A CAMPAIGN to persuade the Scottish Government to look again at plans to regenerate businesses and revitalise North-east communities by connecting them with an expanded rail network is gathering momentum.
Campaign for North East Rail (CNER) has arisen out of the frustration of two engineers and a train driver at the slow progress in developing what they believe is vital and deserved - a cohesive and integrated transport network for the area.
They believe a study which examined the potential for the restoration of the Aberdeen to Ellon line, but was subsequently shelved, was flawed and they have gathered significant amounts of evidence to back their case.
It is now almost 60 years since Dr Richard Beeching presented his report “The Reshaping of British Railways” which led to the closure of 5,500 miles of track and the closure of more than 2300 stations with the loss of 70,000 jobs.
The North-east network was decimated and the hope of engineers Wyndham Williams and Craig Leuchars, and train driver Jordan Jack, is to transform 10 of Aberdeenshire’s largest towns by reconnecting them to “fast reliable public transport, providing an utterly transformative system that will result in massive modal shift for thousands of people in the region.”
Restoring the Deeside Railway as far as Banchory, with an integrated bus link to Braemar to meet every train, is one of their targets.
“This would provide competitive public transport for commuters into Aberdeen as far as Banchory and will create a bus link further into Deeside that will meet every train, every time,” said Wyndham Williams, Co-founder of Campaign for North East Rail.
“It will connect isolated residents and support the region with the forthcoming surge in tourism it will enjoy as Aberdeen begins to accept larger cruise ships.”
However, because of the strength of the business case, they are currently focussing their efforts on a railway linking Fraserburgh and Peterhead with Aberdeen, two towns they say are isolated and in decline. Their research has shown that Peterhead is the largest settlement in mainland UK furthest from a railway station. Fraserburgh is second.
“The government’s plans for the next 20 years outlined in the Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 (STPR2) published earlier this year are totally unacceptable.
Despite a clear commitment in the SNP/Green cooperation deal to study the reconnection of Ellon, and Buchan rail being an option in earlier drafts of this document, the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland have decided the North-east doesn’t need any new rail infrastructure. This is in direct opposition to the public response evidencing that the precise opposite is in fact the case.
“We view with deep scepticism The Ellon Rail Study’s £340million estimate for the cost of providing a line. For example, it appears there is £50million of additional costs loaded onto the line from works at Aberdeen station - and the line doesn’t start until Dyce.
There are also massive contingencies on cost overruns which is fairly typical for engineering consultancies until detailed ground works and appraisals can more accurately predict what things are going to cost.
“We have estimated it will cost around £400million to go all the way to Peterhead. That is a town with a much larger population and a much larger industrial base which means there would be a much stronger business case for releasing funds – which is the basis on which all government departments release funds.
“It’s important to stress that public money is already used to subsidise public transport. We subsidise both city and regional bus services and we put considerable public money into the road network – but we believe that the greatest impact of that money would be in a rail service to Peterhead.
“The North-east coast has already lost jobs and businesses to Ellon because of the lack of good transport links. Power Jacks and BrewDog both originated in and operated in Fraserburgh for many years before making the decision to relocate only 25 miles closer to Aberdeen. If there had been a railway connection, then attracting skilled people to work in the area would have been much easier. Connecting only Ellon to the railway will exacerbate this problem and encourage more employers to shift away from the coast, straining the regeneration of Fraserburgh and Peterhead.
“The new line North would mostly make use of the disused Formartine and Buchan Way, but rather than branching at Maud, the line would branch at Ellon and follow the abandoned Boddam branch to Peterhead. A railway completed in this way would allow for competitive travel times compared with the car, while stopping at all of the largest settlements in the area. This particular solution has never been investigated in the past.”
CNER has received an indication that Scottish Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth is amenable to travelling to the area to discuss the proposals – although no date has yet been fixed – and Wyndham said he was hopeful of changing her mind by simply presenting the facts.
“We will say to Jenny Gilruth that restoring a line Peterhead hasn’t been assessed in a comprehensive and fair manner. The Ellon study was pretty marginal, but the now very successful Border Railway study was very marginal and still went ahead. It contained huge underestimates and passenger footfall turned out to be as much as 2000% higher in reality than the business case predicted. Almost every railway station reopening or line reopening in Scotland has exceeded expectations and we are convinced the impact on the North-east is being underestimated.
“It was when the Ellon study was published and then quietly dropped that Craig, Jordan and myself were spurred into action. We thought ‘this isn’t representative, it isn’t accurate and it isn’t right’. How about you actually assess this thing in the round and look at all the facts.
“It hasn’t been comprehensively assessed and leaves a lot open to interpretation and Peterhead really does need development, something which has been recognised by the Scottish Government.”
He said the environmental case is also compelling.
“We have calculated that in the first year alone, we would remove 30,000 tonnes of CO2 between passenger and freight flows which is the equivalent of more than 80 million miles in an average car and probably a very conservative estimate. We would like to integrate within this network the ability for anyone within five kilometres of the line to be able to walk or cycle to a station. We haven’t calculated how many small regional journeys that would soak up but instead of someone jumping in the car and driving to Aberdeen they would walk or cycle to their nearest station and then take the train.
“We would also like to see the line electrified and run on renewable power. It is difficult to place credibility in Scottish Government commitments to reduce car journeys by 20% without investing in new rail infrastructure and improving connectivity across the North-east. This is a geographical area that Transport Scotland highlight has above average levels of car ownership compared to the rest of Scotland. We think the environmental benefits are massive and can’t be overstated.
“One of the things we really want to emphasise is that this is not a campaign about nostalgia. These are modern lines which would meet the requirements of residents in modern communities. We want to have a park and ride and want it so that you can board a train at Peterhead and end up in Glasgow or Edinburgh or even London.
“This is about connecting communities in Scotland and of course further afield. Let’s open a modern railway and have it have it meet the needs of businesses and individuals in the modern era.
CNER was recently one of 10 ideas pitched to Richard Lochhead, the Scottish Government’s first ever Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work at an event organised by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce.
Those present voted on the ideas to deliver jobs and prosperity for the area using the Just Transition Fund, a £500million pot of cash earmarked for the North-east and Moray. CNER’s proposal topped chart gaining 16% of the votes cast.
“We have been delighted with the reaction we have received since we launched CNER and this was a very encouraging endorsement,” said Wyndham. “We hope we can now progress our ideas with the backing of Chamber members.”