International & UK Railway News Sunday 5th May 2013

ATOC

Six million passenger journeys expected over bank holiday weekend


Six million passenger journeys are expected to be made by train over the bank holiday weekend with many expected to head towards the UK’s race courses, sporting fixtures and music festivals taking place around the country.

Across the network as a whole, bank holidays tend to be quieter than a normal weekend but certain parts of the railways see an increase in passenger numbers.
Events expected to attract significant numbers of people travelling by train this weekend are horse racing meetings taking place at Windsor, Warwick and Newmarket as well as some of the year’s first music festivals.

With around a third fewer buses expected to run this May bank holiday than compared with the same period last year, the vast majority of people travelling by train this bank holiday should be unaffected by disruption because of improvement works.

Engineers from Network Rail, the company that manages the track and signalling, will be working round the clock to lay new track, upgrade signalling, repair bridges and improve stations to help deliver a better railway for passengers.

Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) said: “Across the network as a whole, bank holidays tend to be quieter than normal on the railways. But we’re still expecting millions of passengers to get out and about visiting friends and family, travelling to festivals or heading to sporting events.

“The vast majority of people taking the train should experience no disruption because of improvement works taking place. Millions of pounds are spent all year round by train companies and Network Rail to improve the network, to ensure that even more trains arrive on time and even more passengers are happy with their service.”

"Nine out of ten trains arrive without delay": train companies comment on Period 1 performance figures

Responding to the latest rail performance figures covering 01 April to 27 April 2013, a spokesperson for the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) said:

“These figures show that, on average, more than nine out of ten trains arrive without delay, helping the vast majority of passengers reach their destinations as planned.

“Punctuality is vitally important to passengers and train companies and that’s why we will continue to work closely with the rest of the industry to drive improvements to services.”




Freight on Rail

Biomass bandwagon must not be missed

Biomass, which offers the UK a low carbon renewable fuel, should be an important part of the UK’s energy mix. In fact the use of biomass, which is intended to be a lower carbon renewable fuel, could ameliorate our energy problems, especially in the short to medium term as it can be brought on stream faster than nuclear or wind power.

Rail, as a low carbon energy efficient mode should have a key role in supplying biomass to the power stations. However currently, the Office of Rail Regulation is proposing to increase rail freight charges on this traffic which could result in investors failing to commit to the market. Biomass is an emerging market and needs Government support if it is to expand and become a viable alternative to coal which is expected to diminish sharply between now and 2020. The Carbon Floor Price (an escalating carbon tax) and Industrial Emissions Directive, which takes effect from 2016, imposes further restrictions as part of the decarbonising the energy sector and few coal-fired sites are expected to extend their working lives much beyond the early 2020’s.

However, the Government needs a joined approach to achieve this aim as biomass can only be part of the UK’s low carbon renewable energy solution as long as it is supported by Government policy across the different departments. Without investment, biomass generation and rail freight will fail. High rail transportation charges now before a market has had time to develop could undermine biomass generation and the health of the rail freight industry. At the moment the ORR proposed increases to freight charges are not aligned with Government work on renewable obligations which could leave a funding gap.

The proposed increased freight access charges for biomass which is under consideration now after a public consultation appears to be inconsistent with the Government biomass energy policy. The Energy Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament, is designed to permit biomass generation to be treated as renewable and therefore eligible for support in the form of Renewable Obligation Certificates. Therefore if biomass is supported by the Government, it can be used to replace coal fired power stations; biomass can also substitute coal traffic which currently accounts for around a third of rail traffic. Loss of this potential traffic will have serious impacts across all sectors. This will have knock-on effects on other parts of rail freight, for example locomotive use, maintenance and terminal costs across other commodities which could render other traffic unviable.

This lack of joined up approach to energy policy could have a serious impact on energy supplies and jobs and investment including rail jobs. From a rail side that would mean lost investment in ports, terminals, wagons etc, and worse, biomass would not provide a substitute traffic for coal for rail operators and we would expect job losses and possibly market exits. In order to use biomass considerable investment will be needed to:-

• Convert power stations
• Build supply chains involving rail, ports and pellitising plans abroad
• Provide suitable storage and handling capacity both at ports and power stations
• Convert rail wagons in Britain.

We believe that the ORR’s proposals to increase freight charges contravenes the Government’s policy to encourage the conversion of existing coal-fired power stations. At the moment there is an inconsistent message from Government with its Regulator proposing increased transportation charges which could undermine an important source of energy for the UK. This negative approach towards biomass could also serve to make the UK more dependent on gas with the resulting loss of control over energy and security costs to the economy and society as a whole.

Rail Freight Group

National Planning Framework 3: Omission of rail freight is a strategic gap

Posted on: 30 April 2013 RFG has expressed its disappointment that the Scottish Government’s National Planning Framework 3, issued today (29 April 2013) as a consultation, makes little reference to the vital role of rail freight in Scotland’s transport infrastructure.

Although the Framework discusses the role of sea freight, the strategic importance of rail freight and of the key hubs at Coatbridge, Grangemouth and Mossend is entirely neglected in the report. This is particularly surprising, as Transport Scotland have today reaffirmed their support for the sector by awarding a number of grants in support of rail freight flows.

David Spaven, RFG’s Scottish Representative, said: "RFG will be arguing strongly for proper recognition of the role that rail freight, and the key strategic hubs play in the efficient delivery of our imports and exports. This is vital to the Scottish economy, and deserves full inclusion in the Planning Framework."

The Scottish Government’s consultation can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/planning/NPF3-SPP-Review.



www.networkrail.co.uk

Engineering work and service alterations

Check before you travel

May 2013 bank holidays - service alterations

If you are travelling by train over either of the May bank holiday weekends:

• Saturday 4 - Monday 6 May 2013
• Saturday 25 - Monday 27 May 2013

please check before you travel.
See the planned service alterations at National Rail Enquiries.

Engineering works

Get details of routes affected by engineering work at National Rail Enquiries:
Current service disruptions
Future engineering works
Or check with your train company.

Holidays, events and festivals

Train times may be altered to accommodate increases in demand during sporting events, music festivals and other large scale public events.
For details visit National Rail Enquiries holidays and events.

Why do engineering works over bank holidays?

We do maintenance and upgrade work every night of the year. The few hours access to the track that our teams get is not enough to complete larger scale work such as:

• Replacing bridges
• Changing track layouts
• Upgrading signalling systems

We usually have to close a section of the track for 24 hours or more to carry out this work. Much of this is scheduled for public holidays because the railway is relatively quiet for a few days and the inevitable disruption affects fewer people.
The improvements that we are making allow more trains to run, at higher speeds and also improves the reliability of the rail network, reducing delays.
For further information, see our page on maintenance and engineering work.

• © Network Rail