Modern Railways – April 2019

http://www.modern-railways.com April 2019 Modern Railways 17

News Front

EBBW VALE FEASIBILITY STUDY REOPENED

WELSH ECONOMY and Transport

Minister Ken Skates has reopened

the feasibility study into increasing

the frequency of trains on the

Ebbw Vale line. The study, due to be

completed by early summer, will look

at the process needed to bring four

trains per hour to the line by 2024

as part of the South Wales Metro.

Services began on the reopened

Ebbw Vale line in February 2008, with

the line used by an hourly service

to Cardiff. Ambitions to provide a

second hourly service to Newport

formed a second phase, along with

extension to Ebbw Vale Town (which

opened in 2015) and reopening of

the branch from Aberbeeg Junction

to Abertillery. However, the Welsh

Government opted to pause and

review the frequency enhancement

work as costs escalated. The study

will now see Network Rail re-examine

the case following work with the

Welsh Government to reduce costs.

Meanwhile, the Cardiff Capital

Region City Deal has identified a

proposed £50 million programme of

local transport schemes to support

the implementation of the South

Wales Metro. Included in this is the

creation of a rail link from Aberbeeg to

Abertillery, with a Park and Ride site for

100 vehicles.

Garrandale to sponsor Modern Railways RVE

GARRANDALE HAS been

confirmed as a sponsor for Modern

Railways RVE 2019.

The Derby-based company,

which manufacturers and maintains

carriage wash systems, fuelling

stations, control emission toilet,

lubricating and monitoring systems,

exhibited at RVE for the first time

in 2018. After a successful debut,

the company is going one better

in 2019 and has signed up as a

Silver Sponsor for the show.

A range of sponsorship packages

for Modern Railways RVE are

available to suit all budgets. Silver

sponsorship means Garrandale

will benefit from an enhanced

presence on the Modern Railways

RVE website, which will shortly be

relaunched with a new layout and

look, as well as within the Show

Guide and at the event on 3 October.

Meanwhile, further to our update

last month, work continues behind

the scenes ready for RVE Meet The

Buyer to launch in the spring. Rail

Forum Midlands is still bringing

together the buyers for this year’s

show, while the Department for

International Trade is collating

applications to bring an international

flavour to this successful element

of Modern Railways RVE. More

details will also be announced

soon about new benefits offered

to exhibitors signing up for a stand

at Modern Railways RVE, including

enhanced opportunities to meet

with the buyers at the show.

For further details about

promoting your company at

Modern Railways RVE 2019,

please e-mail James Farrell at

[email protected].

Busy show: this was the scene at RVE 2018.

Service intensification study: this is

Ebbw Vale Town. Philip Sherratt

WILLIAMS: FRANCHISING NO LONGER DELIVERING

FRANCHISING ‘CANNOT continue

in the way it is today’ and is ‘no longer

delivering clear benefits for either

taxpayers or farepayers’, according to

Rail Review chair Keith Williams.

Mr Williams made the comments in

the annual George Bradshaw address

on 26 February. The former British

Airways chief executive was appointed

to lead the rail review by Transport

Secretary Chris Grayling in September,

and described it as ‘the biggest review

of the railway for generations’.

In his address Mr Williams said

the industry is ‘at a crucial juncture

where public trust crosses the

industry’s ability to deal with

change’ and that the railway needs

to put passengers at its heart.

Despite the industry’s successes,

he highlighted the ‘harsh realities’

of poor performance, fare hikes,

disruptive industrial action and the

failures to deliver key infrastructure

on time or to budget, which ‘have

contributed to a dismal few years

for the railway’. He suggested the

rail industry has lost sight of its

customers – passengers and freight –

and therefore lost public trust.

Discussing franchising, Mr Williams

said that while the model has helped

drive growth since the 1990s the

needs of passengers have changed

and ‘many of the basic elements of

our rail system serving those needs

has not kept pace’ while ‘too often

the current system incentivises

short term behaviours and inhibits

reform’. He also noted the inability

to deliver on innovation at the

same time as the reputational risk

for franchises has increased.

Mr Williams also stated that

the current system ‘does not

have the structure and clarity of

accountability it needs to properly

deliver’, highlighting a frustration

within the industry ‘that rules

and regulations are holding back

innovation and problem solving’.

He said his team would ‘suggest the

most practical measures to fix the

system’ but that this would have to

be taken in the context of creating

clear accountabilities. Mr Williams

noted the ‘very clear commitment’

from Transport Secretary Chris

Grayling and the Department for

Transport ‘to encourage myself,

the expert panel and my team to

bring in root and branch change’.

Going forward, Mr Williams said his

team would continue its extensive

engagement with the industry,

passengers and business, and a

further call for evidence was to follow

in March. He noted the outcomes

of the review will mean accepting

trade-offs, such as between capacity

and reliability, between more services

and resilience or between cost and

quality, and would also take time to

implement. A Government White

Paper setting out these outcomes is

due to be published in the autumn.

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