Rail North West A Class 350 service sits in platform 3 at Oxenholme, perhaps saying how things could have been if the Windermere line had been electrified. Photo courtesy Lakes Line Rail Users Association/ Malcolm Conway Timetable Chaos Caused by Electrification Delay and Cancellation A week of cancellations and delays at meaning a large number of services the start of the new timetable on May needed re-planning to operate with 20th has led to calls by the Mayor of available units, though insufficient Manchester Andy Burnham and the drivers trained on units new to routes Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, (e.g. electric trains to Blackpool North) Steve Rotherham for Northern to be has added to the issue. stripped of its franchise if improvements weren’t made. The Lakes Line between Oxenholme and Windermere is feeling the effects of The disruption was caused primarily by the failure to electrify that line. The delays to the Manchester – Preston replacement bi-mode trains aren’t electrification, and cancellation of ready, but Northern has received some Oxenholme to Windermere schemes, Class 158 diesels from Scotland. With a Newsletter of the North West Branch1 of Railfuture — Summer 2018 Rail North West 2 Summer 2018 top speed of 90mph, they are easier to the greatest timetable change for a timetable on the West Coast Main Line generation as the government carries than the current Class 156 and 153 out the biggest modernisation of the rail units. However, the new units will entail network since Victorian times to an extensive driver training programme, improve services for passengers across and their lack of availability is causing the country.” significant cancellations on this line in particular. Northern have apologised for Rail Minister Jo Johnson is leading the cancellations and said that the May discussions about the issue with timetable change should have seen an Transport for the North (TfN) chief improvement, and that these should executive Barry White. Jo Johnson has continue after that date. also spoken to Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. Some of the proposed additional services that were in Northern’s Measures in the plan include: provisional timetable for May 2018 have not arrived either, notably the doubling • improving driver rostering to get of services from Greenbank and more trains running now Macclesfield to Manchester, these are • increasing driver training on new still hourly services rather the twice per routes to get more services on line as hour service promised. Some services quickly as possible that were operated by EMU’s prior to • additional contingency drivers and the May timetable change, will be management presence at key locations changing to diesel because of the in Manchester incomplete Manchester to Preston • putting extra peak services in the electrification. timetable along the Bolton corridor, including between Buckshaw and Following pressure from the two Manchester Victoria, and Preston and Mayors, Chris Grayling Secretary of Manchester Oxford Road State for Transport had a teleconference call with Northern Meanwhile the Furness Line Action leaders to see what could be done to Group (FLAG) noted that from the May improve services and said “…the level timetable change, their Barrow - of disruption that passengers have Manchester trains miss the connection experienced in the north is at Lancaster to the fast Virgin service to unacceptable. London by 7 minutes. The next London service goes via Birmingham 12 “Improving the service for Northern minutes later and takes an hour longer, customers is the number one so passengers could arrive in London performance priority for my department earlier by waiting for the next fast train. and we will work with the industry to FLAG suggests that the Manchester keep disruption at a minimum.” train could depart Barrow in time to make the connection, and then await its “Northern’s timetable recovery plan will timetabled departure time at either tackle disruption to services following Lancaster or Preston. Rail North West 3 Summer 2018 Northern Extends Penalty Fares Northern introduced the Penalty Fare Scheme on some of routes within their Central Region from 14th May. This is a franchise commitment and follows trials of the scheme on the Airedale and Wharefdale lines in Yorkshire, and is now extended to four lines of route in the North West: • Manchester Victoria – York via Hebden Bridge • Manchester Stations – Liverpool via Newton-le-Willows AND Warrington Central • Manchester – Wilmslow via Manchester Airport Northern have put posters up at Ticket Vending Machines that may not affected stations and had started issue the particular ticket passengers making prior announcements on trains want, will have a "promise to pay" ticket in mid-April. available, (see photo of TVM screen below) which will have the starting Customers travelling without a ticket on station printed on it