Is rail consultation on the right track? - December 2011
Whether you’re a frequent or infrequent passenger on the train, chances are you’ll have something to say about the journey – and judging on some of the feedback we get at the Chamber, that “something” is more likely to dwell on the negative than the positive.
Trains being cancelled, trains running late, long journey times, poor facilities, no facilities, overcrowding; confusion over booking, cost, service . . . issues over rail travel as part of the wider transport infrastructure is something many of our Chamber members will have encountered; the unfortunate few may even have encountered all of the above in one return trip to the central belt.
Well Transport Scotland is now giving you the opportunity to have your say and to give your views on how future rail passenger services in Scotland should be delivered through the launch of its Rail2014 Consultation.
In 2014, both the current contract for rail passenger services (Scotrail) and the funding arrangements for Network Rail in Scotland are due to come to an end and a plan to take rail travel into the future must be in place by then.
The closing date for the consultation is February 20, 2012 and the outcomes will be published later in the year.
There are around 78million passenger journeys a year on ScotRail services, and a further 6million passenger journeys across the border to and from England. As a mode of transport it is on the increase with demand increasing by 25.5 percent over the past seven years and an expectation that it will continue to grow. Our rail network is extensive with 350 stations and around 2,800 kilometres of track, a quarter of which is electrified.
The consultation will consider a variety of issues affecting delivery of rail services in Scotland including fares, reliability, facilities on the trains and in the stations as well as wider environmental factors.
Some of the issues being considered have a major significance to this part of the world. In particular, the consultation is considering whether services north of Edinburgh should be provided by the Scottish franchisee with Edinburgh becoming an interchange hub for cross-border services in the east of the country. In effect that would mean cross-border services would terminate at Edinburgh with passengers heading further north having to move to an onward connection provided by ScotRail.
According to the consultation document this “Edinburgh Hub” could deliver a number of benefits relating to finance, resilience (i.e. all passenger franchised services in Scotland would be provided by one operator which would apparently make it easier to provide services during bad weather); control (i.e. no reliance on DfT services for connectivity) and simplicity.
It does however recognise that there are “some possible drawbacks” which include a “perceived or actual” time penalty in having to change at Edinburgh for a journey that might have previously been direct and the need for increased service frequency to improve onward connectivity.
The Chamber has previously campaigned strongly on the need to maintain through connections between the North and North-east of Scotland and London on the basis that businesses must be confident that they will have excellent connectivity to London and beyond to support their future development. Losing that direct route would be a real step backward in terms of supporting the economy and future potential of this region.
Connection with the business hubs in North and central England are also essential and a through train is a viable and sensible option to road or air travel.
In 2010 we lobbied the former Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson on the issue prior to his meeting with UK Transport Minister Theresa Villiers in London last November.
It was a campaign that met with success when the Department of Transport, which manages cross-border services for the UK Government, confirmed in January this year that the northern links would be safeguarded.
It is bitterly disappointing therefore that less than a year later, it is up for debate again.
The Chamber, in consultation with members, our policy council and our transport partners will prepare a response to the consultation. An important element of that will be getting your views.
The comments and questions to be answered are extensive – Caledonian Sleeper Services are also under threat, will that have an impact? should the time you have to stand on a train before you get a seat be increased? should poor performance be finalised? should alcohol be banned?
You can access the full consultation document at
www.transportscotland.gov.uk/Rail2014. If you travel by train or your employees do, please take the time to respond – and please also send your comments to
kate.yuill@agcc.co.uk |
