12.5 The case for mainline platforms The need to ‘flight’ trains between Bath Spa and Bristol means that the four local train services will not be able to offer a standard interval service between Bathampton to Bath Spa. At this stage, we have been able to draft a time-table with 18, 13, 17 and 12 minute gaps between Bathampton services. Furthermore, there is a danger that there will be extensive pressure on passenger train accommodation capacity in the Down (Bristol) direction in the morning peak. This has been allowed for in estimating the cost of operating additional passenger carriages.

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However, station site options D & F (Chapter 3, Figures 3.1 & 3.2) and the proposed track layout also provide the scope to install platforms to serve the Up and Down main line tracks immediately adjacent to the car park, as station site option C. This would attract many of those currently driving into Southgate underground car park, the rail users zone (level -3) then taking a train from Bath Spa, and thereby avoid the delay to these travellers of entering the city and reduce total traffic entering the central zone. A further benefit will be to release capacity on trains between Bathampton and Bath Spa that can be used by local passengers. By splitting Bathampton park & ride car park rail travellers between two directions the incremental cost of additional rolling stock capacity is significantly reduced. Such a strategy aligns with the anticipated post electrification strategy whereby fast, ‘flagship’ Bristol to London trains will take the route via Bristol Parkway so that loadings on London trains via Bath Spa will be lighter west of Swindon. If many ‘Bath area’ to London passengers board instead at Bathampton, the impact of the time taken by a call at Bathampton on onboard passengers will be reduced. In effect, mainline trains between Bathampton and Bristol will tend to serve a similar role to those between Birmingham New St. and Birmingham International/Coventry; a rapid intra-regional service that provides an effective park and ride function. In these circumstances, not only would the service frequency of park and ride trains be improved, the cost of additional rolling stock would be limited to the extra Bathampton to Severn Beach service proposed.

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13 PRELIMINARY BUSINESS CASE

13.1 Introduction This preliminary business case outlines the strategic case for a rail-based east-of-Bath park & ride scheme. In earlier chapters we have put forward an outline design to provide a “proof of concept” assessment. This chapter uses that design and recent Bath &NES traffic data to produce a revenue forecast against which the infrastructure and operating costs that have been estimated for the scheme can be evaluated using a business model. During subsequent phases of the development of the design of the scheme further traffic data and cost estimates to a higher level of confidence will allow the business model to be refined and a full Business Case developed to support an investment decision.

13.2 Strategic Fit The World Heritage City of Bath is a hugely popular business and tourist destination. The need for greater car parking capacity has been demonstrated through several Transport Planning Studies. The strategic development plans in the Joint Local Transport Plan for the city and region include bus- based park & ride schemes and the Bristol Metro regional rail services package. Bus-based park & ride schemes have been successfully introduced in Bath on the north, south and west sides of the city but to the east, no site has yet been shown satisfactory. This is why a rail-based park & ride scheme is now proposed. The scheme includes a semi-underground car park on three levels to accommodate traffic from the A4 Batheaston bypass with a rail transit service into Bath City Centre and, for some travellers, beyond to Bristol. Cost efficient implementation of this scheme could be achieved through alignment with Network Rail’s planned electrification of the Great Western Main Line railway between London and Bristol. Railway track possessions for construction major construction items of the P&R scheme could be minimised if work can be carried out at the same time as a railway route “blockade” for the planned electrification scheme.

13.3 Objectives The key benefits to be realised include:  traffic congestion relief  environmental improvements  parking revenue  improved commuter travel times and  commercial development in the central area of the city. It is anticipated that the full evaluation of these benefits will be undertaken in the Feasibility Study phase of design work which, together with the production of cost estimates to a higher level of confidence, will enable a definitive Cost/Benefit Ratio to be produced for several delivery scenarios. Critical success factors of the project include:  early delivery of the scheme to cost  environmental benefits delivery  passenger usage take-up rate and  parking revenue development.

