(UK) Network Rail
Weekend passengers asked to leave more time for their journeys at Manchester Piccadilly
Passengers travelling from Manchester Piccadilly at weekends are being asked to allow extra time for their journeys and take extra care on the station due to the increase in passengers using the station over the Christmas period.
Network Rail will be implementing crowd control measures at the station at weekends in the run-up to Christmas to prevent overcrowding on the concourse. At busy times, a queuing system will be in place for local services throughout the north west, with the busiest period expected to be from 4pm until the end of service on Saturdays.
Gavin Sutcliffe, Network Rail station manager, said: “Passengers should allow extra time to catch their train from Piccadilly over the next few weekends while we manage the huge increase in passengers using the station.
“The safety of passengers is our top priority. I’d like to thank everyone in advance for their patience and understanding while we implement these crowd control measures which are designed to keep passengers moving safely.”
Paul Watson, operatons director of First TransPennine Express added; "On the run up to Christmas, train services into Manchester are expected to be very busy and it is important that customers allow extra time when making their journey.
"Safety is of the upmost importance to us and we would like to advise customers to take extra care when travelling out and about. Extra members of staff will be on hand to help customers at Manchester Piccadilly Station over the next few busy weekends.”
"Safety is of the upmost importance to us and we would like to advise customers to take extra care when travelling out and about. Extra members of staff will be on hand to help customers at Manchester Piccadilly Station over the next few busy weekends.”
“We'd like to thank customers for their cooperation and understanding"
Weekend passengers asked to leave more time for their journeys at New Street
From today (Friday December 6) Network Rail will be implementing crowd control measures at the station over weekends to prevent overcrowding on the platforms. At busy times, passengers may be asked to wait a short while on the station concourse to allow platforms to clear.
Steve Lewis, Network Rail station manager said: “We would urge passengers to allow extra time to catch their train from New Street over the next few weekends while we manage the huge increase in passengers using the station.
“The safety of passengers is our priority and last Friday we saw nearly 200,000 passengers use the station, a 75,000 increase on a typical day. We would appreciate their patience while we implement these crowd control measures which are there for the safety of all passengers using the station.”
Over the next three Friday nights and weekends up until Christmas, crowd control measures will be in place at New Street station at the following times:
Friday 1500-2300
Saturday 0900-2300
Sunday 1100-2300
Chief Inspector Kevin Marshall, British Transport Police (BTP) Sector Commander for the West Midlands, added:
“BTP has a number of ongoing operations and patrol strategies in and around Birmingham New Street railway station to assist our partners at Network Rail and the Train Operating Companies in the run up to the Festive period, which is traditionally an extremely busy time for the rail network.
“Safer Travel Team officer are patrolling the German Market and officers are carrying out late-night train patrols, particularly on routes towards the East Midlands.
“We have additional officers on duty in order to provide visibility and reassurance for passengers and rail staff and we will work with industry colleagues to support their crowd management operation at Birmingham New Street station.
“I would also urge passengers to plan their journeys home carefully and allow some extra time as it might take slightly longer to navigate your way through the busy station and onto platforms and trains during the busy period.
“Clearly, we want people using the rail network at this time of the year to enjoy themselves but it is also important to drink responsibly and don't put yourself in a position where you might cause annoyance to others or become a victim of crime yourself.”
Record investment in Britain's railway - half year results
New platforms, new lifts, new information systems, new concourses, new footbridges, new track. All have featured as record investment has been ploughed into Britain's railways over the past six months.
Half year results for the six months to 30 September 2013 show that £2.74bn, some £15m per day, was invested in improving and building a bigger, better railway - 33 per cent up on the same period last year and 53 per cent higher than just four years ago.
“The railway continues to experience tremendous growth and we are responding to that demand through the biggest sustained investment programme since Victorian times.
With a million more trains and half a billion more passengers than 10 years ago our railways are all but full. We are squeezing all we can out of the existing network and new railway lines such as HS2, must be built to deliver the step-change in capacity that Britain’s vital rail arteries need.”
With a million more trains and half a billion more passengers than 10 years ago our railways are all but full. We are squeezing all we can out of the existing network and new railway lines such as HS2, must be built to deliver the step-change in capacity that Britain’s vital rail arteries need.”
