Threats to former rail infrastructure and the re-railing agenda balances - a long way from satisfactory!

Laudable campaign. We need a government incentive and directive to protect former rail routes and infrastructures and a nationwide plan and funding to reinstate and restore local rail links which could make a difference including modal shift more from road - based everything with pollution and land take, to cleaner, smarter and bulk people and goods by rail more saving land, speeding end-to-end up more and cutting the bads associated with excessive dependency designs on road-based usage en masse. Indeed, I feel the campaign for #Hunstanton rail reopening should have carried on - #Bude hasn't given up (!) and that we need a marriage whereby the Norfolk Orbital Railwaay aims support opposing the Wensum Road Scheme and vice versa, so we see more of a joined-up call to switch by reinstating the railway and stop the rot by opposing environmentally intrusive road schemes.

Lincolnshire is ina worse position, whereby they build roads on former trackbeds and then build more roads (strings of bypasses) because they cannot envisage rebuilding missing rail links or new-building alongside road infrastrcture which could be tailored e.g. #March (Cambs)-#Spalding area (South Holland/Lincolnshire area) and A16 East Lincs Rail Corridor Spalding-#Boston-#Louth-#Grimsby. We need a new approach with these goals in mind, otherwise we get bogged down in a quagmire/a 'slough for despond' as John Bunyan puts it in Pilgrim's Progress! Realisms are relelative. Studies start upwards of £50k. Government has a pivotal role in policy, frameworks and action terms.

Alas all is at sea and the tides come in and bury these key strategic structural issues under a myriad of other priorities, when if tiltering polcy to favour local, conventional rail (not #HS2), then money allocated to new roads £27 billion could inform a load of rail reopenings, currently been sold to advocates as unaffordable and makes vulnerable to land-grab other uses agendas and believe me #Bedford-#Sandy proves, a cycle scheme designed to retain the corridor for a railway, now rejects the railway reinstatement in the name of safeguarding a cycle way.

The reality is cycle ways are a lot easier and cheaper to redirect/relocate than railways, but a lack of political will, apprehensions of scale and complacency means market and Big Brother decides regardless of public or environmental needs-must issues. Cuts to buses compounds a sense of isolation, broken links and disenfranchisement across the regions. This is the sort of thing ERTA is trying to address with others respectively. https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/23254358.norfolk-cycle-track-row-disused-railway-bridge/?ref=fbshr

Bad News: TFL is still considering to withdraw from the Travelcard Agreement 1

Dear Friends, Colleagues and Elected Representatives,

ERTA has been following this for a while. Please wade in in whatever capacity and retain the walk-on, walk-off paper-based Travelcard benefits and accessibility to non-digital age people, including those with walking and hidden disabilities which the Government seem blinkered to as per many 'I'm alright Jack' who want reform to mean de-staffing of stations and support for rail and bus users it seems. At a time of environmental concern and a need to get people out of cars and cut road emissions, getting public transport sorted should be a top priority, instead we're trading cuts and rationalisation. Please write to your MP. The person who sent us this information wishes to remain anonymous but the source-references should speak for themselves.

It is not just a London matter, but covers a wider area.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Pill

ERTA Secretary

" You may remember I emailed you a year ago in regards to TFL proposing to withdraw the Travelcards, I have more bad news to break!

I've been sent the 2023 draft Business Plan, on page 42 it's revealed TFL is still considering to withdraw from the Travelcard Agreement with the Train Operating Companies.

https://board.tfl.gov.uk/documents/s19197/Appendix%202%20Draft%20TfL%20Business%20Plan%202023.pdf

As TFL is under a new financial settlement by the government, I've scanned through the settlement letter dated 30 August 2022, there's no mention about withdrawing from the Travelcard Agreement.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1101713/tfl-long-term-funding-settlement-30-august-2022.pdf

Recently, the London Assembly Members have also raised concerns about the proposal to withdraw from the Travelcard Agreement, TFL Commissioner Andy Lord said this is subject to Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) which is expected to be completed later this month.