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13.4 Commercial aspects 13.4.1 Options for procurement and operation The scheme could be delivered in a cost effective manner through competitive procurement. Early market soundings with constructors, car park operators and banks have shown that there is interest from private sector investors in car park schemes to enter in a Private Public Partnership agreement for the construction and long term operation of the car park. At this stage an objective of the initial Business Case study is to provide Bath &North East Somerset local authority with an indication as to whether the scheme might be largely privately financed or whether a mixed approach whereby the rail and public highway elements of the scheme might be procured by Bath &NES through the conventional public funding route and the car park procured through a Private Financing option. The four Train Operating Companies (TOCs) bidding for the new Great Western Rail Franchise have shown interest in the scheme as reported in chapter 4. All would wish to operate the car park with the station as a single facility but only one expressed interest in financing the scheme. “Financing of stations and car parks is not our core business...” was one comment but another observed that a partnership with a construction company could be attractive. We would expect that the railway passenger train service should be provided by the new franchise concession operator, but it should be noted that from a negotiating point of view, under the “open access” provisions of the Railways Act 1993 this is not Bath &NES’s only option. The proposed new track layout at Bathampton Junction would provide commercial benefits for Network Rail and for operators of trains not stopping at the new Bathampton station. These benefits can be evaluated during the Feasibility Study phase of design work and will contribute to on-going negotiations with Network Rail. 13.4.2 Private Finance Deal Structuring The semi-underground car park could be procured as a competitive Design Build Finance and Operate (DBFO) Project Finance agreement. Public highway works to provide vehicle access into the site could form part of the same agreement. It is not uncommon for public authorities to procure car parks through the Project Finance Initiative route that involves the award of a PFI Agreement for the Design Build Finance and Operation (DBFO) for a concession period of some 30 to 50 years. Under these procurement routes car parks become self sustaining businesses with the private partner gaining a revenue stream from car park charges. The public partner, in this case Bath &NES, usually provides the land, carries the demand risk and gains the development consents. The normal PFI arrangement involves the Private Partner setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) limited liability Project Company to deliver the DBFO Agreement. The Private Partner would conduct the DBFO elements of the park & ride scheme. Capital funding for a complex scheme where the capital cost is in excess of £46 million, would be expected to be a mix of debt and equity, possibly a 90/10 ratio. The debt can be sourced from either commercial banks who are used to this type of agreement and generally see them as low risk, or from private sources. Debt finance providers will look for an interest rate dependent of their appetite for the deal and risks associated with the security of the revenue stream. Project Finance will be non recourse borrowing so lenders will require a direct Agreement with the Local Authority, to cover for example the termination case, and they will conduct due diligence to analyse project risk. The Local Authority, Bath &NES, would be expected to use the UK’s Standard form of Project Finance Agreement (SOPC4) and seek any derogation, as appropriate for a major park & ride car park project, from the HM Treasury’s Infrastructure UK Team. A generic structure for this type of PFI Deal is as shown below.

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Figure 13.1 Generic PFI project finance agreement structure

