Could be stuck with a second-class rail service for years, fear northern leaders
CONCERNS OVER DECADE OF REDUCED TIMETABLES AND OUTDATED INFRASTRUCTURE
GREATER Manchester’s rail passengers could be stuck with reduced timetables and outdated infrastructure ‘for a decade,’ fear northern leaders.
During the pandemic, plummeting passenger numbers have led to reduced schedules which mean, for example, 12 instead of 15 trains an hour running through Castlefield.
A benefit of this has been more punctual and efficient services.
And as the north follows the road map out of lockdown and travel starts to open up again, the rail industry has been considering how best to formulate a new streamlined 2022 timetable which doesn’t overload the regions’ rail infrastructure – a pitfall of the disastrous May 2018 timetable debacle.
However, there are growing fears among leaders that, because there has been no funding signed off to address the congestion at Castlefield and Manchester Piccadilly, passengers could be stuck with this ‘stop-gap’ timetable until the ‘early 2030s.’
TfN has now agreed to write to the Secretary of state for Transport for a firm timeline on the delivery of key infrastructure – including more routes into Piccadilly, work at Oxford Road station and new signalling to ease congestion and eventually boost the timetable.
These are projects that have sat begging for attention on more than one transport secretary’s desk over recent years – and yet have never made it to construction.
Without this firm promise of a plan the fear, exacerbated by recent funding cuts and project delays by the Department for Transport, is that any make-do timetable could become permanent. Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester mayor, told a meeting of the board of Transport for the North, the body which oversees the region’s infrastructure, they were not being treated with the respect they deserved.
He said: “I cannot believe three years on from the timetable chaos we are looking at a decade of a much-reduced timetable in large parts of Manchester and the north. We need to see clear intention of ambitions when it comes to the levelling up agenda.
“There is no prospect of a fix to the infrastructure that would fix the timetable until the early 2030s.
“We are in fact being asked to sign off a reduced timetable for our residents for a decade. That is not acceptable.
“I do not believe the rail industry has been prioritising the north of England as the secretary of state has called upon people to do.”
Mr Burnham also voiced concerns that even the timetable options outlined in the consultation may not be possible due to ongoing ‘rolling stock and driver’ issues.
His concerns were echoed by other board members.
Representing Liverpool, Coun Liam Robinson said the Manchester
infrastructure improvements had ‘rumbled around the too difficult box for a over a decade,’ adding: “We are being told it will remain unresolved for another decade. That is just is not good enough.”
He said the issue was seen as ‘sensitive’ by the DfT and ‘expensive’ by the treasury.
Dan Jarvis, Sheffield City Region mayor, meanwhile, said the issue required ‘urgent attention of senior people in government.’
Their concerns revolve around a consultation document from the Manchester Recovery Task Force – a body set up by the Department for Transport in January 2020 to address the ‘unacceptable levels of train performance in the north west of England.’
Many passengers will grimly recollect the timetable debacle of May 2018, when schedules were not only poorly delivered, but also hamstrung by an infrastructure that could not support an increased number of trains.
The focus of the recent public consultation was to find ‘timetable-based solutions for making performance much better.’
There has been investment in the region over the last decade – including the Ordsall Chord linking Manchester Victoria to Deansgate and the redevelopment of Victoria Station, as well as the electrification of some lines and the introduction of new rolling stock allowing the retirement of the dreaded Pacers.
However, demands on the network have grown, causing problems particularly along the Castlefield Corridor – a two-track railway which runs through Manchester Piccadilly and Deansgate via Manchester Oxford Road.
This, according to the taskforce
report, has ‘pushed the railway beyond the point at which it can operate reliably.’
In essence, the old infrastructure cannot cope with the modern need for more frequent trains, impacting the network across the entire north of England.
The timetable consultation was supposed to be a ‘starting point’ to build ‘resilience and reliability’ while a long-term vision was developed to improve infrastructure in the region and ‘support economic growth.’
The options recommended – including moving towards 30-minute or 60-minute frequency for all corridors into Manchester – were said to allow for the most performance
benefits. However, there is growing concern that the long-term vision has been lost.
And, according to Mr Burnham, even the proposals suggested for new timetables in the consultation may now not be possible due to ‘staffing and rolling stock’ issues.
He said: “It has been made apparent to us that the options we
consulted on for the May 22 timetable were not deliverable options.
“I think a number of members felt frustrated about the position we were put in.”
He said Northern Rail had objected to the options due to ‘accessibility to rolling stock and drivers,’ adding: “This should have been a known or, if it’s an issue of cost, that should be in the public domain and we should know the reasons why it’s not deliverable.”
He said an alternative model had been put forward which had not been ‘fully modelled or considered’ for economic impact.
He added: “I think we need better than this from the rail industry.
“In any of our worlds if we went out to consult on options that were not deliverable we would rightly be heavily criticised for wasting people’s time.
“I think this is embarrassing for the rail industry to put forward nonworkable options for a major consultation.
“It isn’t acceptable to me three years on from the chaos of 2018 not to have clarity around the thinking about a workable timetable, nor any clarity about an infrastructure plan for central Manchester that would actually fix these things long term.”