London-M25 and beyond calling No. 2 Dec 2020 plus!

 Dear Colleagues and Friends,

Please see the list of schemes below and comments. I would appreciate it if you can kindly have a glance between now and the next meeting and give any support or ideas or comment for/against, pros and cons. If you want to volunteer with ERTA, please contact Mr Simon Barber (T. 0208 940 4399, E. simon4barber@gmail.com) who will put you on a database. 

If a project takes you fancy or others as well or an area approach, please indicate it in your email to him: We will contact you after the next London Meeting. 

Meanwhile I will be working up, but it is a big job and we need several people involved on a reliable but ad hoc basis. Thanks. See: https://ertarail.co.uk/events/ I aim to acknowledge receipt of stuff like photos and captions etc if sent to me at richard.erta@gmail.com with dates. I cannot guarantee always!

'1. All London's suburban rail services must be devolved to TfL (London Overground) as soon as possible: This is laudable from the viewpoint of public dealing with one entity rather than multiple and that one entity focused on quality of usership and inclusive design integratedly now as well as expansion and ever more growth and diversity. Interestingly enough, TfL regard themselves as London constrained than expansion beyond M25 for example it seems. Thus, an example of the Crowley link whereby a wish to rebuild a missing link to enable Metropolitan services to run into Watford Junction bay platforms for interchange purposes was declined as a TfL project and deferred to Hertfordshire within whose boundary it was concerned with. Partnership and shared cost could be one way forward and combining the distinctive natures of the two entities for best results seems to allude and so nothing has happened on the project for a number of years. This is a pity as the benefits of better choice and joined up integrated transport lend themselves to this sort of expansion, whereby London’s reaches and ranges combined to adjoining areas which are becoming increasingly urbanised, need better public transport, choices and options.

 

2. Better integration of London's suburban rail with TfL bus, tube and tram services, including new and improved interchanges with these services: Again, integration makes sense, but how, like the Swiss and other examples countries do we get buses to arrive within good time of a rail departure and leave within a reasonable time afterwards? How do we ensure we get the right type of bus or train or tram for the audiences using it? Overcrowding in normal times is not unknown, what ‘now and then’ relief can we bring to a table beyond seeking to manage peak and off-peak usage through fare increases or reductions? We want choice, we want better value for money and above all, a system which incorporates disabled people and their needs as well. Access, information, access to toilets at key locations as a right not a cost-benefit consideration is where new thinking and consultative inclusion is warranted. Making our transport safe, day and night and retention of walk-on, walk-off usage, not just pre-book airline styles. Unsure if available, but some app which shows busy routes and recommends alternatives beit bus, tram, boat, walking, cycling or rail, underground and/or overground – people need access to such information ‘on-the-go’ not just boards at principal stations and bus stops.

 

3.                  Chessington Line extension to Leatherhead including station for Chessington World of Adventures: Needs more research and a walking of the line noting any blockages or if a clear way what width. Photos welcome, maps and diagrams also for consideration. A dedicated volunteer could work on it. Must be reliable and able-bodied for the task please.

 

4.                  Crossrail 1 East-West: Crossrail is happening like it or not. Delayed, over budget yet the scope and scale commands a certain respect and once running will in all probability be well used.

 

5.                  Crossrail 2 [SW-NE]: This project is currently on hold, but again connects tube and trains with cross London access and outlets and will again provide capacity and choice.

 

6.                  Double-track Frimley Green – Ash Vale: Needs a dedicated volunteer to take pictures, make a case and show capacity. Photos, diagrams, maps and justification.

 

7.                  Extend Docklands Light Railway Bank – site of old Broad Street station (underground): needs a dedicated research volunteer to make or junk the case. Could be a variation on a theme, for example some have cited the idea of doing more with Tottenham-Moorgate subsurface tube which terminates at Moorgate, could it be extended (where?) and inform either a loop, connection with London Bridge and beyond or combination?

 

8.                  Extend LU lines:

a.  - Edgware – Stanmore-Watford: Would have to be in tunnels and sub-surface interfaces. Much of the old trajectory route developed over. Needs a critical study as to what may be feasible.

b. High Barnet-Napsbury-St Albans Abbey/Watford Branch links: This should be studied in conjunction with NR’s southern east-west rail link idea and integrated. The line could be extended in a fashion, beit above surface or tunnel or combination. It could go over or under M25 with Parkway Stations and integrate with the new east-west southern link, Napsbury new station and via a duck under, go on to link into a resuscitated second bay platform at St Albans Abbey for example.

c. Cockfosters – Potters Bar: This idea may mean tunnelling and sub-surface accesses integrating with existing stations and Potters Bar for outer suburban services going north and more relief/choices coming into London including of course direct access to North London and bus networks, rather than driving or going in and coming out which takes time, costs more and this idea would free up seats and reduce overcrowding in normal times.

d. Bakerloo Extension to Lewisham: This relatively new scheme is a welcome addition if delivered and LRT development right across south London should also be developed and cascade buses to busy routes to strengthen them, capacity and timetables.