The video from the recent London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee with timestamps and links to the stream.

27:30

https://youtu.be/b1fyjgbwX7M?t=1650

35:15

https://youtu.be/b1fyjgbwX7M?t=2115

The current Oyster Pay As You Go system is not suitable because they have maximum journey times and they charge you a maximum fare if you forgot to touch out or their Oyster readers have stopped working, or enthusiasts who like to explore by using the TFL and railway system within the Travelcard zones. The proposal will affect people that live outside of the Oyster Pay As You Go system, it's impossible to ticket break as you have a longer journey by exiting the station and touching in, and you end up paying more with a standard ticket if the outboundary One Day Travelcard is removed! This is not the time especially we are in a cost of living crisis!

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/how-to-pay-and-where-to-buy-tickets-and-oyster/pay-as-you-go/keep-within-maximum-journey-times

On the TFL website, it says "We will not give a refund if you have already claimed 3 maximum fare refunds in the same calendar month."

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/refunds-and-replacements/exceeded-maximum-journey-time

You may remember I've quoted various legislations in relation to TFL requiring to cooperate with Secretary of State for Transport on railways, Travelcard Agreement document etc. I've noticed one clause which could breach the Mayor's general transport duty on transport integration.

Greater London Authority Act 1999

Section 141

General transport duty.

(1) The Mayor shall develop and implement policies for the promotion and encouragement of safe, integrated, efficient and economic transport facilities and services to, from and within Greater London.

(2) The powers of the Authority under this Part shall be exercised for the purpose of securing the provision of the transport facilities and services mentioned in subsection (1) above.

(3) The transport facilities and services mentioned in subsection (1) above include facilities and services for pedestrians and are—

(a) those required to meet the needs of persons living or working in, or visiting, Greater London, and

(b) those required for the transportation of freight.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/29/section/141

If someone wishes to pursue this by taking legal action against the Mayor of London to try and stop the proposal, it's up to you.

As you know, other areas in the UK and elsewhere already have multi-modal day/weekly/seasonal tickets, this will be unfair if TFL remove the Travelcards including arrangement with the Train Operating Companies.

The government is encouraging local transport authorities (LTAs) to create Travelcard-style multi-modal tickets as part of the Bus Service Improvement Plan.

National Bus Strategy: Bus Service Improvement Plans

Guidance to local authorities and bus operators

There must be seamless, integrated local ticketing between operators and this should be across all types of transport

85. The Strategy sets out a bold ambition for an integrated ticketing approach to allow passengers to buy a through journey for local bus, rail and metro with a single tap on a smartphone. BSIPs should set out at a high level what is required to deliver no fuss, multi-operator tickets and price caps on contactless credit and debit cards, at little or no premium to single operator fares, and where appropriate how this could be expanded to tickets that cover all travel modes (bus, light rail/metro, rail). All buses should accept contactless payment and all operators running on the same route should accept the same tickets.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/985379/bus-service-improvement-plans-guidance-to-local-authorities-and-bus-operators.pdf

The campaign to save the Travelcard still remains!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1fyjgbwX7M&t=1650s

End.

ERTA Rugby Transport Forum - Saturday 21st January 2023 1pm food, 2pm business at Rupert Brooke Wetherspoons 01788 576759 8–10 Castle Street, Rugby, Warwickshire CV21 2TP

Rugby Forum - all welcome! Obviously as and when we get more local people interested and willing to be involved, we hope to upgrade to a hall-based meeting as resources may inform. However, for the time being we meet at the local Wetherspoons. 

I attach a diagram showing the lines and links we are interested in. It is noteworthy that Rugby is central between Northampton and Coventry and Leicester and Leamington Spa, but there is a feeling that the central significance of the location and town has been overlooked, under-estimated and should indeed be restored as a main rail hub for local and regional rail connectivity and indeed environmentally, with more people and goods being lured and nurtured back onto the rail network. 

