Call to protect former rail routes more.

Despite the good news on East-West Rail and the Government getting the ball rolling on allocation of reopening bid grants funds, there is a real need for Government to act now to protect former rail routes to keep options for reopening open. Currently the projects we are ERTA are concerned with have such threats like:

a. Olney - development battles continue and a study is needed to look at alternative routes just as they have done on Bedford-Cambridge.

b. Guildford-Cranleigh - a canal utilising the old trackbed is threatening the current trackbed corridor used currently as a footpath/cycleway. 

c. Woodhead and Don Valley Railways are under threat and need public support to protect from development encroachments and keep options for rebuilding as realistic possibilities.

These are examples, others abound. Planning Policy Guidance 13 (PPG13) is a toothless tiger and more stringent inducements for councils to protect routes and deviation spaces - even making them Grade 2 status listing or some configuration thereof is needed. Our Westminster Team will be pressing for more. It has vacancies.

Please do feel free to enquire further on any of the above - a letter is attached and you can write in support of protecting the trackbed there. I attach a letter from the DfT on east-west rail and our updated trackbed protection brochure. Newsletter will be sent out on Monday. This is a busy time for us and we welcome people to offer to join/help/offer to help and one way to support is to book and come to our conference please: https://www.ertarail.com/conference-2020

Any enquiries via Mr Simon Barber: T. 0208 940 4399, E. simon4barber@gmail.com Simon works hard for the association and it can only continue with more reliable helpers and adequate resources. Please consider what you can offer, we wish to overcome obstacles, not be overcome by them! Thank you.

Olney News - help save or keep a rail option open not scuppered!

Please encourage all interested to get writing:

a. MK Council and Olney Town Council stating the benefits of a railway and that a route for rebuilding needs identifying and protecting not scuppering.

b. Traffic through Olney is appalling - needs another crossing and a bypass!

c. call for more studies in support of the railway, including the Bletchley-Bedford-Northampton loop off the WCML to make more capacity for non-time-critical train movements on lines with capacity for example - enables more to service MK Central.

Floods at Olney, they are working in a quagmire currently!

Now Bedford-Cambridge is being progressed, could a direct link be designed passively to arc directly for a new MML-Northampton direct link catering for freight and more cross-country rail services eg. Birmingham-South Midlands-Cambridge-Stansted or Norwich for example? B'ham-Leicester-Peterborough is a great way round currently. Ask East-West Rail Company Ltd to consider passive design with a phase 3 build following on from Bedford-Cambridge?

https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/politics/council/developer-appeals-inspectors-over-rejected-plan-retirement-flats-and-bungalows-milton-keynes-1885727  

May I encourage people to pre-book for our conference - a good networking opportunity, ask a salient question of our speakers and help us help fulfill our mission more please. The sponsors have been good to us and we want to have a good turn-out as it bodes well for the future. Please encourage others. We have options on our website conference page: https://www.ertarail.com/conference-2020

Northampton Forum this Saturday - open to all/all welcome: Northampton Forum: Saturday 22 February 2.00-4.00pm Northampton Quaker Meeting House, Wellington Street, Northampton NN1 3AS. See website: https://ertarail.com/events Contact Mr Simon Barber T. 0208 940 4399, E. simon4barber@gmail.com Book stall available.

Below: Olney A509 Warrington Road Area - circa 2015 Now we have a Sainsbury's and other development being expanded both sides of Lavendon Road with little real additional infrastructure beit a A509 town bypass or a rail link or both. Where there's an engineering problem, there is likely an engineering solution! Make your voice heard and join ERTA and help us take the rail idea forward.

Our people are active - can you be too please?

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing in regard to the plan for retirement flats and bungalows at the corner of Lavendon Road and Warrington Road,Olney following the developer's appeal against the Council's recent decision.

See https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/politics/council/developer-appeals-inspectors-over-rejected-plan-retirement-flats-and-bungalows-milton-keynes-1885727

The reason for writing is that "I am a member of the English Regional Transport Association(ERTA),which is a voluntary membership-based, pro-public transport improvement association which started in  Bedfordshire but its remit has since increased since several of its projects have a nation-wide positive benefit and impact.