 

9.                  Gospel Oak-Barking line (GOB) services integrated more with existing London services: The proposed extension to Barking Riverside is good, but other considerations using the same tracks including running onto the lines to Grays and beyond and vice versa. Likewise, at the western end, running via the Carlton Road Junctions Tunnels into a new platform/crossover platform interface at West Hampstead Thameslink could bring more benefits again in the making of interchanges outside the inner London areas and distributing usage more evenly. Gospel Oak, but for the busy North London Line, is a bit out on a limb and integrating with Thameslink for example could bring x2-way benefits and fresh vitality. That GOB network should extend eastwards to Barking Riverside and Abbey Wood via a Thames Tunnel. That GOB network should extend eastwards to West Hampstead -Dudding Hill – Acton – Kew Bridge -Heathrow.

10.             Heathrow Rail Links:

11.             Heathrow Southern Railway (short tunnel from Terminal 5 and then a mainly surface route parallel with the M25 to the new junction with the Windsor-Staines line. HSR will then continue alongside the M25 to a new junction with the Virginia Water–Weybridge/ Byfleet Junction line north of Chertsey. Could also incorporate old West Drayton - Staines West branch and be linked into reopening the old Great Central mail line in the longer term. This is laudable and a promoted scheme, however must integrate with others, share tracks and go on to a. link with OOC and b. tunnel to Chiltern Main Line for links including a west London orbital more and Aylesbury-Guildford arc.

12.             Improved pedestrian access between Dorking West/Dorking Deepdene: This is laudable and some detail on exactly how would be welcome.

13.             Light Rapid Transits should be allowed to grow organically via local planning systems in North/South/East/West/Central London e.g.  Croydon Tram link - extend to Crystal Palace and Lloyd Park curve eliminated (site of accident Autumn 2016): Laudable but needs more fine-tuning/work on detail and whether road space or off road for example.

14.             Lines, with better interchanges at stations along the existing route? Which route/where did you have in mind?

15.             London Orbital Railways: Agree the principle, but more detail of where – north, south, east and west. The lack of orbital rail links around east and west London for enabling through traffic from the radial rest of the country to and from the South East, South Coast and the Channel Tunnel.

16.             Muswell Hill Metro: Can they be asked to issue a statement for inclusion?

17.             New air-conditioned trains which are energy-efficient with regenerative braking: Where are we with these?

18.             New platforms Willesden Junction Low Level for London Midland and Southern services, thereby enabling interchange with North London Line, West London Line and LT Bakerloo Line. I am unfamiliar with this, needs more fine-honing/specifically/i.e. what is wrong currently?

19.             New rail link Southend Airport – Rayleigh/Pitsea parallel to A13, A130, A1245: Diagram needs working up. It would intercept these roads with suitable Parkway Station/s. Needs a reliable, local volunteer who can work the proposal up to a design specification and check on land – corridor availability? Photos and diagrams welcome as well for general use. Pitsea-Rayleigh new build project and Grays-Dartford railway tunnel under Thames for more by rail north-south including Woolwich-Southend Airport access direct and vice versa.

20.             New station Old Oak Common (interchange Crossrail 1/HS2/West London Line); it must be built before HS2 begins: Must incorporate Heathrow Links and a tunnel for direct link with Chiltern Main Line and vice versa running. There must be common access to tracks, not segregational or ‘our own tracks and no share’ sort of arrangements.

21.             New station on London Overground North London Line at North Acton (interchange with LT   Central Line and possibly Crossrail 1, adjacent Chiltern and First Great Western Services): Needs a reliable volunteer, knowledgeable to work it up.

22.             New station on London Overground West London Line at Battersea: More detail needed and independent assessment of feasibility, unless a TFL project already?

23.             North Downs Line: to be or not to be a. electrification and b. better integration, c. direct curve onto the Cranleigh line for Horsham looping back via Gatwick to Redhill and vice versa subject to capacity pathing issues. Guildford-Thameslink direct running from Redhill off East Croydon. Reading-Redhill utilisation of electric stock, avoids diesels in an otherwise electric area context? Some local seem mixed or against electrification whilst industry plays down third rail and prefers OHL in a third rail context?