13.5 Charging The following tables of charges are based on the current charges at Bath’s central area car parks shown in Table 1.2 above. MODEL A Upto >> 3 hours 4 hours 6 hours 8 hours 11+hours Train fare Model using car parking + train fare charged separately Car park charges £ 1.80 £ 3.70 £ 4.50 £ 6.30 £ 9.10 fare X travellers/car £ 1.90 2 £ 3.80 £ 3.80 £ 3.80 £ 3.80 £ 3.80 Price to car driver: £ 5.60 £ 7.50 £ 8.30 £ 10.10 £ 12.90 Car park charges £ 1.80 £ 3.70 £ 4.50 £ 6.30 £ 9.10 fare X travellers/car £ 1.90 1 £ 1.90 £ 1.90 £ 1.90 £ 1.90 £ 1.90 Price to car driver £ 3.70 £ 5.60 £ 6.40 £ 8.20 £ 11.00 Table 13.1 Charging model A Table 13.1 above builds up the total charge from fixed fees for use of the transit service added to the appropriate tariff in the table of fees for use of the car park for varying periods of time. The model seeks to achieve a total cost for using the park & ride facility equivalent to the cost of using one of the central area car parks today. However, this model is regressive in that it presents an apparently more attractive combined service offer to drivers of single occupancy cars. It should therefore be rejected in favour of a model that promotes multiple occupancy use of private cars. This model leads to the discounting of rail revenue to too great an extent. MODEL B Up to >> 3 hours 4 hours 6 hours 8 hours 11+ hours Model using train fare rebated from combined parking charge based on central Train fare area train revenue per traveller kept equal + multiple occupancy cars attracted Price to car driver £ 5.60 £ 7.50 £ 8.30 £ 10.10 £ 12.90 fare X travellers/car £1.90 2 £ 3.80 £ 3.80 £ 3.80 £ 3.80 £ 3.80 Car Park net revenue £ 1.80 £ 3.70 £ 4.50 £ 6.30 £ 9.10 Price to car driver £ 5.60 £ 7.50 £ 8.30 £ 10.10 £ 12.90 fare X travellers/car £1.90 1 £ 1.90 £ 1.90 £ 1.90 £ 1.90 £ 1.90 Car Park net revenue £ 3.70 £ 5.60 £ 6.40 £ 8.20 £ 11.00 Table 13.2 Charging model B

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Table 13.2 above offers a fixed charge for use of the car park for a selected period of time and offers the car drivers up to four return tickets for the transit service as he arrives. In the example above, £ 1.90 per transit ticket would be deducted from the published tariff and the appropriate sum credited to the rail operating side of the park & ride facility operation with just the balance credited to the car park. In this model multiple occupancy use of private cars is encouraged for parts of a through journey for which the train may not have been suitable. This makes the park & ride facility consistent with Joint Local Transport Plan (JLTP) policies in favour of multi-occupancy private cars applied elsewhere in the West of England Partnership JLTP area. This model also enables the transit revenue to vary in line with transit service patronage and costs without discouraging multiple occupancy traveller groups. The obverse is that the car park operation does lose some income but later parts of this analysis show that this can be borne.

13.6 Capacity, utilisation and daily revenue. The following tables use the park & ride charges given in Table 13.2 above to derive daily revenue for the car park and for the railway passenger train service operations. Car Park capacity: 1,850 Total daily utilisation of spaces: 80% Daily Revenues 1,480 Percentage 2 travellers: 33% 488 Car park Revenue Train fare revenue Percentage 4 hours stay: 40% 195 £ 723 £ 742 Percentage 4 hours used twice: 20% 98 £ 361 £ 371 Percentage 8 hours stay: 60% 293 £ 1,846 £ 1,114 Percentage 1 traveller: 67% 992 Percentage 4 hours stay: 40% 397 £ 2,221 £ 754 Percentage 4 hours used twice: 20% 198 £ 1,111 £ 377 percentage 8 hours stay: 60% 595 £ 4,879 £ 1,130 Park & Ride transit users per day: 2,362 £ 11,141 £ 4,488 Percentage travelling daily to Bristol or further: 10% at total / additional fare: £ 8.00 £ 6.10 NIL £ 1,441 Table 13.3 Car park capacity, utilisation and daily revenue, Phase 1 The above Table 13.3 is based on revenue levels and split as Table 13.2, the fixed price per car charging structure with the following further assumptions:  That only 80% of spaces are used each day.  That only 33% of cars carry more than one traveller, assumed mode: two travellers.  That length of stay can be characterised as two groups: o Average 4 hours fee ...... 40% of cars and travellers. o Average 8 hours fee ...... 60 % of cars and travellers.  That only 20% of average 4 hour use spaces are used a second time in one day. These assumptions are judged to be conservative. The daily revenues at the car park are supplemented by further income from travellers using Bathampton park & ride station to travel to Bristol. Day return fare today from Bath Spa is £8.00. In the analysis above we assume the same total fare, no extra charge for the additional 4km each way. A user of the station would present the return ticket to Bath issued on entry to the car park and be asked to pay the supplementary fare, here £6.10, total £8.00 for the return trip to Bristol. Following advice based on early Bath P&R studies, we have adopted a figure of 10% of users of a Bathampton park & ride facility would in fact wish to travel into Bristol.