It is interesting, however informed, that HS2 has a station gap between Solihull and Old Oak Common (OOC) (West London), some 100 miles. That is a lot of growth area development sprawl without access to any rail station within 5-10 miles drive-time. So more development of whatever kind, will revert to road and roads of any kind are jamming up progressively with rat-running across country to circumvent junctions and congestion on trunk roads and motorways - when the selling point for closing railways and building motorways was they would drain towns and rural areas of congestion!

We are not trying to rebuild every inch of old railway line, we want new 21st century design rail links which serve people, communities and forge better local access and linkages. Old routes have been compromised and the art now is a. to determine we wish to entertain the idea of restoration, b. then to help find resources to study options and solutions and c. if the case is robust, to pursue them incrementally or as part of a government-backed grand design for modal shift to reduce emissions, congestion and waste.

https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/cost-of-congestion-in-capital-revealed#:~:text=This%20is%20estimated%20to%20cost,were%20not%20stuck%20in%20traffic.

Arguably the link above shows what is also happening outside London and we know there is a need for more rail-based orbitals around London to link the South Coast and Channel Tunnel with the wider regions sustainably. We believe our suggestions, with realignments, new build and integration, could play a pivotal role.

Magna Park is one of the largest depots of its kind and generates significant traffic, but as yet has no rail link access. Likewise Lutterworth, a growing town with no rail link serving it. Much ado about traffic, trade and business between West and East Midlands, but whilst rails do exist, north-south Rugby/Northampton-Leicester as a gateway to wider East Midlands and East Coast via Peterborough, remains largely unappreciated. 

There will always be objections whatever one seeks to do, but these need to be weighed in the round and that of the greater good. As UN Secretary General recently said at COP27 

"And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator. "

Source: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2022-11-07/secretary-generals-remarks-high-level-opening-of-cop27

Whatever your views on Climate Change or Emergency, our rail ideas, which is what ERTA does - plant ideas - should be adopted and translated to policy to nurture towards fruition. Please consider what help you can give, like protecting land for enabling physical rail linkages in the Narborough and Rugby areas respectively.

East-West Rail (Oxford-Milton Keynes) is being built now. So that link will give access by rail to Oxford, Bristol and Southampton and all in between for example and them to potential audiences, if via our route (as West Coast Main Line has capacity issues), which would cut duration or freight and passenger journey times and boost regeneration, footfall and spend and cut emissions at one and the same time. In all cases, you have to start somewhere.

Copies of pdf agenda via requests to richard.erta@gmail.com 

Rails for Hertfordshire 2023!

English Regional Transport Association (ERTA) has a vision for Hertfordshire. We invite those who share it, to join ERTA https://ertarail.co.uk/become-a-member/ 

Then to offer to assist, volunteer - it is all voluntary - to work and help build a team to incrementally pursue it towards delivery with all the agencies, councils, MP's and public generative support. Attitude to solving problems, rather than bedevilment of them, helps see a bigger picture of benefits if we succeed and success tastes good!

Please join us and let's get Hertfordshire re-railed. 

Enquiries via richard.erta@gmail.com

The English Regional Transport Association (ERTA) is voluntary: https://ertarail.co.uk/

We rely on people to join and offer to assist with growing a team to take on projects and move the agendas on towards delivery. 

We want people to focus on benefits and opportunities and see the greater good than mere parochial concerns. 

We really welcome MP, Councils and elected people's support and interest. 

In all, moving towards delivery should be the goal and priority. 

The Government has a pivotal role to play, to reform the framework to enable more in a timely manner. £27 billion new roads and a mere £500 million Rail Reopenings Fund is no way to seriously address modal shift from road to rail, reduce emissions, pollution and save land for other things from conservation and farming to housing and employment for example. Land is a precious resource, local rails take less of it than new roads.

Please give us support and help be part of the answer to 'will or can it happen?' It is more likely with your support.