24.             Re-open Bank-Aldwych (closed for sake of new lifts!) and old Fleet Line to Charing     Cross: needs updating, planting with City of London Corporation, TFL and others now, and what of new development, does it scupper it? Would a new line serving Aldwych be in order like Tottenham-Moorgate loop extension and/or LRT Network in the Central Zone?

25.             Restoring through services to Bromley North from London Bridge/Charing Cross etc.: More detail needed. A. What is wrong with current, b. what pathing/capacity? c. what gives/what takes?

26.             Sites close to railway lines offering potential locations for rail freight terminals and logistics centres must be protected from alternative transport proposals; these include disused railways and rail sidings: Identify, list more and a reliable volunteer to work up cases.

27.             Thames Tunnel Grays – Dartford (Lower Thames River Crossing scheme), built to HS1 standards, to include Crossrail 1 extension and cater for freight between ports and Channel Tunnel. Must be a rail project mainly, roads are 20^th C! Ditto Silvertown project, which is an environmental disaster waiting to happen?

28.             The lack of cross-Thames tunnels and bridges for north-south rail travel within London as well as getting more freight off the roads and back onto the rails, freeing up capacity/reducing hazards. Make common cause with objections to Silvertown Tunnel and argue it should be rail/invite their members (google) to the next London Meeting and put-on agenda.

29.             Up-grade on the District Line (with population increase crowding is set to increase on that line from Richmond in next 25 years; that line is also notoriously crowded in peak-hours between Earls Court and Westminster). Wat track works needed inc. at Richmond? Establish rapport with station manager and seek, when lock-down lifted, a notice board and station stall. Recruit reliable people to help out locally.

30. West Hampstead - new platforms for Chiltern Line services and possibly Metropolitan Line, thereby enabling interchange with North London Line, Thameslink and Jubilee Lines. Unsure, need more detail of feasibility. Float ideas with professionals/TFL/seek meetings and Borough Councils and discuss/if support fine.

31. Cricklewood-Action North West London Line – reinstatement of passenger services – must be done/supported/what is its status/flag up to all candidates on Mayoral Election. Wearing an ERTA hat, we’re supposed to be impartial and treat people equally.

32. Photos - I would also be prepared to take some photos with captions where relevant. Database/build a team and allocate areas/projects.

33. North Circular Corridor to Brent Cross - Presumably you are thinking about an LRT, which you had already covered as no.17 in your draft. LRT and/or Docklands extension, both should be looked at. Contact both TFL and Serco.

34. BML2 this would cover reopening Lewes - Uckfield, Tunbridge Wells Central - Eridge and Ashurst and Purley to Elmers End, new spurs at Edenbridge, plus new tunnels providing direct links to Brighton and from Lewisham to Stratford (Thameslink). Key interchanges at Groombridge and Purley Gate (where Purley-Elmers End crosses the Wealden line). It needs discussing. Find out promoters, establish status and work with delivery organisations/foster links/exploit for ERTA gain/members/money/events and razzamatazz. Think, what can we bring 'new' to it and will they reciprocate for Guildford-Shoreham etc?'

End.

This is purely consultation and please respect confidentiality/sensitivity at this time.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Pill

Vice Chairman and Campaigns Coordinator

There's no money... Thinking aloud...not just us either!

This is the verdict and coming not from us and it isn't Railfuture either! If RAC can spend time and energy to call for better public transport, things must be dire! Horses for courses, but what makes for modal switch from road to rail?

https://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/news/transport/thousands-more-cars-are-bedfords-roads-decade-ago-rac-warns-public-transport-not-scratch-3053829?fbclid=IwAR1cfi6ITSlDIi2k15JfgsI06TkCfja6ia5E6SNMVzNUz5ZPip0xmp2SFas

The reality is things have been allowed to drift. There's a lack of dialogue and no will-way it seems. Wixams, Kempston Retail Park Station, route of Bedford - Cambridge issues and Bedford-Northampton - these rail issues need support and action, instead, we have pandering to out of town shopping, roads and road design schemes and a Government which tilts the expenditure to £27 billion new roads and only £500 million to rail reopenings fund.