It is endeavouring to re-open the Bedford - Northampton railway which once had served Olney,and the old track-bed survives in several places along the route,although some parts have already been built on.The old route therefore needs to be protected and any new deviation needs to be identified, not destroyed since the railway would bring several benefits to the town.In fact the land which the flats and bungalows would be built could compromise the trackbed(or any new deviation required). More studies are needed in support of the railway.

The re-opened railway would connect Olney to the national rail network and demand would increase with the town's rapidly growing population;it would also connect Olney with London.Many commuters to London from Olney and around drive to either Bedford or Milton Keynes Central to catch their trains and the car parks at both those stations are congested,so are the roads into these towns during the week-day peak-hours.A Bletchley-Bedford-Northampton loop service would also bring more capacity to the West Coast Main Line enabling more train services to Milton Keynes Central.The rail link will also increase footfall to Olney High Street.In fact the land earmarked for the flats and bungalows could be a potential site for a station car park.

Furthermore,the traffic through Olney is appalling and a bypass is needed."

Yours faithfully,

Simon Barber

Email address: simon4barber@gmail.com

Government Approves HS2 go-ahead but what about Great Central linkage?

HS2 has a route around Brackley and veers off to the north west. No station for the town, so zero access between Old Oak Common and Solihull, some 80 miles of nil access to the railway. Aylesbury, Calvert, Brackley and Southam have all been suggested places stations on any normal railway could be placed but alas HS2 supporters claim is unique, different, even to that of overseas High Speed configurations! On the one hand it can link to Liverpool on existing lines, on the other they claim you cannot bolt on a Great Central Rail Link north of Brackley - why? I just wish there was a more inclusive, organic and collaborative approach. Sadly it has been top-down all the way, with a brash and brazen dismissal rather than open-mindedness which could have turned a nightmare into an asset. I still think it is the wrong side of #London and the lack of links to HS1 and #Heathrow and the pouring of estimated numbers to existing London infrastructure even with a working Crossrail, leaves overcrowding highly likely. So ill-thought through - can that be rectified now? I very much hope #ertarail will seek answers and get some accommodation. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51461597#

Our proposal is to go more or less via old GC route to join the Nuneaton-Leicester line at Narborough via a new chord. Passenger services would feed into Leicester, freight via Knighton-Burton for Derby and diaspora from then unless going on to Peterborough. Rugby we could reopen the old station, maybe slightly reconfigured, but another idea complimenting the direct route was a new station at Willoughby and junction with a spur going off via Barby area to link the Northampton Loop Line where they diverge south of Rugby for WCML linkage and optimise the new routes capability. North of Rugby viaducts would be required and a new alignment alongside (eastern side) of M1 which sits on the course of the old railway - part of why they wanted the railway gone in 1969 (?) with a new Park and Ride Station for the Lutterworth area, intercepting A14/M1/M6 convergencies in that area. That is all we are proposing, but the way Paul Bigland, Nigel Harris, Gareth Dennis and Rail Magazine have reacted and treated me is as if we are saying 'we want the world, and we want it now'! I believe our calls are moderate, realistic and need both local council buy-in, route protection and devaition space protection and studies to both make the case and look at design features. A new station Park and Ride to serve both Southam and Daventry on the A425 as GC intercepts it about half way between the two, bearing in mind in 10 years it is likeley expansion will occur across the regions anyway. So we need as much and as many helpers, team players and supporters as we may bring together. It would be very good to meet you and work together to forward this project. Please tap into any of our meetings: https://www.ertarail.com/events My colleague Mr Simon Barber is more-than willing to meet anyone interested and find common ground please. We don't pretend to have all the answers, just an idea and more-than a hunch of what could be done and believe HS2 should entertain our views and ultimately incorporate them as in theirs and wider interests. I attach a diagram which although imperfect, reflects also something of what we wish for. I am sure for accommodation we would be flexible, as long as we get an all singing, all dancing railway.