Much laudation for the Oxford-Cambridge East-West Rail is accredited, but has taken 35 years of ardur to get things moving and still not there yet by a long chalk. Meanwhile east-west roads have progressively been upgraded, traffic volumes have arisen and really in 100 miles north of London, it is ERTA's conviction we need more east-west rail links, minimally at the 25 mile, 50 mile (east-west) and 75 mile axis' north of London.

Extending the tubes out of London would also bring better rail access and make integration easier.

Someone once suggested every junction on/off the M25 should have a park and ride facility with services. Alas, it is a bleak landscape and land is being developed without rail-based infrastructure being adequate, compounding congestion problems and associated ills.

Please give us your support. It is not a losers game, rather a window of opportunity to work at and seek delivery for benefits to all.

ERTA Newsletter January - February 2023 is out now - get your free emailed copy.

I attach our latest newsletter* (see below) and our coverage continues to grow as we reach out and stretch to wider English Regional appeal and beyond to the borders of England and Wales.

Whilst reopening freight only lines to passenger services has happened, we have yet to see any reinstatements even where a majority of railway route formation is recoverable like Colne-Skipton, a mere 10 miles or so of railway trackbed, needing re-railing. Indeed, many reinstatements up and down the nation are about 5-10-20 miles but the benefits are enormous on and off the rails.

Most reopenings have exceeded expectations and predictions from the Borders Railway to Okehampton in Devon and the latter has triggered a wider demand for being re-connected to the physical rail network from Okehampton, we also have Tavistock, Bude, Bideford and Ilfracombe all bidding for re-railing. Other seaside resorts can look-on and not just the south-west, we need a nationwide vision and plan and that I feel is where ERTA is heading to play a role in that.

I know that we need more willing volunteer helpers to inform more and better and members have a pivotal role to play to enable and foster that. We at 42 members nationwide have loads of room to grow numerically, but also in quantity and quality of who does what, where and when and how. It has to be a delegated growth. Growing teams and pulling together takes some engagement, but is essential.

I was fortunate to live in Bedford most of my life and had local knowledge and engagement from an early stage of efforts to revive the Oxford-Cambridge railway. Laudably, some is being rebuilt (Oxford-Milton Keynes-Bedford) and we await the specification, fine detail and designs for public consultation and the public inquiry on matters pertaining to going East of Bedford.

ERTA has produced its own route and view, namely that the two should be worked up equally and then let the people decide in a local referendum. Solo options may be pragmatic in a world where Office of Road and Rail (ORR) can say all new railways must go over or under, not level crossings, raising cost and inconvenience; but were they to stipulate that design for new roads, they would be challenged. Too many railway people and media are religiously rolling onto their backs and accepting rote without thinking of challenging it.

Another example is the North Downs Line, which in a sea of third-rail electrification, would make an infill third-rail solution cheaper and more versatile for enable for example semi-fast Thameslinks out of East Croydon to Guildford and maybe even Reading for orbital integration and sustained footfall and spend. Alas, apparently the Government has stipulated "no more third rail electrification, only 25kv wires" and given most in the south are not, creates more expense than warrants the investment. Result? Stagnation, diesel operations and the line not being able to play as vital a role as it may lend itself to. Other examples abound, East Croydon-Uckfield is another. ERTA would wish to champion flexibility, versatility and common sense.

Thank you for your interest and I very much hope you will stay with us in 2023. May I wish everyone a happy New Year!

* (from above): The ERTA Newsletter pdf emailed version is free and to request a copy, send requests to richard.erta@gmail.com - open your horizons with us!

https://ertarail.co.uk/

Better and more rail links for Guildford, Surrey to and from the rest of the railway network.

Transport choices and responsibilities for outcomes rests with the people, places, powers and authorities associated with Guildford and wider contextual areas and dithering can mean more of the same but with worsening congestion and association issues including pollution and emissions in a context of inevitable outcomes of growth and development.

