Dear All,
Pertinent Rail-based Transport
Matters
Introduction: The British Regional Transport
Association (BRTA) is a voluntary membership-based association which punches
above its weight. We want a nationwide government backed programme of local
rail reopenings, select pieces of conventional rail rebuilds and existing rail
capacity enhancements. So far this has been piecemeal and rail does not enjoy a
level playing field in terms of schemes wanted and bided for contrast road
upgrades and new-builds which the state does the homework for than asking
promoters to DIY for example. It is often said that local authorities, getting
them on board is the first step to getting a scheme off the ground. That can be
true, but things need to be seen in the round of local, regional and
strategically national welfare, benefit and gains is we tip the balances back
to local rail and what it potentially can offer. For example, many think of
freight by rail as block containers rumbling away, whereas parts of the network
deal with smaller freight like parcels. BRTA wants these services to be
joined-up to offer a diverse nationwide range of all sized freight for
customers and translating that, more incentives for distributors including
Amazon and couriers to send lion’s share, more post, parcels and cater for
(supermarkets too) cages, pallets and other mix-load consignments. London has
always been a main market for people and goods, but longer distances and moving
cars and lorries by rail is very limited currently.
BRTA believes guage enhancements on
some lines like the Brighton Main Line would enable double-deck Dutch passenger
services, creating more seats and capacity on what is fast becoming a very busy
railway with diverse operations and huge demand as the closures and subsequent
resurgence in demand, means so much filters to it with few if any rail
alternative routes.
We call for a study on individual and
regionally-based ideas we are putting before the public and government tiers
and regional agencies, to progress them and make delivery the priority rather
than pontification, dithering and getting lost the big vision amidst minutiae
of the small ‘p’ politics. We need local aspiration and national government
policy, leadership, direction and investment for growth to meet and inform a
series of inter-linking rail network enhancements.
Please see these websites for wider
vision for South East Regional areas:
https://brtarail.com/southeast/ and https://brtarail.com/guildford-cranleigh-horsham/
Key areas in brief:
1. Redhill Reforms: Redhill Station is very busy with
people and trains reversing in and out. Gatwick, Tonbridge, Guildford and South
London all have a claim to access it. It takes time, changing presents a
barrier to demand. Gatwick is a principal demand location and increasingly so
as is Brighton Main Line. BRTA suggests:
a. Direct curves to Gatwick from the Guildford
(North Downs Lines) and that of the Tonbridge Lines direct to Gatwick = new
build. It would shave 20 minutes off end-to-end journey times, enable growth by
rail and enable longer distance trains to reach the airport, reducing local
clutter on and off the rails.
b. A study into a new-build viaduct
across the valley at Redhill linking North Downs Lines with that of Tonbridge
Lines (they would need expanded tracks for the direct curves and new bore of
the Tonbridge Line). The benefits would be:
-
Channel
Tunnel-Reading direct passenger and freight access by rail – takes on heavy
road usage and cuts emissions.
-
It
would enable direct travel between places like Guildford and Reading to the
west, to/from places like Kent and Ashford without recourse to Redhill delays
and clutter.
-
If
the study showed growth by rail, that is gain.
2. Guildford-Horsham:
This rail link needs studying and
route protection via development control/tailoring and building the case for
the rail link amidst development and harmful impacts on congested local roads
and land-use parking demand in urban areas. It would:
a. Enable Gatwick-Guildford-Reading and
vice versa (Gatwick from the south) informing a loop with aforementioned
reforms at Redhill. That would enable 24x7 train operations and relieve
existing line.
b. With a new curve at Arundel, direct
Horsham/Cranleigh/Guildford to the South Coast (Portsmouth, Chichester,
Shoreham and Brighton) and those audiences to Horsham, Cranleigh, Guildford and
‘not via London’ access to Reading and beyond and vice versa, freeing up
London-centric seats, saving time and possibly money.
c.
It
needs a proper study, making the case as a through route with fresh eyes and a
determined political will to push it through as essential local infrastructure.
Guildford and Horsham are congested and as development goes in, the railway
becomes ever more sought after. It can be done if we act now, another 10 years
pontification and rejectionism, just exacerbates operational problems and
compounds against sustainable urban footfall, spend and quality of life issues.
3.
North Down Line Potential: As well as our suggested Redhill Reforms, the North Downs
Line, a long-time Cinderella line, needs investment in the form of extending third-rail
electrification enabling direct semi-fast running of Thameslink Trains from
East Croydon to Guildford and vice versa integrated. A Phase 2 could be
extension to Reading, which informs a South outer-London orbital rail network,
which brings many new and diverse capacity opportunities to more by rail along
these lines. The current diesel service is inadequate, poxy, gets crowded with
people and luggage (principally for the airport) and takes end-to-end a while.
The link direct from Guildford to East Croydon, would enable more direct
commuting options, more carriages and more employment opportunities without
adding to road journeys.
5. Heathrow and Old Oak Common: BRTA believes that trains and
platforms can accommodate diverse rail services. Therefore, sharing tracks
‘common infrastructure’ should be the approach for enhancing new rail-links
with Heathrow and the emergent Old Oak Common (OOC) Interchange Station in West
London. We call for:
6.
Southern Heathrow Link: https://heathrowrail.com/ should link Guildford and with a
west to north curve, enable direct Waterloo direction trains both to the
Heathrow Airport vicinity from the southern lines. Likewise, the arms from a
joined-up Windsor Link and that of a Reading Western Arm. They can share
tracks, platform spaces and should have baying facilities at Old Oak Common. In
addition, we call for a study in a direct twin-track tunnel link with the
Chiltern Main Lines and for Chiltern services to have baying platforms at OOC
too from the North (Banbury and Aylesbury). This would create an arc from
Guildford/Woking to the Oxbridge East-West Rail corridor (emergent) linking
with Milton Keynes and Bedford for example with wider national rail links ‘not
via London’ with changing trains, stations and delays and costs.
Local-regional – re-railing informs a
net-work effect which enables inward and outward movements of people and goods
by rail, it is not merely an introverted parochial matter, not is it ‘otherly’
and not our concern. Rail brings people together and restores, underscores and
enhances local people, places, communities, land-use stewardship balances and
that of wildlife and public health and that of the environment.
BRTA stands ready to talk, engage and
court support as much as possible for these schemes. We welcome fresh
approaches and progression towards yes a full business case, but also bringing
round-table discussions to coalition moves towards informing consensus and
getting the delivered by 2050 at the latest. Unless we act now, that is not a
luxury that will be available by then!
Yours sincerely,
Richard Pill
BRTA CEO
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