The transformation of the North
DAVID HOGGARTH, Director of Rail North, talks to STEVE BROADBENT about the recently released Long Term Rail Strategy for the region
Atotal revolution of the North of England’s railways is under way. Not as speedily as was originally hoped, and without some of the electrification originally announced, but radical change is nevertheless on the way. Transport for the North’s Long Term Rail
Strategy (LTRS), published for consultation as part of the Strategic Transport Plan on January 16 ( RAIL 845) details firm ambitions for the next 20 years and more.
In Britain and across Europe, factories are building several hundred carriages that will be deployed across the North by the end of next year (see panel, page 76), leading to major improvements in service frequency, reliability and passenger experience. Key infrastructure projects are also progressing, albeit a few of them waiting for Government approval.
The planned improvements to services and facilities over the next five years or so are well charted. And both the High Speed 2 lines to Leeds and Manchester and Northern Powerhouse Rail (originally HS3) are due to be completed in 15 to 20 years’ time.
But what of the years in between - from 2023 to 2032, for example?
“The current challenges are about plugging the biggest gaps in service quality and capacity,” says David Hoggarth, director of Rail North.
“Once they are in place, that gives us the chance to spread the benefits. And unlike previous strategies, the new one lays considerable emphasis on the railway working well for communities.”
So, the focus can move away from peak-time commuting, and on to tourism, the sevenday and evening economies, and linking communities better - both with each other, and with their railway. Hoggarth says this will provide “a much broader service to passengers, and the analysis we have done shows that after the current round of investment that’s where the major gaps in service provision will be”.
While tourism is “massively important for the North”, Hoggarth notes that this will be the first time that the railway has recognised the value of the industry to the greater wellbeing of the region.
Tourism in this context can include, for example, visits to seaside resorts, to any of the North’s five national parks, or to cities for culture or entertainment. Tourists from overseas are also vital to the national economy, so good rail links to airports (in particular Manchester Airport) are also important.
However, all new services and capital investment have to be justified by a robust business case. Can these benefits to communities be used when making the case for radical change?
“That’s the intention,” says Hoggarth. “It’s the sort of topic that links in well with the growth areas and which enables the North to work better. It’s a positive shift from where we were before.”
The other major theme of the LTRS is “making the existing network of services work better and more efficiently. There is a particular emphasis on journey times and making rail more competitive”. Thus the strategy includes specific targets for average speeds (see panel, below).
“Outside of the peak times, rail is not competing as well as it should,” continues Hoggarth.
With more and faster rail services planned, significant improvements to track and
Unlike previous strategies, the new one lays considerable emphasis on the railway working well for communities. David Hoggarth, Director, Rail North
There may be some areas where it’s entirely appropriate to look at reopenings, but we want to be evidence-led, so they will only happen where there is a real need, and can deliver value for money. David Hoggarth, Director, Rail North
signalling will be required. Single-line tracks may need to be doubled in places, two tracks made four, or passing loops installed. An innovation here is that when Network Rail comes to renew track, consideration will be given to upgrading the line at the same time, to provide additional benefits.
Says Hoggarth: “If we are to realise the ambition, in due course we will need to invest in more track, and separate out some of the fast trains from the stopping services.” HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail and the TransPennine Route Upgrade will help in this aim.
Hoggarth adds that linkages are another aspect to be examined: “Through journeys are very important for tourism, and the target is to have a greater range of through services, especially when people are travelling for leisure. The current pattern has developed historically, so this is an opportunity to look closely at the network and make sure we are linking the right places to each other, whether for business or leisure.”
As an example of what is already being achieved, later this year there will be through trains from Leeds and Bradford to Chester and Southport, while major ‘connectivity gaps’ have been identified (see panel, below). Transport for the North’s Strategic Transport
Plan, launched together with the LTRS, identifies seven key transport corridors across the region, such as linking the advanced manufacturing centres around Sheffield with the energy sector businesses in the North West of England.
Comments made in November 2017 by Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling led to speculation as to which long-closed railways could be reopened. The LTRS makes no specific mention of any scheme, but does allude to four lines (see panel, below left).
“As part of our strategy they are potential ways of delivering what we need, particularly in relation to TfN’s strategic transport corridors,” says Hoggarth.
“There may be some areas where it’s entirely appropriate to look at reopenings, but we want to be evidence-led, so they will only happen where there is a real need, and can deliver value for money.”
The strategy is radical, and Hoggarth emphasises that both it and the work TfN is currently undertaking is being done collaboratively with the rail industry, train operators (the strategy has a particular emphasis on freight) and the Department for Transport. Working jointly with TfN, Network Rail is developing a North of England Route Study, which will emerge as several modules. The LTRS will develop into a series of delivery plans, which in some cases will be the appropriate Route Study module.
Of course, such long-term strategies and plans require long-term political and financial commitment, and TfN currently does not have the powers to raise its own funds. But what it does have is the statutory duty to advise government of the North’s requirements.
Over the next 30 years, TfN’s projects across all modes will cost in the region of £ 60 billion to £ 70bn, and it will be “seeking to influence the railway’s Control Period 7” (2024-29), with some reduced journey time targets coming from the renewals and maintenance budgets (on which activity there is now increased emphasis). Further service improvements could come in the next Northern and TransPennine Express franchise agreements, in the 2023-25 timeframe.
However, the Control Period system, coupled to changes of governments or of policy, leads to a stop-start effect on project approvals and funding. TfN would like to see a much smoother flow of funds into projects:
“It will be much better for TfN, and also for Network Rail, if infrastructure projects can be taken forward against an agreed programme as their business cases are developed, enabling TfN to create a pipeline of infrastructure projects and rail service improvements,” Hoggarth tells
The challenges these and the other aspects of the LTRS will pose to the railway industry and successive governments will be huge. But perhaps for the first time the region’s railway has an ambitious long-term focus, collaboratively developed in conjunction with industry and local and national government.
On April 1 2018, Transport for the North becomes a statutory body, and from that date Rail North and its operations will merge with TfN. The Rail North Partnership, which currently looks after the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises, will retain its name and current powers. Also from April 1, TfN will have powers to fund organisations to deliver transport projects, and to be consulted on rail franchises, among other roles.