 
ERTA is of a view:
Ø    Tunnelling the A3 under Guildford is an expensive and ludicrous idea which will mean exacerbated current issues Guildford has. It does not remove traffic from busy roads, rather gives a green light for a whole lot more!
Ø    If we are serious about cutting congestion, making public transport as robust, comprehensive, affordable and accessible the priority should be better appreciated and worked at incrementally. That means saving land for railway station expansion of platform capacity, not developing locking-in current form, whilst saying “there’s no more capacity”!
Ø    Rebuild Guildford-Horsham-Shoreham with a new curves and direct linkages, would inform a Reading-Guildford-Brighton rail corridor, giving choice to local and regional road and rail (‘not via London for everything!) options, currently not with us and bring Cranleigh area back onto the rail networks along with Southwater. Yes, it needs studying, yes it requires a determine and ‘can-do’ approach to obstacles, yes, cycleways and footpaths can be accommodated with an expanded ‘green’ corridor and select redirection. Live and let live!
Ø    Build a new rail link direct from Guildford-Woking for Wisley/RHA), Heathrow, Old Oak Common Interchange and beyond to physically link with the Chiltern Lines for Banbury, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes.
Ø    Electrify Third Rail (in a sea of third rail electrified lines) the North Downs Line which would enable Thameslink Trains to reach Guildford (semi-fast) to/from places like Croydon, South London networks and the full-monte Thameslink Network. This would inform sustainable footfall and spend to Guildford Centre and could be extended on to Reading for the penultimate London orbital link up and require no change of train at Redhill – a seamless journey. Thameslink serves Luton and Gatwick Airport, Central London, Eurostar at St Pancras as well as Bedford, Stevenage and Cambridge for example. The North Downs Line has been in Cinderella Status for too long, it needs upgrading and investment and rules saying “no third-rail electrification” should be challenged as illogical and short-sighted.

Brighton Main Line and local-regional roads are reaching capacity. Growth and development without better rail infrastructure, capacity and services, will only exacerbate that. Please give ERTA your support, join as a member and offer to provide assistance with ushering towards these laudable goals being realised sometime soon. You can make a difference today!

Your feedback and support would be welcome. It is all voluntary btw. Send to richard.erta@gmail.com

A diagram (early peek!) to be worked up is:

Retail Park New Station on Bedford-Bletchley Railway needs positively revisiting with a 'can do' attitude.

 

Photo Above: Part of the Retail Park at Kempston, Bedford circa 2020. Bedford-Bletchley Rail Link Needs Vision, Faith and Hope beyond just East-West Rail Big Brother approaches!

A study some 22 years ago (Steer, Davis, Gleave) indicated that were a halt station to be erected on the Bedford-Bletchley Railway with a connecting footbridge between the Retail Park (which has greatly expanded to 3 larger sites over the decades), it would bring some 100 extra off-peak passengers per day. The delay would be all but 5 minutes max to the 40-minute end-to-end shuttle service. ERTA sees this as a key investment and the railways would significantly benefit as a result. However, the silence on it is noticeable. A planning application was put into Bedford Borough circa 2006 but it floundered on a handful of NIMBY objections. Meanwhile the 7-day open Retail Park is often short of land capacity for more parking, the car parks are full from opening to closing and queues from the entrance to Ampthill Road/A6 spiral to inform more congestion to other lanes and connecting roads as well. Kempston has some 18, 000 plus population, South Bedford over 36, 000. The local line will be a recipient of Oxford-Bedford east-west rail semi fast services soon. ERTA wants these positive things, but also wants the local shuttle all stopper service retained and invested in too. Local politicians say they have no money but strangely can entertain multiple road schemes, whilst insisting they can only cater for one rail scheme per time. Please give us your support to get something done. Email the local MP for Bedford and Kempston and ask him to look into the matter: office@mohammadyasin.org 01234 346525, Third Floor Front, Clifton House, 4a Goldington Road, Bedford MK40 3NF Better public transport gives more options! Meanwhile our Retail Park Station Report can be perused as a colour pdf via our webpage: https://ertarail.co.uk/publicity/ Please scroll down. If you want to support or know more, please email richard.erta@gmail.com and tap into our meetings.

Report - pdf colour - below free by email c/o richard.erta@gmail.com