Buses, X5 cut in half, 905 Bedford-Cambridge takes longer, is more a Cambs favoured thing with Bedford commuters losing out. It and Bedford-Northampton takes too long and that is negative for our town centre, dents will-way commuting aspirations and needs remedy. A faster end to end service alongside the local 'all round Will's mother's' would be desirable with X5 Bedford-Oxford style coaches able to take bikes and luggage and afford a toilet. So Northampton-Bedford-Cambridge via A422-A509 (Olney High Street)-Northampton (A428) could cut Bedford-Northampton to about 40 minutes each way. But Cambs is parochial looking after its own backyard, Bedford-St Neots an afterthought. 

Bedford-Cambridge rail link:

a. will it be suitable for freight and passenger services 'fit for purpose'?

b. Will the design north of Girder Bridge Bedford (crosses the River Great Ouse north of Bedford) of Bedford-Cambridge have enough land to cross A6 Bypass at height for HGV clearance and will it require an expensive 3 mile tunnel under Ravensden/Renhold?

c. Will it find it easy to negotiate A1 trunk and/or A421 and/or Black Cat Roundabout before ascending to a flood plain at Tempsford with a station and housing = a mess unfolding.

d. Yes Oxford-Bedford will serve Bedford Midland Station, but should reverse out and go east on the old route via St John's site.

Happy to discuss, someone needs to fund it. Could road tolls on trunk and motorways inform a pot and/or extend CPZ area and ensure Borough ring fences revenue/gets a share for environmental modal shift/better public transport? Where is the vision, where is the hands-on connectivity? Where is the integrated plan? Silence, this is all we get and pandemic news, again, surely better for resources and Local Government to administer tests and grade/tier their own areas which they know better than Westminster/why are we becoming centralised and local government being seconded to just an arm of Centralised Government without any wriggle room for discretion and/or resources to inform better 21st Century public transport choices? 

A debate is needed and some rethinking I feel. Alas, EWRC is not in talking mode, they are pursuing a scheme which is seriously flawed and in 2 engineers I have spoken to 'not-so-professional' in scope. 

Cardington Road has a sign going away from Bedford at 30mph and coming onto a busy roundabout into Bedford at 40mph. Crossing Longholme to get to Tesco on foot or bike is a nightmare, with x 2-way traffic coming off the roundabout at speed and narrowly missing the kerbside. Cardington Road needs calming and 20mph with a single carriageway and a bridge over the old railway could aid that. It is an urban area, residential in nature and Tesco draws a variety of shoppers to it covering a wide area. Crossing the road has become dangerous and casualties have arisen. Priory Marina access, could be redesigned or a level crossing considered. That is the only impediment, A421 Bypass could be raised for the railway and Willington Bypassed to the north and go parallel to Great Ouse Valley on embankment over Great Barford Road, north of Built Blunham and approach Tempsford from the south, forget housing, forget stations new and changing/delays, plum for physical rail connectivity so you have sharing same tracks, trains to/from Peterborough, Cambridge and Stevenage/East Bedfordshire to County Town of Bedford and HAVE SOME PRIDE based on sustainable reaches and ranges of what rail can offer (platforms for more confidence). The Borough needs to talk to Grant Shapps and get a dialogue working. The auto-cue of consultations by EWRC have been set in motion and like a programmed robot it obeys the rule of it, without discretion but resignation or retirement as and when the mess becomes apparent. Yes, HS2 enjoys special dispensation, whatever the cost, whatever the barriers, bulldoze in the name of the greater good, but is that really a model for our local railway unfolding? It is to me at least, an alien style. The original route was discounted in Jan 2019 Consultation and location for Bedford, way out of the town centre, spoils car users, disenfranchises bus, walk and cycle /town centre users. It is hard-sold serving Bedford Midland which everyone wants, but 'go north my friend' solution seems half baked. Of course landowners will rub hands in glee, but theirs is income, not concern for optimal designs per se. I think we need to have local public transport for local people and balance cost/avariced studies with some basic research and common sense.  What is available, what can be done, who, what and why. How much subsidy for 1 or 2 people to commute to Olney once a day for work from Yardley? I used No. 41 and Olney loadings are about half a dozen on a good day per time I use it, Bromham commutes to Bedford, a handful westwards. Brafield commutes to Northampton, few eastwards. Stagsden may be politically significant, but I see very, very few people boarding there.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Pill

ERTA Chairman and local public transport user/supporter.

richard.erta@gmail.com for joining our free email loop.

ERTA London Calling Notes and Tasks: Reliable Volunteers Welcome.