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Car Park capacity 2,850 Total daily utilisation of spaces 80% Daily Revenues 2,280 Percentage 2 travellers 33% 752 Car park Revenue Train fare revenue Percentage 4 hrs stay 40% 301 £ 1,083 £ 1,144 Percentage 4 hrs used twice 20% 150 £ 542 £ 572 Percentage 8 hrs stay 60% 451 £ 3,250 £ 1,715 Percentage 1 traveller 67% 1,528 Percentage 4 hrs stay 40% 611 £ 3,361 £ 1,161 Percentage 4 hrs used twice 20% 306 £ 1,680 £ 580 Percentage 8 hrs stay 60% 917 £ 8,341 £ 1,741 Park & Ride transit users per day 3,639 £ 18,257 £ 6,914 Percentage travelling daily to Bristol or further: 10% at total / additional fare: £ 8.00 £ 6.10 £ 2,220 Table 13.4 Car park capacity, utilisation and daily revenue, Phase 2 Table 13.4 adopts exactly the same set of assumptions as for 13.3. The increase in daily revenue is as a result in the increased use of the facility following completion of the additional 1000 spaces to provide a total of 2850 car parking spaces.

13.7 Capital expenditure and revenue net of operating costs. The availability of funds through the Bath &NES capital investment budget has not been examined by the OTB Team at this point. Also Bath &NES department costs associated with this project are not assessed at this stage. The commercial strategy presented in this chapter has been developed with the object of minimising the public sector contribution to the scheme.

Annual revenue net of operating costs Rate of return Rail: £ 19,157,000 £ 696,000 3.6 % Phase 1 Car park: £ 27,528,000 £ 2,236,000 8.1 % Total cost: £ 46,685,000 £ 2,932,000 6.3 % Rail: £ 4,253,000 £ 1,521,000 Phase 2 Car park: £ 7,697,000 £ 3,666,000 Total cost: £ 11,950,000 £ 5,187,000 Rail: £ 23,409,000 £ 1,521,000 6.5 % Complete scheme Car park: £ 35,226,000 £ 3,666,000 10.4 % Total cost: £ 58,635,000 £ 5,187,000 8.8 % Table 13.5 Construction costs, annual operating costs and projected rate of return The railway industry is often able to take forward schemes of improvement or enhancement of the infrastructure that show a rate of return in excess of 3.5%. Private sector constructors will look for a rate of return in excess of 5%. The table above provides an initial indication of the potential financial performance of the scheme. The figures show that if revenue produced by just Phase 1 of the car park, 1850 spaces, must fund the whole of the railway works and the station then the scheme as a whole is likely to be financially viable but it becomes difficult to separate financing of the railway works, they do not stand very well on their own. When Phase 2 of the car park is completed, a further 1000 spaces, then the scheme as a whole or its two separable parts are likely to be shown to be financially quite robust. Clearly, the second phase of construction of the car park would only be commenced once the first phase scheme was shown to be performing well, but by completion of the second phase works the first phase works would themselves perform more profitably.

