Investment Fund - Feasibility and Development Funding Application Form SCHEME : 10 Year Rail Delivery Plan – development of schemes 1. Lead Organisation WECA 2. Partner organisations Bath & North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council, North Somerset Council, and South Gloucestershire Council, Network Rail and Great Western Railway, Western Gateway Sub National Transport Body. 3. Scheme contact details Name: James White Kate Trevorrow Email: James.white@westofengland- Kate.trevorrow@westofengland- ca.gov.uk ca.gov.uk Telephone: 07436629487 07917 265645 4. Scheme Type – mark with an X Transport Non-Transport Housing Enabling Business Support Skills Other (please specify) 5. Is this investment linked to any others within the early investment or wider Investment Fund programme? If so please set out the relationship and linkages. Details: 1 Feasibility and Development Funding Application Form The wider Investment Fund programme includes the following rail investments: - 10 Year Rail Delivery Plan and 25 Year Strategic Outline Business Case development funding - MetroWest Phase 1a and b – with North Somerset Council - MetroWest Phase 2 - Bristol Temple Meads Masterplan - Bristol Temple Meads Eastern Entrance - Charfield Station – South Gloucestershire Council led scheme - Portway Station – Bristol City Council led scheme There are other investments that relate to the rail programme: - Integrated Smart Ticketing - Mass Transit - Strategic Park & Ride - Metrobus extension WECA have significant aspirations for the rail network over the next 25 years. At the same time, Network Rail are changing their approach to network management, taking a far more devolved approach. To this end, WECA and Network Rail have produced a joint 10 Year Rail Delivery Plan and are developing plans for a 25 Year Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for rail investment in the West of England The 10 Year Rail Delivery Plan aims to enhance local rail services, providing people with access to jobs and services from stations that are step free and on trains that are ‘turn up and go’ style fast and frequent, clean and carbon neutral. It will restore confidence in the rail network following COVID-19, assist economic recovery, rebuild passenger numbers, increase freight carried by rail and support the West of England’s key growth locations for housing and jobs. All of this will require new infrastructure. With long lead in times some proposals will take longer than 10 years to deliver so this is as much a development plan as a delivery one but this is the start of the transformation of our local rail network. 2 Feasibility and Development Funding Application Form 6. Total Funding required for this phase of works 2021/2022 2022/2023 Investment Fund £340k £130k Match Funding - Network Rail to provide officer support - Network Rail’s CMSP to provide some of the technical Contributions from partners are work expected, but are yet to be - Potential funding from the local authorities along the confirmed Bristol to Oxford corridor - Potential funding from partner organisations along the Bristol to Exeter corridor Investment Fund (£) In house staff costs £83k Third Party Support £387k Total £470k Funding Breakdown Station Enhancements £130k MetroWest to the South £150k Connections to the East, North, West £90k Freight study £100k Total £470k 7. Please describe the scheme to be developed (including its objectives and expected impacts) and the proposed activity to be undertaken through this investment. 3 Feasibility and Development Funding Application Form A. Details of the schemes to be delivered: Development funding will be required to progress the following package of strategic enhancement schemes that have emerged through the 10 Year Rail Delivery Plan. Funding is sought through this Feasibility Development Funding Application for schemes to be developed during 2021/22. Schemes for 2022/23 are outlined but no funding is sought for these at this stage: 2021/22 development – funding bids • Development of station enhancements (seating, shelters, wayfinding, improved cycle parking, CCTV, lighting, and accessibility improvements). Links to Spatial Development Strategy growth, Climate Emergency Action Plan and Future Transport Zones project. • Development of the proposals to extend MetroWest to the south • Development of initial proposals for future timetables with increased connections East to West and North of Bristol – Bristol to Oxford • Freight – identify the potential for new intermodal terminals and Express Hubs linked to local delivery by electric vehicles 2022/23 development – future funding bids • Rolling stock and electrification – study to establish the rolling stock specification that best meets the West of England’s requirements. • New station capacity – study to identify the capacity to stop trains at new stations on the Bristol to Bath corridor • Development of the business case for future timetables with increased connections East to West and North of Bristol – Bristol to Oxford The likely funding required for each part of the package is identified. To maintain flexibility they are grouped into one overall figure. 2021/22 development Proposals for 2021/22 development are set out in more detail below. Station Enhancements Improved passenger facilities and levels of accessibility at railway stations, and making them step free to enable all passengers to travel by train, is an objective within the Joint Local Transport Plan. This is over and above the existing Access for All Mid-Tier funding schemes. A feasibility study is proposed to develop an understanding of the scope and cost for works needed to enhance stations within the West of England Area. This will include proposals to address accessibility issues and make enhancements such as improvements to seating, shelters, wayfinding, improved cycle parking, CCTV and lighting. Linking to the Spatial Development Strategy, the study would also consider the future growth within the West of England area and make an assessment on locations where platform lengthening would be of significant benefit. The study will also consider ways in which existing stations can to contribute to the low carbon transport, renewable energy and green environment requirements of the WECA Climate Emergency Action Plan. There are opportunities for using Future Transport Zone technologies and trial outputs at stations which will be explored by this study. 4 Feasibility and Development Funding Application Form This feasibility study would leave WECA well placed to make applications for potential new funding opportunities, such as through the Department for Transport’s Access for All programme, as these become available. This complements work being undertaken on the £1.1m package of smaller scale improvements (shelters, seating and wayfinding) planned for 8 stations across the region, which are funded by Access for All and the Investment Fund, and also the development funding awarded at October 2020 to review the feasibility and options to provide step free access to and within stations. Required funding: £130,000. Extend MetroWest to the South Whilst this proposal for extending stopping MetroWest services to Weston-super-Mare, Taunton and possibly Exeter will be part of the Bristol Sub Regional Continuous Modular Strategic Planning (CMSP), it is proposed to undertake a gap analysis capacity study. The study will identify headway constraints for increasing the frequency of services and the signalling interventions required to address them. It is proposed to undertake the capacity study towards the end of 2021 to be completed within nine months to then feed into the Bristol South Re- signalling brief for early 2023. Re-signalling is currently planned to be completed for 2027. There are also wider links to the Gravity business park near Bridgwater and the proposed new stations at Wellington and Cullompton to build into this work. Required funding: £150,000. East – West – North connections This study aims to develop proposals for timetable enhancements for improved connections to the east, west and north – Bristol to Oxford via Bath, Chippenham and Swindon with connections to Milton Keynes and Cambridge via East-West Rail. Benefits of linking up the Bristol to Cambridge hi-tech corridor and avoiding the need to travel across London to interchange would be built into the scope of the work. Whilst part of the Bristol to Oxford corridor will be included in the Bristol Sub Regional CMSP (starts April 2021) and the Swindon Corridors and Reading Sub-Regional CMSPs will also cover some aspects of these routes the whole route is not covered. The study aims to fill this gap. It should be noted that the infrastructure requirements for enabling new services will be substantial including Westerleigh Junction and Swindon to Didcot capacity enhancement (four tracking). It is intended that this work will support the case for these infrastructure requirements. The scope of this strategic enhancement is, therefore, significant and a coalition approach will be required between the relevant councils along the route, the Western Gateway Sub National Transport Body and WECA. Logically the work would start on completion of the various CMSP studies in mid 2022. Nonetheless given the complexities of the route it is proposed to undertake some early scoping work to bring together the relevant parties and agree the approach to be taken. Initial development funding only is required at this stage. Required funding: £90,000 for initial development only 5 Feasibility