and this will get a Northern train anywhere on any of the around the common trick of “fare above routes could face a penalty fare dodgers” saying they got on at stations of £20 or twice the single fare closer to their destination station than (whichever is the greater). they actually did, to pay the lowest fare they could get away with. Rail North West 4 Summer 2018 Once an appeal is received, the clock will stop on the 21-day deadline for the payment of a penalty fare, until the outcome is resolved. The process will also give greater consideration to circumstances of how and why the penalty was issued to ensure people are not unfairly penalised. There are questions as to what those with concessionary passes do when the wish to travel beyond the boundary, if the TVM at their starting station does not issue tickets from a different starting Rail minister Jo Johnson has point, would buying the extension on announced that, while fare dodgers will the train fall foul of the penalty fare continue to receive penalties, those with regime? It’s thought not if bought within a genuine reason for not having a valid the boundary. ticket will now be able to challenge a penalty with an independent committee. RUG predicts Over – Crowding in Bolton The Bolton Rail User Group is very used on local services, more over- concerned that timetable changes in crowding was inevitable. With the May and December will cause local prospect of electric services being services to become significantly over- operated by 4-car class 319’s, (which crowded. Recent train loading surveys can’t be coupled as 8-car units because showed significant over-crowding on all of platform limits at some intermediate services not operated by class 185’s stations), it is calling on Northern to (mostly run in pairs to make a 6-car address the issue by ensuring an service) and the group noted that with adequate number of 6-car services the reducing number of those being STORM’s Simple Response to TfN consultation Increasingly the large cities are travel from Littleborough or Greenfield becoming more and more where the to Manchester than want to travel from employment opportunities are so in the Bradford to Manchester, still more so view of Rail User Group STORM the than, say, Bradford to Chester or emphasis for rail transport must be Liverpool. Whilst on the subject of more focussed on commuting into the Bradford, linking Interchange and cities with a service that is frequent, Forster Square stations must be a top modern, fast and affordable. It's all priority. very well looking at linking the major centres but many more people want to Rail North West 5 Summer 2018 The rail lines serving commuters south Harrogate line, whilst very heavily used of Manchester have (with one by commuters only serves one major exception) been electrified for years. On commuter flow. A rolling programme of the north side, the Bolton line lengthening of platforms is needed so electrification should be finished soon; that six-car trains can be Liverpool via Chat Moss is already accommodated. electrified but is not a major commuter route. The case for electrifying the Additional platforms to enable faster Calder Valley route, Manchester trains to overtake slower ones, for Victoria to Rochdale, Todmorden, example where stations have previously Hebden Bridge, Halifax, Bradford, New had more platforms with some having Pudsey and Leeds is overwhelming and been abandoned, or stations with room should be undertaken in priority to any to expand, must be high on the agenda. other route. One reason for this is that Places like Rochdale, Todmorden, the line is heavily used by commuters at Hebden Bridge, Sowerby Bridge and each end (Manchester and Leeds) and Halifax spring to mind. also intermediately (Halifax and Richard S Greenwood, Chair STORM”. Bradford). By comparison the Leeds to Skipton East Lancs Rail Action Partnership The announcement by the Transport months, had already been exploring Secretary Chris Grayling in February how best to extend the thriving this year that the Government would Airedale Line into depressed East fund a major feasibility study into the Lancashire, to provide a Northern re-opening of the line from Colne to passenger service linking Leeds and Skipton came as very welcome news Bradford to Pendle and Burnley in and follows over a year of excellent under an hour, as well as a new trans- progress on the project. Pennine route for freight. A Project Development Team, The feasibility study is being co- consisting of representatives of DfT, commissioned by the Department for Transport for the North Arriva Rail Transport and Transport for the North North, Network Rail, Arup, Skipton and is due to be completed later this Building Society, Drax, Peel Port and year. GB Railfreight, the Rail Freight Group and a Private Finance Company, It’s hoped that this could see the return chaired by SELRAP and holding of trains on the disused route by 2022.