Patrick Butcher, group finance director, Network Rail
Key projects
Over the past six months some significant investment milestones have been reached, including:
- King's Cross: New, bigger, better facilities at King’s Cross as the £550m renovation and rebuilding nears completion providing a magnificent gateway to the north and a concourse three times the size of the old
- Reading station: The new concourse at Reading station, part of the ongoing £850m project to unblock one of Britain's worst railway bottlenecks
- North West electrification: A more reliable and affordable railway for the people of Manchester, Liverpool and the North West as we continue with the £400m project to electrify railway in the region
- Nottingham: More reliable and faster services delivered with the successful completion of the £100m resignalling and modernisation of Nottingham and its approaches
- Hitchin flyover: A major bottleneck on the East Coast Main Line has been removed with the completion of the £47m Hitchin flyover
- Midland Main Line: Faster journeys for passengers along the Midland Main Line connecting Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby and other towns and cities to London as a result of a £70m improvement programme
- Shrewsbury and Wrexham: Completion of the £10m scheme to modernise the railway between Shrewsbury and Wrexham
Smaller projects
As well as the major milestones, we've completed over 5,000 other projects over the last four and a half years (since the start of our current funding period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2014). These smaller, but just as important projects aimed at making incremental improvements to the railway for the benefit of passengers, and have seen:- Over 2,000 miles of track renewed
- Improvements at over 500 stations across the country
- Almost 200 lifts installed at stations
- Over 140 platforms lengthened across London and the South East
“We continue to invest record amounts to deliver a bigger, better railway for passengers and businesses across Britain. We are also driving down the cost of running Britain’s railway to help make it more affordable in the years ahead.
Train performance is still at high levels by historical standards, but has fallen behind our targets as we struggle to get more and more out of an ever overloaded network.”
Train performance is still at high levels by historical standards, but has fallen behind our targets as we struggle to get more and more out of an ever overloaded network.”
Patrick Butcher, group finance director, Network Rail
Half-year results
- Revenue remained static at £3.267bn (£3.167bn for same period 2012)
- Operating profit remained static at £1.199bn (£1.227bn last year)
- Profit after tax was £870m (£563m last year - increase owing to tax treatment and derivative gains)
- Net debt stands at £30.611bn (slightly up from £30.358bn at year end)
- Value of railway assets increase to £47.933bn (up from £46.411bn at year end
Industry publishes market studies for the next 30 years
Where will Britain’s railways be in 30 years time? The first steps on the way to finding the answers have been published in the form of four market studies. These form part of the industry’s long term planning process created with extensive and inclusive industry engagement, including through Rail Delivery Group.
Divided into four market sectors: London and south east, regional urban, long distance and freight; the documents are the first in a new style of research designed to look 10 to 30 years into the future.
More people travel on the railway today than ever before and demand for passenger and freight services is high and is expected to rise significantly in the future. By assessing how demand is likely to change, they will help form the basis of planning where rail travel will go in Control Period 6 (2019-24) and beyond. They also determine what kind of services will be needed to achieve three important outputs: enabling economic growth, reducing carbon and the transport sector’s impact on the environment, and finally improving the quality of life for communities and individuals.
Network Rail’s group strategy director, Paul Plummer, said: “The investment decisions we make today will last for generations and it is vital that we base them on solid groundwork. These market studies have been developed in consultation with rail industry partners and wider stakeholders and they are the crucial first stage towards planning the future for the railway.
“The next stage will be the creation of a series of route studies, which will develop choices to deliver the conditional outputs across the four markets in each of Network Rail’s devolved routes, and to test them against our funders’ appraisal criteria. I look forward to continuing to work with the rail industry on the next stage of the long term planning process.”
Michael Roberts, Director General of Rail Delivery Group, said: “It is a mark of the industry’s success that demand on Britain’s railway continues to rise, and all parts of the sector are focused on providing growing numbers of customers with the best possible services. If we are to meet that demand while ensuring we have a railway fit for the 21st century – one that delivers for passengers, businesses and taxpayers – it is crucial that the industry plans ahead.
“These studies provide a solid foundation on which we can build a more detailed understanding of how and where passenger and freight demand will change in coming decades, helping us ensure that taxpayers’ and passengers’ money is invested as efficiently as possible.”
While the market studies provide predicted demand figures and the kind of services needed to deal with that demand, they do not suggest infrastructure improvements. Those will form part of the next stage.
Each market study prediction is set against potential growth or decline scenarios for the national economy.
Some highlights of the studies are:
London and south east: The rail market in London and the South East is dominated by demand for travel into central London, in which public transport predominates with a 90 per cent market share. Roughly half of the trips into central London involve use of National Rail, delivering 575,000 people into the centre each day. Historically, the market for central London commuting has grown at an average rate of 1.5 – 2 per cent annually but there is a prediction of 1.3 per cent in the peaks going forward. Growth in the off peak – is steady at four per cent and predicted to continue at that level.