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Since the inception of privately financed public sector infrastructure projects a market has developed in the onward sale and refinancing of these schemes. The probable scenario illustrated above in which the first phase of a scheme carries higher risks and would not be expected to deliver particularly good financial performance whereas when a second phase is added the financial performance does seem likely to strengthen significantly, makes the Bathampton park & ride scheme potentially attractive to the after-market in PFI schemes. Some initial investors including construction companies are prepared to take the higher risk and accept a lower initial revenue stream if the completed scheme can be shown to have an increased project resale value, and this is likely to be the case with the Bathampton project. The revenue figures are based on just 64% of spaces in the car park being used for more than half of each day, an adequately cautious position when compared with final projections for the previous Bathampton Meadows bus-based park & ride scheme. For this earlier scheme it was expected that its 1,600 spaces would be fully occupied from an early date, and indeed this attracted criticism that it was not feasible to make further expansion of the capacity at the site. With completion of the second phase of the rail-based Bathampton park & ride option, up to 78% more parking spaces could be fully occupied than was possible with the earlier proposal.

13.8 Achievability In order to achieve the integration of planning and development of the new park & ride station and its associated railway civil engineering works with that of Network Rail’s scheme to electrify the Great Western Main Line (GWML) railway, we recommend that the engineering feasibility study for the Bathampton scheme should be commenced as quickly as possible. Bath &NES will need to appoint a Project Director and Management Team to oversee the scheme promotion, sponsorship planning, and interfacing between the Bath &NES Highways team, Network Rail, the eventual GW Trains franchisee and car park sponsor. It is envisaged that construction of the car park would be in two phases with the initial capacity being for some 1850 spaces and a second phase expansion of a further 1,000 spaces. There is also scope for a second phase of infrastructure enhancement for the railway in the Bathampton Junction area that would secure increased capacity for the handling of additional passenger trains in the immediate area of the junction, and therefore of course: secure the feasibility of even more trains calling at a new Bathampton Park & Ride Station. The next stage would be the Feasibility Study phase of design work to:  Definitively choose, and report on consultations leading to the choice of, a site from the six site options outlined in this report and the several bus-based options that have been drafted,  develop the engineering design for a scheme at the chosen site through an engineering feasibility study,  prepare Traffic and Revenue forecasting,  prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment,  prepare a draft Development Consent Order (DCO) and carry out other preliminary stages of the promotion of a “nationally significant infrastructure project” (NSIP) – terms adopted for the Planning Act 2008 and  promote a Public Enquiry leading to grant of a DCO. This body of information would be used as inputs to a Full Business Case to support the application for a DCO and the adoption of an Investment Decision.

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14 SUMMARY OF THE GRIP 2 PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDIES & RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT STEPS.

14.1 Bath & North East Somerset’s objective at GRIP 2 pre-feasibility stage. This pre-feasibility study has set out to achieve the primary objective for Bath & North East Somerset which is to identify possible sites for and the railway operational feasibility of providing a park & ride facility to the east of the city that has: (a) a good capacity, (b) an attractive enough “ride” to draw several thousand cars off the city streets each day and (c) at a site and of a design that will be environmentally acceptable – in the cold light of a 20 year history during which it has not been possible to find wide agreement on any one among a series of possible sites for a park & ride facility to serve the east side of the city. This study has also provided a GRIP 2 equivalent pre-feasibility initial draft scheme, a cost estimate for the civil engineering works for this scheme and gone on to assess the rail operational and revenue aspects to produce initial indications of (a) the financial performance of the scheme and its rail services and (b) the benefit to cost ratio for such a scheme. This pre-feasibility report has also examined whether a scheme based on use of the railway to provide the “ride” element of a park & ride scheme might be able to meet the other underlying objectives for the local authority and for the railway industry. Network Rail have pointed out the Railways & Other Guided Systems (ROGS) regulations require us to look, at an early stage in the GRIP process, at station site options and prove that the selected scheme is the best - from a guided systems point of view, or show why selection of the best guided systems solution can be over-ruled for a more compelling reason. We have, therefore, put forward six possible sites for a railway station in the Bathampton area and essentially taken forward through this pre- feasibility study the scheme most likely to meet the environmental acceptability test but which is, at first glance, likely to be thought the most expensive option for pre-feasibility design and analysis at this stage. The sites and the challenges with each were described in chapter 2 and we note at the end of that chapter that one site, possibly the most expensive, is: “..taken forward through the rest of this study to produce a “proof of concept” cost, revenue and business case assessment.” This has meant that when we have developed the Business Case part we have in fact used the highest cost option as our base case. At this stage, from the point of view of Bath & NES, we have not produced a detailed design of the railway track-work, we have produced an initial Business Case that enable the client to consider whether a railway-based park & ride scheme might be justified financially. We believe that this report has shown that a railway station-based Park & Ride scheme in the Bathampton area would pass the first tests, the financial Business Case test and the Benefit to Cost Ration (BCR) test, and that Bath & NE Somerset should take the scheme forward for testing through public consultation and the statutory town & country planning process and at the same time: through further stages of the railway industry procedure for the development of new or modified railway infrastructure. It is important to keep in mind that the primary objective of the scheme is to provide the best possible east-of-Bath park & ride infrastructure on the ground from the point of view of Bath & North East Somerset and that of those who come in large numbers by private car to work, shop, study, use the health facilities or just to admire this World Heritage city.

