Home nations connectivity.

Home nations connectivity seen as tool to strengthen the Union

consequence of Brexit and of calls for devolution to develop into full independence has prompted a UK Government strategy to improve transport links, with the intention for them to act as a unifying force in strengthening the economic performance of the home nations.

As a first step, a Union Connectivity Review was announced by the Government in June 2020, followed by the terms of reference in October and a call for evidence in November 2020.

There were 144 responses from a wide range of stakeholders, and although all transport modes are covered, Network Rail Chairman Sir Peter Hendy CBE was appointed to assess the submissions and produce an early interim report which was published on March 10.

With departure from the EU, the UK will no longer be part of the high-level TransEuropean Transport Network (TEN-T), which was designed to improve connectivity by investing in transport systems.

In the UK, the route between Felixstowe and Holyhead (to serve Cork, Dublin and Belfast) was identified to act as a freight land bridge between the Continent and Ireland.

This was never implemented, as rail freight movements to Holyhead ceased in 1991 and were replaced by Liverpool as an alternative port, with Southampton also added to the network. From the Channel Tunnel, a TEN-T route was designated between the South Coast and Glasgow/Edinburgh.

The question asked now is whether a substitute Trans Union Network should be developed by the UK with similar objectives. This has led to the proposal that a fixed link be built between South West Scotland and Northern Ireland, either in the form of a bridge or tunnel.

A tunnel is currently favoured because poor weather conditions in the Irish Sea would cause a bridge to be unusable for lengthy periods. And if built, how it is used might be very different from the Channel Tunnel. The time taken for construction would mean that by the time it came into use, developments in electric cars and hybrid lorries would mean reduced amounts of exhaust fumes that currently necessitate vehicles making the Channel Tunnel journey via shuttle trains.

For the tunnel to have a rail capability for through working, there are some hefty impediments. The first is that there is no railway line linking Stranraer with the West

Coast Main Line, as a result of the past closure of the route from Dumfries. The second is the use of a 5ft 3in gauge throughout Ireland, which would prevent through trains that use the standard gauge in Britain.

The West Coast and East Coast main lines form the Anglo-Scottish rail arteries, and connectivity will be improved as journey times are reduced once HS2 is commissioned. The question will be whether these two routes offer sufficient resilience to provide high levels of reliability and future capacity, given the constraints of mixed-traffic two-track railways.

That takes us to the prospects for reopening the full Waverley route between Carlisle and the existing Borders line terminus at Tweedbank. There is little local traffic potential to support a Strategic Business Case other than an extension to Hawick that would improve connectivity with Edinburgh. But beyond there, freight traffic enters into the equation because of the annual harvest from the Kielder forest, which is adjacent to the closed section of the line and produces 475,000 cubic metres of timber (c.330,000 tonnes) annually.

Recommendations for the route have not appeared because the Scottish Parliament has not engaged with the Union Connectivity Review - it regards rail as a devolved matter where decisions should not be made by the UK Parliament.

Connectivity between England and Wales is well developed using the South Wales Main Line, with access to London, the Thames Valley, Midlands and the Bristol conurbation. There is road congestion using the M4 motorway, particularly in the Newport area where a new motorway to by-pass the busiest section was recently rejected by the Welsh Government.

As an alternative, there is greater emphasis on providing a number of new local stations in the area, to make rail more attractive for local journeys - attracting road users and lessening congestion.

In contrast, the North Wales coastal main line is a picture of neglect. The route was originally built to enable faster government communications between London and Dublin, but after opening it rapidly developed to serve the seaside resorts of the Victorian era. This seasonal traffic reached its height in the immediate post-war period, with the opening of a number of holiday camps, but declined as a result of increasing car ownership and the availability of package holidays to sunshine destinations.

As traffic reduced, the train service stagnated and did not cater for travel to work journeys. It is not possible to commute to access highervalue jobs in north west England, and the coastal towns have suffered from deprivation as a result of poor job opportunities.

Stakeholders were able to provide convincing evidence to the Union Connectivity Review team that this was an opportunity to make radical change that would improve journey opportunities, by providing an upgraded 100mph route between Crewe and Holyhead with reduced signalling headways to increase service frequency.

In addition to the coastal route, the need to upgrade the line between Chester and Warrington (giving access to Liverpool and its airport by using the recently reopened Halton Curve and to Manchester via the Chat Moss route) was emphasised.

Also included is the largely forgotten MidCheshire Line (the former Cheshire Lines Committee route between Chester Northgate and Manchester Central), where services are now routed from Chester via Mickle Trafford Junction to Manchester Piccadilly.

The rail congestion issues in central Manchester, where the demand for paths over the Castlefield Corridor cannot be accommodated, has prompted a proposal to provide a new semi-fast service using the MidCheshire Line to remove trains running from North Wales from the Castlefield Corridor. But the big opportunity is a line upgrade that includes a connection to Manchester Airport, which is three miles from Mobberley and is part of the airport’s surface plan.

The UCR Interim Report has given the green light to providing the infrastructure capability to create a North Wales Express service, to improve connectivity with employment centres in north west England with the aim of combating the economic decline that has taken place in the coastal towns served by the railway.

“As traffic reduced, the train service stagnated and did not cater for travel to work journeys.”