#ertarail Over recent years, ERTA has debated what improvements in and around London public transport-wise, especially rail are needed. Here's a rough list. It is not exhaustive, but could you email any other ideas, suggestions and why/justification and any comments for/against and why/justify please?

richard.erta@gmail.com We are looking for volunteers to help us with report production, any reliable offers are welcome to entertain.

Here's the list:

1. All London's suburban rail services must be devolved to TfL (London Overground) as soon as possible

2. Better integration of London's suburban rail with TfL bus, tube and tram services, including new and improved interchanges with these services

3. Chessington Line extension to Leatherhead including station for Chessington World of Adventures

4. cooling the Tube network (especially in summer) where feasible and affordable

5. Crossrail

6. Crossrail 1 to Windsor & Eton Central

7. Crossrail 2 [SW-NE]

8. Double-track Frimley Green – Ash Vale

9. Epping – M11 Park & Ride

10. Extend Docklands Light Railway Bank – site of old Broad Street station(underground)

11. Extend LU lines - Edgware – Stanmore-Watford

12. Gospel Oak-Barking line (GOB) services integrated more with existing London services and

13. Heathrow Rail Links

14. Heathrow Southern Railway (short tunnel from Terminal 5 and then a mainly surface route parallel with the M25 to new junction with the Windsor-Staines line. HSR will then continue alongside the M25 to new junction with the Virginia Water–Weybridge/ Byfleet Junction line north of Chertsey. Could also incorporate old West Drayton - Staines West branch and be linked into reopening old Great Central mail line in the longer term.

15. Improved pedestrian access between Dorking West/Dorking Deepdene

16. Lack of Light Rail in Central and West London despite growing volumes of people.

17. Light Rapid Transits should be allowed to grow organically via local planning systems in North/South /East/West/Central London e.g. Croydon Tram link - extend to Crystal Palace and Lloyd Park curve eliminated (site of accident Autumn 2016)

18. lines, with better interchanges at stations along the existing route?

19. London Orbital Railways

20. London Underground Extensions

21. LU:

22. Mill Hill East-Edgware

23. modern signalling systems

24. More disabled access for both LT and National Rail stations, particularly on London Overground and LU stations.

25. Muswell Hill Metro

26. new air-conditioned trains which are energy-efficient with regenerative breaking

27. New Lower Thames Transport Tunnel

28. New platforms Willesden Junction Low Level for London Midland and Southern services, thereby enabling interchange with North London Line, West London Line and LT Bakerloo Line.

29. New rail link Southend Airport – Rayleigh/Pitsea parallel to A13, A130, A1245

30. New station Old Oak Common (interchange Crossrail 1/HS2/West London Line); it must be built before HS2 begins

31. New station on London Overground North London Line at North Acton (interchange with LT Central Line and possibly Crossrail 1, adjacent Chiltern and First Great Western Services).

32. New station on London Overground West London Line at Battersea

33. North Downs Line

34. Pitsea-Rayleigh new build project and Grays-Dartford railway tunnel under Thames for more by rail north-south including Woolwich-Southend Airport access direct and vice versa.

35. Re-open Bank-Aldwych (closed for sake of new lifts!) and old Fleet Line to Charing Cross

36. Restoring through services to Bromley North from London Bridge/Charing Cross etc.

37. Sites close to railway lines offering potential locations for rail freight terminals and logistics centres must be protected from alternative transport proposals these include disused railways and rail sidings

38. Thames Tunnel Grays – Dartford (Lower Thames River Crossing scheme), built to HS1 standards, to include Crossrail 1 extension and cater for freight between ports and Channel Tunnel.

39. -That GOB network should extend eastwards to Barking Riverside and Abbey Wood via a Thames Tunnel.

40. -That GOB network should extend eastwards to West Hampstead -Dudding Hill – Acton – Kew Bridge -Heathrow

41. The lack of cross-Thames tunnels and bridges for north-south rail travel within London as well as getting more freight off the roads and back onto the rails, freeing up capacity/reducing hazards.

42. The lack of orbital rail links around east and west London for enabling through traffic from the radial rest of the country get to and from the South East, South Coast and the Channel Tunnel.

43. up-grade on the District Line (with population increase crowding is set to increase on that line from Richmond in next 25 years; that line is also notoriously crowded in peak-hours between Earls Court and Westminster),

44. West Hampstead - new platforms for Chiltern Line services and possibly Metropolitan Line, thereby enabling interchange with North London Line, Thameslink and Jubilee Lines.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55322340

 Notes of ERTA London Meeting Saturday 28^th November 14.00 hours. Disclaimer: These are notes taken during the meeting and are for general reference and flavour only, not forensic.