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14.2 Taking the scheme forward through railway industry procedures. The railway industry scheme promotion process requires that the six site options for a new Bathampton railway station should be examined at a "workshop" with the participation of a range of disciplines and corporately separate interested parties from within the industry, as well as the participation of the promoters of a scheme, Bath &NES. It may be that participants will want to put forward alternatives to the “base case” from among the six site options, and may thereby improve the Business Case through choosing a cheaper scheme. But any option chosen must be capable of passing the environmental acceptability test with at least the same success as the initial base case. This requirement and the difficulties of meeting it found over 20 years of experience, will need to be clearly described at the options workshop meeting. At this stage this is not a railway industry lead proposal but a local authority lead proposal. Nevertheless, in this first report we also have sought to answer the most important “tests” that must be answered for a railway industry scheme, early stages of the Guidance for Railway Investment Projects requirements and other early consultation processes. Another early part of the “next steps” in terms of railway industry planning, has been that Network Rail have asked us to supply a drawing of the "worst case" impact of revision of the railway junction layout for signalling and OLE planning at the present stage of those schemes. This may be summarised as: we have asked Network Rail to keep new signalling and 25kV AC electrification equipment off the two abandoned track beds north and south of the main line through the old station area and to avoid the new curve alignment as shown on the General Arrangement drawing provided with this documentary report. Bath &NES will need to develop the level of consultation with Network Rail and enable them to participate in the on-going design process. For this reason Network Rail have asked Bath &NES to enter into a “Basic Services Agreement” (BSA) as the means whereby their internal costs for participation in the development of the scheme can be managed. Network Rail have produced a range of Template Agreements intended to cover the different ways in which construction schemes on or adjacent to the railway might be designed and implemented. Network Rail agreements with an “outside party” (a party other than a department within Network Rail) concerning access to the railway are regulated by the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR) under the Railways Act 1993. These Template Agreements have been approved by the ORR as providing adequate protection for both parties. For a scheme being promoted by and designed primarily to meet objectives set by an outside party, at this stage a “Basic Asset Protection Agreement” will need to be entered into between Network Rail and Bath & North East Somerset. A further aspect of the relationship of the scheme with Network Rail and its own development schemes is that the existing signalling scheme is currently being upgraded in preparation for the major programme of work to electrify the Great Western Main Line between London and Bristol using the 25kV AC overhead line system. These projects will involve equipment being sited in the area of Bathampton Junction and we have already liaised with Network Rail to seek to ensure that there is the minimum of conflict between these new items of fixed equipment and the new park & ride station scheme. An equally significant item of work that is part of the electrification scheme is that during the summer of 2015 work will be carried out inside Box Tunnel to provide additional space in the tunnel vault for the fixed overhead line equipment (OLE) above the volume required for the passage of trains. This is currently expected to require a closure of the through railway route, a “blockade”, for a number of weeks and this would provide a unique opportunity for parts of a Bathampton scheme to be carried out at much less cost. Construction of these elements of a Bathampton scheme during the Box Tunnel “blockade”, summer of 2015, is not absolutely vital for the engineering feasibility of a scheme but to whatever extent integration of these two major projects can be achieved time, effort and money will be saved for both schemes.

