Furness Line Study FINAL REPORT August 2014 The Railway Consultancy Ltd 1st Floor, South Tower Crystal Palace Station London. SE19 2AZ UK Tel. +44-20-8676 0395 Fax. +44-20-8778 7439 www.railwayconsultancy.com 1 This report is dedicated to Peter Robinson 2nd January 1940 – 6th August 2014 Chairman, Furness Line Community Rail Partnership and client for this project 2 Contents Contents ................................................................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................. 5 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 8 2 Background and Previous Research ................................................................................................. 9 3 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Stakeholder Liaison ................................................................................................................. 13 Cumbria County Council ................................................................................................................. 13 Social and economic deprivation ................................................................................................... 14 Road access .................................................................................................................................... 14 The Importance of Industry and Industrial development .............................................................. 15 The Importance of Manchester ...................................................................................................... 19 Tourism strategy ............................................................................................................................. 19 Rail industry and associated stakeholders...................................................................................... 23 A fifteen year vision for rail ............................................................................................................ 23 Conclusions of Stakeholder Discussion .......................................................................................... 23 3.2 On-Train Counts and Surveys .................................................................................................. 25 3.3 Barrow Town Centre Surveys .................................................................................................. 28 3.4 Focus Groups........................................................................................................................... 28 Methodology .................................................................................................................................. 29 Summary of Findings ...................................................................................................................... 30 Use of the Furness Line .................................................................................................................. 30 4 Current and Future Demand .......................................................................................................... 35 4.1 Current Demand ..................................................................................................................... 35 4.2 Growth Trends ........................................................................................................................ 38 4.3 Specific Developments ............................................................................................................ 38 Employment ................................................................................................................................... 38 Population ...................................................................................................................................... 39 5 Connectivity .................................................................................................................................... 41 5.1 Bus Connections ..................................................................................................................... 41 5.2 Shuttle Buses ........................................................................................................................... 43 5.3 Airport Traffic .......................................................................................................................... 45 5.4 Naming and Directions ........................................................................................................... 45 6 Train Service Options ...................................................................................................................... 46 6.1 Issues Identified ...................................................................................................................... 46 6.2 Options for Addressing those Issues ....................................................................................... 56 3 6.3 Quantification of Preferred Options ....................................................................................... 59 6.4 Electrification .......................................................................................................................... 63 6.5 Wider Economic Benefits ........................................................................................................ 64 6.6 Summary and Funding ............................................................................................................ 65 7 Conclusions and Recommendations .............................................................................................. 68 7.1 General Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 68 7.2 Immediate Recommendations (need not await re-franchising) ............................................. 69 7.2 Short-term Recommendations ............................................................................................... 70 7.3 Medium-term .......................................................................................................................... 71 7.4 Long-term ............................................................................................................................... 72 References .............................................................................................................................................. 73 Appendix A. On-Train Survey Form ........................................................................................................ 74 Appendix B. Full Write-up of Focus Groups ........................................................................................... 75 Full focus group feedback .................................................................................................................. 76 Timetable and reliability ................................................................................................................ 76 Quality of service ............................................................................................................................ 78 Staff ................................................................................................................................................ 79 Fares ............................................................................................................................................... 80 Particular groups ............................................................................................................................ 80 Visitors ............................................................................................................................................ 81 Barrow Town Council Employees ................................................................................................... 83 Siemens Employees - Ulverston ..................................................................................................... 83 Telephone Contributors .................................................................................................................. 84 Document control Version: 11 initials date Written: NGH/MAR 01/07/14 Updated: NGH/JG 07/07/14 Comments: TPE 08/07/14 Updated: NGH/JG 09/07/14 Comments: FCRP 16/07/14 Updated: NGH/JG 01/08/14 Comments: FCRP 04/08/14 Revised: NGH 04/08/14 Authorised: NGH 04/08/14 Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to undertake this work with care, it has not been possible to double-check all the material presented to us and hence we cannot be liable for any inaccuracies. 4 Executive Summary E.1 Local stakeholders assembled funding for a study of the Furness rail line, for which this is the final report. Background concerns included recent service reductions, and uncertainty regarding service patterns as other lines in the North West of England are electrified. On the other hand, the line is becoming more important economically, especially after several significant inward commercial/manufacturing investments. E.2 The main purposes of the line are twofold: to carry local traffic, and to provide a fixed link to the regional centre of