 Present: Simon Barber, David Shamash, Conway Castle-Knight, Eleanore Pond, Richard Pill, Peter McBeath, Ian Sesnan, Gillian Radcliffe, Anne Newton (Muswell Hill Metro Group), Mr Hugh Richards, Kathy Keeley and Cllr Hilary Gander.

 1. Chairman’s welcome: Richard who chaired the meeting, welcomed people to it.

2. Apologies: Mr Ivor Wiggett, Cllr Awale Olad, Cllr Georgia Gould (Camden), Cllr Dan Tomlinson (Tower Hamlets), Cllr John Locker (Wandsworth), Cllr Rowena Champion, Richard Watts (Islington), Cllr Steve Curran (Hounslow), Cllrs Muhammed Butt, Shama Tapler (Brent), John Dulwich (Barking), Cllr Claire Toghill.

3. Covid19 Considerations and Impact: Public Transport – general rules of wearing masks, washing hands before and after and taking precautions. Avoid rush hour and check beforehand if and where lines are closed or bus-substituted.  Revenues are reported to be down on the general rail network 95% and this has a devastating impact.

4. Muswell Hill Metro: The proposal is to re-rail the Finsbury Park – Alexandra Palace rail link. Not much happening because of Covid19 lockdown. The group wants to recruit especially younger support. It and ERTA will forge links for 2-way support and making common ground.

5. London Underground Extensions: Contact as a significant contact: Ms Caroline Pidgeon.

Concerns current are safety on the tube/underground. How safe are we? Theft is a concern.

Schemes raised included:

Kennington – Nine Elms, Bakerloo Southern Extension, Cockfosters-Potter’s Bar, Barnet – Napsbury (a new station south of St Albans) and via a duck-under to terminate either into a reinstated second bay at St Albans Abbey and/or amalgamate into Watford Junction.

The Croxley Link (Baker Street Met into St Albans Abbey, with added proviso of Aylesbury-Watford sharing same tracks for link up as well. Watford West could be retained as an overflow capacity and/or a Metroland Museum.

Edgware and Stanmore to Watford – problem is development has hit hard route options and accommodation. Could be looked at and whether they could do more.

It was felt the various transport systems around London need to be better integrated generally.

Hammersmith Bridge closed as in danger of falling down, may reopen to pedestrians and cyclists but traffic will have to be diverted elsewhere. Someone said there may be a ferry, but as yet no hard and fast news.

6. London Orbital Routes. Dire lack of outer orbital rail routes. Freight comes from Felixstowe-London-West Coast Main Line and vice versa. If more direct rail links existed across north of London i.e. East Anglia to the Midlands as per the A14 goes, then that would free up a lot of capacity. Likewise, ERTA had called for an integrated approach of 3 proposals for rail links from the south and west to Heathrow, to share same tracks and go on to Old Oak Common (OOC) with a tunnel provision under it to link with the Chiltern Main Line. That optimally would give an Aylesbury – Guildford rail arc and Guildford-Horsham reinstatement would enable more for more and buy-in to these new links and journey opportunities.

It was felt by many that Heathrow is a polluter and noise issue and yet, regardless of whether it stays open or shut, the legacy of better rail links utilising the opportunity afforded, remains useful to court and usher along surely.

Peter said about his Lower Thames Crossing Link for road and rail. He wants shipping to come to UK than Europe, so we export more and raise revenues and drive down costs. That means some 7000 lorries per day by rail which is better for the environment.

His tunnel would link Kent and Essex and send more to RAF Mildenhall – so out of London.

He also said digital signalling will create capacity more as well.

It was agreed Richard to put the ERTA ideas into a basic umbrella report to bring together the ideas and circulate it with a press statement which ideally organisations like TFL, new London Assembly, Network Rail and elsewhere can pick up on and work with to next stages/give our ideas a boost.

London is growing again with M25 cordon mooted as a natural boundary. Utilising M25 space in pertinent for orbital and new rail links, extensions and integrated public transport designs. Land is premium and must be retained for enabling rail projects like England’s Economic Heartland (EEH) Southern East-West Rail Link to be realistic. The old St Albans Abbey-Hatfield Line could be a candidate but about 8 houses sit on the old formation and would need to be relocated which is always a sensitive issue. Otherwise brand-new lines radiating and linking with a new station at Napsbury needs wider consideration. Hertfordshire County Council say they have no resources.

