12-09-23 Please come and support us at the Northampton Public Meeting 'open to all':
ERTA
Northampton Public Meeting:
Saturday
30th September at
The
Northampton Quakers, Quaker House, Wellington Street, Northampton NN1 3AS https://www.quaker.org.uk/meetings/northampton
2pm-4pm
(core time) with Guest Speakers:
Andrew
Meaney, Partner in Oxera https://www.oxera.com/
An economic
and finance consultancy. Andrew will be speaking around ‘‘Rail funding, and
effective business cases” followed by
Peter
Doveston of Northants Streets Campaign
There will be a Question and Answer (Q&A) time
followed by a Discussion on reopening the Northampton-Market Harborough rail
link followed by a general rail and transport discussion, general mingle and
sales stall (old magazines mainly). Please bring cash with you.
Further comment: Professor Andrew Williams 07923489254 anw@doctors.org.uk or broader comment:
Mr Richard Pill ERTA CEO richard.erta@gmail.com
A retiring collection will be available. Please invite others and help
spread the word. Parking is limited. All offers to help get people there and
support on the day welcome. Successful meetings can inspire other to get
involved. Northampton-Market Harborough rail needs a dedicated team!
https://ertarail.co.uk/events/
This report was not communicated to ERTA and not me in particular. Unsure if the link tallies with the named report featured in Rail Edn. 991 Sept 6-Sept 19 2023 pages 8-9 or an update? If 2021, was it delayed due to Pandemic or like 2020 Northampton-Market Harborough rail study, suppressed? In the case of the latter, it was only unearthed by my ERTA colleague and Patron Professor Andrew N. Williams via a Freedom of Information request. The report is comprehensive and shows a real case and can-be-done project, which could have been forged ahead as an investment in all our futures as a levelling up project 'around the regions' linking as it would and complementing East-West Rail with Leicester and East Midlands/The North and also the Peterborough link to Felixstowe and the East Coast for example. Taking cvars and lorries off local and regional roads through more choice, a win, win, for the environment, land use and reducing pollution, informing sustainable new investment and benefits for all, on and off the rails. So why was it suppressed until now or rather not reported until now?
According to the Rail Magazine reporting of it my reflection is:
1. HS2 may help with some capacity, but is not a panacea and has been over-egged on wider impact capacity wise terms.
2. Besides, new links/reopenings to enable more by rail are needed and this study shows why Northampton-MH (N2MH) is a key candidate with many benefits.
3. The report goes on "too many trains, not enough tracks"
Capacity for existing trends fine, but any modal shift to rail, will demand more. What does that growth look like?
a. modal shift, with public health and environmental benefits.
b. new flows of business and commerce under-girded by a sustainable means for shifting people and goods, off local roads.
c. recovering ground lost thanks to the closures, of people and goods back to rail, we need infrastructure and services.
4. Network Rail's (WCSSA) - 340 page report cites known capacity demands, which is? But new demands now and going forward plus unexpected increased demand for modal shift/transport collapse if costs of logistics make by rail - if rail can rise to the challenge - means we need diversity of tracks and trains, speed it not a panacea per se unless you tackle volume and flows unserved by rail which would be if the closures had not of been so drastic. Can we learn lessons and stop the rot on closure of ticket offices, price-managing demand off rails and denting public health and environmental well-being in the broadest sense?
5. The article goes on "To fully unlock the benefits of released capacity, strategic investment will be required between Milton Keynes and Bletchley." Laudabl;e, but work needs 'spades in the ground' now, not 2050 (assumed long-grassing measure by power deferring responsibility but increasing costs, risks and liabilities if any complain posthumously). Moreover we can note:
a. East Croydon/Gatwick-Watford-MK Central Station services cut back to Watford because of pathing capacity constraints now.
b. In a short space of time, Oxford-Milton Keynes services will want to traverse the 2-3 mile distance off the Bletchley Flyover to Milton Keynes Central Station, where through tracks and baying capacity is premium.
c. I attended a meeting where it was put forward a direct curve from the east off the Bedford-Bletchley Railway for direct running into Milton Keynes Central Station was envisaged for people and goods as a cheaper option to new-build a new Bedford-Northampton rail link, which needs a new 10 mile new-build between Midland Main Line and Great Houghton across remaining and diminishing countryside amidst unsustainable, expensive piecemeal housing encroachments. ERTA has blown the whistle many times, we need councils and officers to talk to us, work with us and together with NR, Great British Railways, DfT and Treasury and other agencies (too many at cost not delivering!) means like with NR's WCSSA Report, they should have consulted us as stakeholders interested in getting things done in a timely manner. That means pre-planning, that means case, support and route management in one framework, not fragments, asking development consideration one hand, but plotting around to both hedge bets against the odds and scupper off main line capacity enhancements as the Bedford-Northampton-Market Harborough twin packaged rail links would engenda.
6. On the Bedford-Bletchley curve element, for direct running of freight and passenger operations heading north-east respectively, you have to understand that it would be considerably troublesome:
a. lack of capacity between Bletchley and Milton Keynes, leaves the door wide open to do nothing on Bedford-Northampton amidst blighty, whilst knowingly advocating more trains without major expansion of tracks, trains and land-take?Does it square? We need definitive answers now and a map of intent of where it is going so we can rally around and ensure some progress is made within a 7 year time frame.
b. Whether bolted on to the flyover or under and 90 degree curve (not viable?) across currently used sidings -m Bletchley needs them now and going forward, keep shifting and longer delays for relief support service trains and maintenance? Maybe a new depot east of Bletchley at Swanbourne could offer some relief and capacity, ditto neglected Forders Sidings could also do more off main lines for servicing and storage for example?
c. Northampton2MH offers integrated service if capacity can exist, but even if Leicester-Northampton (twin northern facing bays off Northampton Loop as an interim facility) it enables Oxford-Leicester via principal MK City and Northampton (large population) and gains by taking on in real modal choice terms A43, M1, A508 for example and modal shift by more accessibility rail-based solutions and local-regional combined use of same tracks and strategic gap plugged.
d. Freight by rail, a west to north direct curve and additional tracks on the Northampton loop line, would enable Felixstowe/East Midlands/The North to Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) and vice versa, has clearance status. Likewise, the new Northampton Freight Depot, taking more lorries off major road networks through choice and physical tracks enabling more.
e. Northampton Castle Station needs a new-build, more through tracks, more platforms and diverse rails. The Brackmills Branch, long called for, could be re-railed to London Road with a triangle adjacent to Towcester Road Bridge. This could serve as a southern waitover 'off through tracks' for passenger and freight use, as a turn around for any steam hauled services from anywhere or just loco shutting off through tracks. Point is, multiple uses, plus the Brackmills and Bedford arm having rail-based access (competitiveness and inclusion) plus, reducing the A428 Bedford Road entails, has to be weighed with level crossing delays or less congestion on roads aggregately with rail choice and access enhanced? Choices, but can be promising if we see the bigger picture surely? ERTA does and calls on professionals, elected representatives and the public to work with us constructively in the greater good interest; our nation, our environment, our people and our railways!
7. Routing Oxford-Leicester via Bedford misses out City of Milton Keynes and Northampton, is a long way round albeit off WCML and getting through Bedford Midland without 6-tracking will be another Bletchley-MK bottleneck and again, needs a rethinking with expansion and widening in mind, all costly, but necessary if we want modal shift, more trains and the tracks they rely on.
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