* Long distance: At present around 150m long distance journeys are made by rail annually. This suggests a 10 per cent rail mode share overall, although rail dominates the market for travel between many large cities (such as Leeds-London). In the case of those cities, demand is predicted to rise between 108 and 145 per cent by 2043 if the UK economy grows, or by 40-50 per cent if it struggles.
* Regional urban: Unlike commuting into London, very few people are willing to commute into regional urban centres if the generalised journey time is greater than 60 minutes. Improvements to generalised journey times within this 20-60 minute range will have a large impact where both the number of people in the population catchment of the origin station and the number of jobs in the catchment of the destination station are high. The study predicts a growth of up to 114 per cent in the Manchester commuter market by 2043 if the economy booms, or between up to 67 per cent if not.
* Freight: Total freight traffic, in terms of tonne kilometres moved, is forecast to increase at an average of 2.9 per cent per annum through to the year 2043, implying that the size of the market more than doubles over this period. This particularly reflects expected growth in the intermodal and biomass sectors.
To download the market studies please go to: www.networkrail.co.uk/Long-Term-Planning-Process/
More people travel on the railway today than ever before and demand for passenger and freight services is high and is expected to rise significantly in the future. By assessing how demand is likely to change, they will help form the basis of planning where rail travel will go in Control Period 6 (2019-24) and beyond. They also determine what kind of services will be needed to achieve three important outputs: enabling economic growth, reducing carbon and the transport sector’s impact on the environment, and finally improving the quality of life for communities and individuals.
Network Rail’s group strategy director, Paul Plummer, said: “The investment decisions we make today will last for generations and it is vital that we base them on solid groundwork. These market studies have been developed in consultation with rail industry partners and wider stakeholders and they are the crucial first stage towards planning the future for the railway.
“The next stage will be the creation of a series of route studies, which will develop choices to deliver the conditional outputs across the four markets in each of Network Rail’s devolved routes, and to test them against our funders’ appraisal criteria. I look forward to continuing to work with the rail industry on the next stage of the long term planning process.”
Michael Roberts, Director General of Rail Delivery Group, said: “It is a mark of the industry’s success that demand on Britain’s railway continues to rise, and all parts of the sector are focused on providing growing numbers of customers with the best possible services. If we are to meet that demand while ensuring we have a railway fit for the 21st century – one that delivers for passengers, businesses and taxpayers – it is crucial that the industry plans ahead.
“These studies provide a solid foundation on which we can build a more detailed understanding of how and where passenger and freight demand will change in coming decades, helping us ensure that taxpayers’ and passengers’ money is invested as efficiently as possible.”
While the market studies provide predicted demand figures and the kind of services needed to deal with that demand, they do not suggest infrastructure improvements. Those will form part of the next stage.
Each market study prediction is set against potential growth or decline scenarios for the national economy.
Some highlights of the studies are:
London and south east: The rail market in London and the South East is dominated by demand for travel into central London, in which public transport predominates with a 90 per cent market share. Roughly half of the trips into central London involve use of National Rail, delivering 575,000 people into the centre each day. Historically, the market for central London commuting has grown at an average rate of 1.5 – 2 per cent annually but there is a prediction of 1.3 per cent in the peaks going forward. Growth in the off peak – is steady at four per cent and predicted to continue at that level.
* Long distance: At present around 150m long distance journeys are made by rail annually. This suggests a 10 per cent rail mode share overall, although rail dominates the market for travel between many large cities (such as Leeds-London). In the case of those cities, demand is predicted to rise between 108 and 145 per cent by 2043 if the UK economy grows, or by 40-50 per cent if it struggles.
* Regional urban: Unlike commuting into London, very few people are willing to commute into regional urban centres if the generalised journey time is greater than 60 minutes. Improvements to generalised journey times within this 20-60 minute range will have a large impact where both the number of people in the population catchment of the origin station and the number of jobs in the catchment of the destination station are high. The study predicts a growth of up to 114 per cent in the Manchester commuter market by 2043 if the economy booms, or between up to 67 per cent if not.
* Freight: Total freight traffic, in terms of tonne kilometres moved, is forecast to increase at an average of 2.9 per cent per annum through to the year 2043, implying that the size of the market more than doubles over this period. This particularly reflects expected growth in the intermodal and biomass sectors.