The Highways Road Tunnel idea has been rejected. East London River Crossing / Silvertown is a road only, a missed opportunity.

7. Heathrow Rail Links: dealt with see elsewhere. But David Shamash also said when this Pandemic is over it is likely that the use of public transport will not go back to what it was before this Coronavirus Pandemic as people are now used to working from home and going to Zoom meetings. The rush hour commute will not be like it was before the Pandemic. The new normal will be different from what was normal before the Pandemic and people will probably not eat out and drink out as much as they used to so stay at home more. This means that before the Government plan any more major transport improvements they should wait until this Pandemic is over so we see the likely future demand.

8. New Lower Thames Transport Tunnel – is road and rail in design. 50, 000 homes going into Essex but a key issue is water supply. Discussion was held as to suitability of desalination plants like they did for Perth’s water issues in Australia?

9. Crossrail: Things are happening according to Simon. Many of these projects take a long time. They also seem to over-run costs. Crossrail 1 will serve Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road and Farringdon in central London and reach between Reading and Abbey Wood/Shenfield. Crossrail 2 is on hold but would serve Clapham Junction, Euston and Victoria. These links could relieve other parallel lines and free up capacity generally it was felt.

10. Pitsea-Rayleigh et al scheme: ERTA has long mooted it but so far, no backers for whatever reason. It needs working up. But consists of a rail tunnel between the Dartford area and Grays/Pitsea and a new-build link, taking on 4-5 trunk roads to link Pitsea to Rayleigh. This would give Southend and South-East London direct arcing rail links avoiding the need to go in and come out, freeing up seats, saving time and money. Woolwich-Southend Airport could be a typical journey possibly. See rough diagram which we want working up:

11. Appointment of area reps: It was decided to have North East, North West, South East and South West Area Reps charged with taking a general interest in what is going on, forging our interests, recruiting new members, growing teams and liaison via these meetings. An overall coordinator would also be welcome and could come on the Executive Committee for liaison.

12. There was no other business.

13. Day, Date, Time, Place of Next Meeting: Next Zoom Meeting will be Friday 26^th February 14.00 hours. All welcome/open to all/please try and introduce a friend to us.

Meeting finished 15.30pm

Notes:

1. ERTA is enjoying more success and better turn-out with Zoom and for large areas like London is easier and more cost-effective time-wise than numerous area meetings at cost to ourselves. So, a Zoom future is a way forward for now.

2. If any wish to be on our free no obligation email loop, please send to richard.erta@gmail.com

Sustainability from notions to grassroots applications – still a way to go!

Sustainability from notions to grassroots applications – still a way to go!

In 1992 there was a United Nations (UN) Conference on the Environment in Rio-de-Janeiro, South America hence the name ‘Rio 92’. (1) I was sent by the then Railway Development Society (RDS) to the British UN follow up in Manchester to capture what may be in it for rail. 1992 is all a very long time ago and sadly, much of my archive has had to be recycled due to downsizing over the years. However, what I do recollect is someone from Seattle in America leading a seminar saying how this word ‘Sustainability’ is about holding the social, economic and environmental in balance and equally being squared to inform a ‘sustainable’ anything. If we build without regards to the environment, collectively the environment comes back in various forms which ultimately presents a global threat. If we only do ‘social’ and neglect ‘environmental’ or ‘economic’ aspects, then again, the environment suffers and feeds back to affect people and communities. Everything has to be paid for and yet money as an end in itself is nothing if we neglect the social and environmental considerations.

I recall, even in Bedford where I come from, there was much talk, committees formed in Rio 92’s name and the buzz word ‘sustainable’ and ‘sustainability’ was banded about. But Bedford, like many other places was a congested place. It was geographically central between London and Birmingham (north-south) and East Anglia and the West Country (east-west).

Before the 1960’s and after over many years, we British, having led the world in giving railways as a global transport system of doing things with many dependent industries; post war for whatever reason, we progressively dismantled our integrated public transport and rail based majoritively freight systems to a road only agenda.

Closing trams and rail links, locked-in the the-road reliance pattern and in 1969 for example, the railways lost their Common Carrier Status (2); they just could not reach and range as once was.

The instigated policy and spend direction were no longer rail and shipping but roads and aviation. That platform was predicated on fossil fuel, namely oil.

Great ideas for sustainability but a locked-in unsustainable transport system and way of doing things which was now lifestyle reliant, systemic and increasingly universal.

Of course, then and now not everyone had cars for a variety of reasons.

