Cross Country rail franchise Consultation response from the Association of Community Rail Partnerships August 2018 About us The Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP) is a national, not-for-profit umbrella organisation working across Britain to support, advocate and represent the community rail movement. The community rail movement is made up of hundreds of small community groups, such as station adoption groups, and larger and more formal community rail partnerships (CRPs) that work along whole or multiple lines, connecting communities with their railways. Community rail partnerships and groups carry out a wide range of activities, including: • promoting understanding and use of the railways, such as communicating local developments or encouraging rail travel for leisure and tourism purposes; • helping communities support, feed into and influence their railway and station’s development so it better meets their needs, such as coordinating volunteer groups to maintain and enhance stations, or advising train operators on local needs and demand; • bringing disused station property back into community use, such as by achieving renovations, setting up community group spaces, or running social enterprises; • running a range of activities to bring people together and tackle social exclusion linked to the railways, such as local events, creative projects and educational programmes. The value of such work was set out in a 2015 Transport Regeneration report on the value of community rail, commissioned by the Department for Transport-run National Community Rail Steering Group. This found that CRPs more than pay for themselves, contributing £3.4m per annum in volunteering hours alone, bringing social and economic value, and seeing passenger growth well above average1. A more recent 2017 report by ACoRP, What’s been achieved through community rail?, produced in consultation with the Department for Transport and its National Community Rail Steering Group, includes more qualitative analysis of the range of ways community rail has delivered positive outcomes for the railways and communities they serve. ACoRP’s membership includes all 60 CRPs, and many more local groups. Our work includes providing a year-round programme of training opportunities and seminars, resources and materials, annual awards recognising and sharing good practice in community rail, and supporting members through ad hoc advice, planning support, facilitating networking and relationship development, and sharing ideas and experience. We are funded by the Department for Transport (DfT) to support and enhance community rail in England, including through events and resources, advising on the community rail movement at 1 Transport Regeneration on behalf of the National Community Rail Steering Group, 2015, ‘The Value of Community Rail Partnerships and Community Rail Volunteering’ national and regional level, and providing direct support to CRPs and smaller groups. We also receive funding from a range of industry partners, Welsh Government, and some devolved authorities. ACoRP remains a relatively small organisation (with 14 team members), but has undergone significant expansion and reorganisation in the past two years. Therefore we have been significantly stepping up our work to support members and promote community rail, working collaboratively with the DfT to help the community rail movement realise its potential. We are looking forward to the publication of the DfT’s new community rail strategy, which we will work with the DfT and our members to bring to life, helping community rail to further develop its impact on sustainable and healthy travel, access to opportunity, social inclusion, and economic and community development. Summary of our response It should be noted that alongside our response to this consultation, as the national umbrella body for community rail, several of our community rail partnership members have responded directly. We therefore encourage attention towards their responses for more detailed perspectives on how the franchise can be developed in relation to their organisations and localities. We have not duplicated their views in our response, instead aiming to give our broader view related to the franchise as a whole and drawing on our general experience supporting community rail. However, we have drawn on their perspectives and included examples where relevant. To summarise our position, we believe that the new franchise should seek to nurture and enhance valuable community rail work being delivered across the Cross Country network. This is important in enabling community rail to deliver greater social and economic value to local communities and railways, and in achieving the objectives and overcoming challenges set out in the consultation. The unique position and contribution of community rail partnerships and smaller groups like station friends and social enterprises – rooted in and driven by their communities, but well connected, informed, and passionate about their railways – means they offer an important bridge between the rail industry and the communities it serves. Evidence on community rail’s capacity to deliver value to the railways, their passengers and local communities is set out in ACoRP’s reports, What’s been achieved through community rail?, Community Stations, and Community Rail and Social Inclusion, and in case studies compiled from our Community Rail Awards winners2. Explicit recognition of this role within the franchise is critical because the contribution that community rail makes is dependent on receiving appropriate funding and support, and on the train operator and other partners taking a collaborative approach. As much as possible, community rail work should be integrated with wider efforts to develop the franchise, given the way that community rail can help franchisees better understand and meet local needs. The new franchise holder’s support should be delivered in a way that is respectful of community rail’s independence and unique position as a grassroots, community-driven movement, drawing on this position and community rail perspectives and understanding, rather than attempting to control its activities. In other words, it should be a partnership approach, founded on collaboration, communication and respect. However, it should also be provided in an intelligent way that is orientated around community rail organisations’ needs, integrated with wider work by ACoRP to support community rail, and aligned with wider franchise and government objectives. As the umbrella body for community rail partnerships and smaller groups, ACoRP would be pleased to work in partnership with the franchise holder to advise and assist their engagement and support of community rail, and we welcome ongoing dialogue with bidders on this. We suggest that this joined-up working with ACoRP might be especially valuable with a franchise like Cross Country where community rail stakeholders are dispersed across the country and operating in diverse contexts. We set out in detail under question 41 our role in working alongside the franchise holder to support community rail, and how this relates to franchise 2 Association of Community Rail Partnerships, 2017, ‘What’s been achieved in community rail?’, ‘Community Stations: innovative community uses for railway stations and land’, and ‘Community Rail Awards 2017 winners’. All reports and many more community rail case studies can be found at www.communityrail.org.uk. priorities. We also urge that bidders engage directly with our members to hear about their aims and aspirations, which ACoRP can facilitate if helpful. We would additionally direct to our comprehensive response to the DfT’s national consultation on the Future of Community Rail earlier this year. This sets out our expert views on the spectrum of ways that community rail can benefit and add value to the railways, communities and society, through helping communities to have a voice in rail development, improving accessibility, mobility, sustainability and social inclusion, and ensuring that maximum social benefit is derived from our railways. It also provides a detailed view on how community rail can be supported and enhanced by government and industry to grow, develop and achieve greater impact. Our main recommendations for the DfT’s strategy that are of relevance to the Cross Country franchise are: • A strong focus on sustainable, healthy, accessible end-to-end journeys for all – we recommend a clear focus specifically on achieving sustainable and healthy journeys that are accessible for all, including affordable journeys. • Support the development of community rail’s capacity, capabilities and independence – central to the strategy should be the DfT’s commitment to ongoing work with ACoRP to help community rail to achieve more, through greater, more diverse funding, and development of skills, confidence and capability. This should include ongoing development of rail industry support, and attention to how community rail’s independence and unique position as a grassroots movement is protected and enhanced. • Removal of bureaucratic and other barriers to community rail delivery – we recommend the DfT works with ACoRP and rail industry (through the National Community Rail Steering Group) to undertake an action plan to overcome practical and bureaucratic barriers to community rail delivery, such as related to accessibility and integrated transport, and ensure clear, efficient processes for community rail to engage with industry. • Championing