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14.3 Taking the scheme forward through the statutory Town & Country Planning process. A Bathampton Park & Ride Station and semi-underground car park with a new junction onto the A4 will be a major scheme but in fact any scheme involving new lengths of passenger carrying railway falls under the Planning Act 2008 categorisation as a “nationally significant infrastructure project” (NSIP). As such, the procedure for obtaining development consent and, where necessary, compulsory purchase powers, is set out in the Planning Act 2008. Development consent would be given by the Secretary of State following an examination in public and report by a Commissioner appointed by the Planning Inspectorate. The procedure is not the same as for a public enquiry for a “called in” proposal under previous Planning Acts, and the Transport & Works Act 1992 under which railway schemes used to obtain powers has also been superseded by the Planning Act 2008. The Planning Act 2008 procedure is thought to be more straightforward and quicker than the earlier processes. An application must be lodged with the Planning Inspectorate by the promoter but before doing so the promoter must carry out: (a) Extensive consultation on the proposals and produce a statement of community consultation (SOCC) report. – The recent 20-year history of consultations and opinions concerning park & ride proposals for the Bathampton, Batheaston, Bathford area will be relevant to this report; (b) Scoping and screening for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and commence the drafting of the EIA; (c) Agree common ground with all affected parties including Network Rail, draft requirements and obligations; and (d) Prepare a draft development consent order (DCO). Public consultation on alternative sites and schemes for an “east-of-Bath” park & ride are currently in progress so that this part of the overall process for a Bathampton Station based scheme can be developed from this current work. Other matters that will be required at an early stage will include further development of the design of the scheme through a full engineering feasibility study so that a set of engineering drawings showing the “limits of deviation” (LOD) of the works, both in plan and vertically, can be submitted with the application for development consent.

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15 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER PHASES OF STUDY.

Three further phases of study work will be required in order for a Bathampton Park & Ride railway station scheme to be carried out, on the ground.

15.1 Part 3 - Comparative assessment of Options Report. The following component reports will be consolidated as chapters of an Environmental Impact Assessment dealing with comparative assessment of options for the provision of: “a facility or facilities to address the underlying need: provision for people approaching the City of Bath on principal highways from the north, east and south-east to park their cars outside the city and have available to them an attractive, fast, frequent, low-cost, transportation service into the central area”: (1) Bathampton railway corridor and proposed station and semi-underground car park site area initial environmental assessment of site options. Initial stage of the Environmental Impact Assessment to provide the scoping and screening report required for the initial application the Planning Inspectorate. (2) Bath area road traffic origin and car park occupancy study based on existing Bath &NES data. To include data on current charges for parking and for “park & ride” facilities. (3) Car park occupancy and passenger demand assessment. To include pedestrian flow modelling, crowding and platform design safety assessment. (4) Bathampton Station site and track layout, physical options. To include track geometry designs. (5) Bathampton Station site and track layout options, route and train service capacity outcomes. A railway industry report to include passenger capacity assessment with phased development of the car park and of the passenger transport services. (6) Time-table performance modelling assessment. A railway industry report to include journey time comparisons to provide inputs to cost/benefit analysis. (7) Resilience assessment. A railway industry report that will provide the railway infrastructure operators and train operating companies with a Reliability, Availability & Maintainability (RAM) impact statement. (8) Bathampton Station car park and highway access options. A highways engineering study that will include consultation with the Highways Agency as operator of the A4 Batheaston Bypass. (9) Bathampton Station site Option assessment and selection workshop: a. Paper to be issued to participants in an Option assessment and selection workshop. b. The workshop conference will review route and train capacity of each option together with time-tabling and operational resilience implications as the primary criteria for the selection of the optimal scheme according to a scoring methodology. Environmental impact issues must also be considered and scored for each option and it is possible that certain of these impacts may indicate the general non-acceptability of particular options. (10) Report on railway station site Option assessment and selection workshop. Selection of a single option to take forward for detailed engineering design and through the Planning process to the acquisition of planning powers. (11) Report on further meetings and discussions with Network Rail during Part 2 of the Bathampton Station Study and for the purposes of liaison with the network Rail Great Western Overhead Line Electrification team. (12) Concept design drawing and high level output report for selected option, showing a credible design solution based on existing survey data plus “Lidar” aerial topographic survey data. (13) Update scheme cost estimates to +/- 30% for input to economic evaluation based on scheme option selected. (14) Project site survey strategy report. Record survey data age, accuracy and control point data together with proposals for ongoing refinement of survey data as the design proceeds.