Since the early 1990’s more use of what railways remain is more than ever; but car, van, lorry, road, oil is still the norm. Roads and Rails are congested, informing the question what can give, what can take and how do we move to a more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable transport system for people and goods?

Since 1987 I had led a campaign for route protection of part of the Bedford-Cambridge railway (Bedford-Sandy section mainly) and advocating reopening. It was the minimum piece of rail infrastructure for restoring an Oxford-Cambridge railway. Upon reaching the East Coast Main Line (ECML) it was envisaged trains would run through to Cambridge either via a new build Huntingdon-St Ives-Cambridge railway or via a new curve at Ickleford north of Hitchin onto the Letchworth-Royston-Cambridge line or both. The counter to our efforts, small as they were, was the going rate at tiers of Government levels, society as a whole and cheap petrol/convenience was to build more houses, find other uses, fallow, defer, reject and well, the sums and all considered was against! Maybe a good idea environmentally, some social benefits but economically, who was going to pay? Then in 1994 the Standing Conference of East Anglia Local Authorities (SCEALA) formed the East-West Rail Consortium (EWRC) (3) based out of Ipswich and that got Bedford Borough, Mid Beds District and Bedfordshire County Councils to join and support the aspiration for an east-west rail link.

From there on, whilst as campaigners we interjected ideas, suggestions and directed to a purer form of basic, local railway upwards movement, they took the principle to Government and informed pots of expenditure on numerous studies we laity could but dream of.

In 1997/1998 2 things of significance happened. First, Labour got elected and got their White Paper on Sustainable Transport (4) under way which signalled a shift to more things like walking, cycling, buses and rail doing more ‘modal shift’.

Sadly, after 2003 9/11 and the costs of wars overseas were eclipsed by u-turning on delivery and follow through. The 2003 London South Midlands Multi Modal Study (LSMMMS) was a last gasp advocating Bedford-Cambridge and Bedford-Northampton. However, in 2004, the then Department for Transport/Secretary of State for Transport the Rt Hon. Alistair Darling MP demanded further research for Oxford-Cambridge and directed focus on the Western Section (Oxford-Bedford) first. The focus of the East-West Consortium moved from Ipswich to Aylesbury. In 1997 the Steer Davis Gleave Report vindicated what us campaigners had said that realignments at Blunham and Sandy were possible and should be done. Oxford-Bedford had much support. However, during the Labour tenure of office until 2010 delivery was not done and Bedford-Northampton was long grassed, literally!

In the current ‘Climate Emergency’ the saga continues. Bedford-Sandy has been lost as has Cambridge-St Ives-Huntingdon. We are to get Oxford-Bedford by 2024-ish. It is making some progress, but given the 35-year history of effort, it should be made an equivalent of a Government backed Nightingale Project and speeded up! Then, the social, environmental and economic benefits can be enjoyed by the places it would serve with sustainable footfall and spend minus the congestion and pollution in a context of growth and global diminutives we are all awaking to afresh. We have to see real evidence of Boris Johnson and his Government are listening. Jury is out currently. If he was saying “no” to a £27 billion new roads programme and “yes” to an increase of the Rail Reopenings Fund (5) (currently a mere £500 million); a rebalance or indeed move towards rail expansion for local, conventional rail rebuild and slicker time and cost delivery that would be something. Likewise, some ‘carrot’ and ‘stick’ measures to interim incentivise rail route protection. But whether power, politics or other lobbying interests (oil, gas and a locked in lifestyle and design layout adapted to roads majoritively), rebalancing is remiss. If the analogy of the Titanic and the Iceberg holds up, the collective ‘we’ are aware of it, know we need to change course, but are still moving towards collision at some speed.

Government is elected and charged to give Leadership and Direction.

To inform the path, shape and adjustment patterns successive generations will aspire to build their lives around. People will use what is available, cheap and convenient. If done sustainably fine, if not, we must face the consequences. Start redressing and re-railing and gradually the rebalancing at least can have a chance to happen. If we keep putting it off, we are 'playing with fire'. You can only speak truth to power, if you know who and what and where the power is and it realises it is in its interest to act.

Richard Pill

Chairman of the English Regional Transport Association (ERTA).

A voluntary, membership-based association open to all.

W. https://ertarail.co.uk/

B. https://ertarailvolunteer.blogspot.com/

Notes for Further Reading:

1. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/milestones/unced

2. http://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/14th-july-1967/33/are-the-railways-common-carriers

3. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1998/jul/20/the-new-deal-for-transport

4. https://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/

5. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/re-opening-beeching-era-lines-and-stations