To download the market studies please go to: www.networkrail.co.uk/Long-Term-Planning-Process/
Mainline Steam ScheduleRailway Herald - Railtours
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Please observe Network Rail photographic guidelines.Thank you.
Monday 9th December 2013
The Cathedrals Express (Steam Dreams)
- 45407 and 44871 Ipswich (pu) - Colchester (pu) - Shenfield (pu) - West Hampstead (pu) - Winchester (break) & return
Tuesday 10th December 2013
The Ship Of The Fens (UK Railtours)
- DBS Class 67 London Finsbury Park (pu) - Potters Bar (pu) - Welwyn Garden City (pu) - Stevenage (pu) - Ely and return
Wednesday 11th December 2013
The Christmas Sussex Belle (Railway Touring Company)
- steam tbc London Victoria (pu) - East Croydon - Gatwick - Haywards Heath - Lewes - Eastbourne
- WCR Diesel Eastbourne (pu) - Hastings
- steam tbc Hastings - Battle - Tunbridge Wells - Sevenoaks - Bat & Ball - Otford - Swanley - London Victoria
Thursday 12th December 2013
The York Yuletide Express (Railway Touring Company)
- 60009 Norwich (pu) - Wymondham (pu) - Attleborough (pu) - Thetford (pu) - Brandon (pu) - Ely (pu) - March (pu) - Peterborough (pu) - Grantham - Doncaster - York
- 60009 York - Doncaster - Grantham - Peterborough (sd) - March (sd) - Ely (sd)
- WCR Diesel Ely - Brandon (sd) - Thetford (sd) - Attleborough (sd) - Wymondham (sd) - Norwich
Christmas Carol Cathedrals Express (Steam Dreams)
- 45407 and 44871 Horsham (pu) - Dorking (pu) - Leatherhead (pu) - Cheam (pu) - Kensington Olympia (pu) - North London Line - Finsbury Park - Hitchin - Cambridge - Ely and return
Bluebell Victorian Christmas (UK Railtours)
- DBS Class 67 London Victoria - East Croydon - East Grinstead - Sheffield Park and return
Friday 13th December 2013
Christmas Lunch By Steam (VSOE)
- 35028 London Victoria (pu) - Staines - Woking - Guildford - Shalford - Reigate - Redhill - East Croydon - London Victoria
Saturday 14th December 2013
The Maybach Meanderer (Pathfinder Tours)
- DBS Class 67 Crewe (pu) - Stafford (pu) - Wolverhampton (pu) - Bescot
- D1015 Bescot - Birmingham New Street (pu) - Cheltenham Spa (pu) - Stroud - Sapperton - Kemble - Swindon - Didcot - Oxford - Bicester - Claydon - Quainton Road
- D1015 Quainton Road - Aylesbury - Princes Risborough - High Wycombe - Greenford - Acton - Willesden - Watford Junction - Milton Keynes Central - Rugby - Coventry - Birmingham International (sd) - Bescot
- DBS Class 67 Bescot - Wolverhampton (sd) - Stafford (sd) - Crewe
Additional Tour Information
Tame Bridge Parkway pickup/set down removed due to patching constraints.
Added 12:27 on Thursday 14th November 2013The Christmas White Rose (Railway Touring Company)
- 60009 London Kings Cross (pu) - Potters Bar (pu) - Stevenage (pu) - Peterborough (pu) - York (break/rev) & return
Edinburgh Christmas Statesman (Statesman Rail)
- WCRC Class 47 (Pair) Derby (pu) - Long Eaton (pu) - Langley Mill (pu) - Alfreton (pu) - Chesterfield (pu) - Sheffield (pu) - Meadowhall (pu) - Moorthorpe (pu) - Normanton (pu) - York - Newcastle - Edinburgh Waverley and return
The Cathedrals Express (Steam Dreams)
- 44871 or 45407 Southend Central (pu) - Upminster (pu) - West Hampstead (pu) - Chichester (break/rev) & return
Christmas White Rose (Vintage Trains)
- 5043 Tyseley Warwick Road (pu) - Coleshill Parkway (pu) - Tamworth High Level (pu) - Burton upon Trent (pu) - Derby (pu) - York (break/rev) & return
Edinburgh Christmas Special (West Coast Railway Company)
- WCRC Class 47 (Pair) Bridlington (pu) - Driffield (pu) - Beverley (pu) - Cottingham (pu) - Brough (pu) - Goole (pu) - Thorne North (pu) - Edinburgh Waverley (break/rev) & return
GySEV Flirts to enter service early - Railway Gazette
ICE-T fleet refurbishment underway - Railway Gazette
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