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15.2 Part 4 - Engineering Feasibility Study and Report. The following documents and engineering design studies will be consolidated as chapters of an Environmental Impact Assessment: (1) Track geometry and permanent way design for revised track layout at Bathampton Junction and “Bathampton Up Loop”. (2) Track geometry and permanent way design for new railway curve alignment to the south of the existing Trowbridge Line entry curve. (3) Track geometry and permanent way design for new Bathampton station at the location selected during Part 2 of the Study. (4) Engineering design study for the new station built works. To include platforms, passenger access route and platform facilities. (5) Geotechnical and structural engineering feasibility design for semi-underground car park for of the order of 2800 cars including ancillary spaces. (6) Geotechnical and structural engineering feasibility design for the highway bridge under the GW main line railway. (7) Geotechnical and structural engineering feasibility design for highway junction onto the existing A4 Batheaston Bypass. (8) Geotechnical and structural engineering feasibility design for replacement highway bridge over the GWML at Mill Lane, Bathampton. (9) Geotechnical and structural engineering feasibility design for engineered earthwork structure at the bund to be constructed east of the main works. (10) Revised civil engineering and railway infrastructure works project cost estimate. (11) Extended train plan study and passenger train service business case. To include rolling stock capacity assessment, railway operational costs, projected revenues and business case addressing the railway passenger service element of the scheme. (12) Traffic impact study. To include car park occupancy study, operational costs, projected revenues and business case for the car park element of the scheme. (13) Business case report including sensitivity testing. At this stage the project business case include civil engineering construction costs, the passenger train service business case and the car park operational business case. It will also reflect a valuation of non-user benefits attributable to the scheme for inclusion in the overall project cost/benefit analysis. (14) Preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). This work will be continued alongside this phase of design and business case work. (15) Continuing liaison with Network Rail and submission of reports to the client.

15.3 Part 5 - Planning Act 2008, development consent order (DCO) preparatory work & report. All of the documents and engineering design studies prepared during earlier parts of the Study will be consolidated as chapters of an Environmental Impact Assessment that must prepared under the guidance of Planning lawyers and Town & Country Planning consultants appointed by Bath &NES for the NSIP examination and DCO phase of the project (1) Consolidation of component reports of Parts 1,2&3 of the Study for utilisation during the planning process. (2) Initial assistance to Planning consultant and Environmental consultant appointed by Bath &NES in the assessment of environmental impacts of all parts of the scheme and initial draft EIA. (3) Continuing liaison with Network Rail and submission of reports to the client. (4) Final report of the Study.

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX A

Pre-GRIP Need Analysis - Report.

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX B

General Arrangements and Sections - Drawings

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