ARRIVA TRAINS NORTHERN...have been informed by the Strategic Rail Authority that they will not be considered for the TransPennine Express franchise, and the preferred bidders are Connex and a First/Keolis joint bid. It has also been revealed that the new franchise will not start for another year and, as a result, the current Arriva agreement will be extended until late 2003. So, for the time being at least, the familiar site of a Class 158 in the attractive purple and gold livery, as seen in the photograph above, will be seen on the Fylde coast for a while longer.

One of the main reasons that this association has been successful, over the last twenty years or so, has to be put down to the fact that the make up of the committee has been stable for a long period of time. During all those years we've had just one secretary, two treasurers, and three chairmen.p

However, as often happens, all good things come to an end. To lose one member of the committee is hard enough to take, but when we lose two stalwarts at the same time it is indeed a tremendous body blow. Firstly, we learned just a few weeks ago that our treasurer for many years, John Morling, was unable to carry on his duties. Additionally, one of the group's founder members, Katie Corrigan, has decided to call it a day, and has relinquished her committee post, but will stay on as a member.

Compared to some rail user groups, we are not a very large organisation, and consequently we don't have a lot of room for manoeuvre when it comes to finding volunteers for important committee positions. However, I'm very pleased to be able to report that with a little bit of adjusting, I am confident that we have kept a winning formula. Firstly, Vernon Smith after many years of holding the position of secretary, moves over to the treasury (sounds like something out of Whitehall - Ed). He in fact helped John Morling on the accounts side of things for quite a while, so Vernon certainly knows the ropes in that respect. Our new secretary is Neil Clark, and with help from Vernon, he will be eased into the position gradually over the next few months. My personal thanks go both to Neil for volunteering for this important role, and to Vernon for his hard work over the last twenty years - he actually thought he would hold the post for eighteen months !

I would also like to take this opportunity of sincerely thanking Katie and John for their sterling efforts over the years. Certainly, when the association was getting established, and fighting against some of the antics British Rail tried to pull on occasions, Katie was a real firebrand who would fight our corner relentlessly. Rail users have a great deal to thank her for, because I firmly believe that had this association not been formed when it was, the South Fylde line would not exist today.

John is a quiet man, but one that can be totally relied upon. For a number of years, when we were out and about with our sales stand, he would often volunteer to assist. That included a full weekend at the Lowther Pavilion in Lytham for the annual model railway exhibition, and that really was hard work. That reflects the solid support that he gave the association over a long period of time.

Towards the back end of last year, it became apparent that the future of the Royal Train was in doubt. The Public Accounts Committee was 'reviewing' the requirements for the royal family travelling by train, and that all options for provisions including leasing from a commercial operator may be considered.

The association has written to object to any proposal to withdraw the royal train, after all Her Majesty has already lost the Royal Yacht, Britannia, and in our opinion to add the train to the list would be another loss too far.

The Public Accounts Committee has acknowledged that the Royal Train plays an important role in enabling Her Majesty The Queen, and other members of the Royal Family, to undertake certain official engagements. It permits travel overnight and during meal times, has good office and communications facilities, provides secure overnight accommodation, and allows arrival in the middle of the town or city being visited first thing in the morning. The train is also less prone to disruption by the weather (e.g. fog can prevent travel by helicopter and also by fixed wing aircraft).

The association did point out in its correspondence that the train was invaluable during the Golden Jubilee celebrations, and was seen in many different parts of the country. No decision has been made yet, and probably won't be until the end of the financial year, after a consultation period between the Royal Household and the Department for Transport.

NEW MEMBER
The association gives a very warm welcome to our latest recruit:- 

Mr.A.Ford - St.Annes (who joined through our website - Ed)

HAS VIRGIN CAUGHT A MIGHTY COLD ?

Late September 2002, saw the introduction of a very radical timetable shake up by Virgin, which saw new Voyager units introduced on a lot of routes which enabled eradication of diesel locomotive hauled trains.

These changes were carried out under the banner 'Operation Princess', and some observers claimed Virgin's steps were bold, and others said they were suicidal. The truth lies somewhere between the two. What started out as a true attempt to improve services by running more, shorter trains, has been completely shunted into a siding by inadequate rolling stock and over optimistic ideas. One of the main reasons for running more frequent services, was to alleviate overcrowding. This has in fact reached epidemic proportions (This has previously always been the case where British Rail introduced new rolling stock, or electrified a route. It was the bees round honey syndrome, which attracted more custom than was envisaged - even with privatisation train companies haven't learnt from past experience - Ed).

In an attempt to overcome this problem, Virgin has decided to swap HST sets from the Birmingham - Manchester/Blackpool routes and re-allocate them to well loaded Anglo - Scottish services. However, as the HST's have been reduced to five carriages and two power cars, they will only have sixteen more standard class seats than a Class 221 Super Voyager. It may be prudent for Virgin to consider adding an extra carriage, which would increase seating capacity, and the power to weight ratio from the HST would be comparable to the Voyager.

Add to all this the fact that Voyagers are brand new, and without doubt suffer from teething problems with air conditioning, door controls and the like. It would have been preferable to have built a prototype and run it for several thousands of miles to iron out all the bugs, and then go on to build a fleet of ultra reliable units. Regretfully, our privatised system does not allow for this to happen, and it's a case of having to take the design and construct it straight off the drawing board.

It is to be hoped that Virgin learn quickly from these unfortunate experiences. They may find that the 40 year old diesel locomotives that they were so keen to get rid of, may yet have another vital role to play in keeping their wheels in motion.

NORTHERN FRANCHISE

Prospective operators of the new Northern rail franchise have until February 17th to submit completed 'expressions of interest' to the Strategic Rail Authority.

The SRA fired the starting gun once more on the 17th of December, for the heavily delayed race for the franchise that will see parts of the existing First North Western and Arrive Trains Northern operations merged.

Last February the SRA said it was starting formal consultations with the passenger transport executives, with all seven having interests in the new franchise. At that time it was planned that the franchise would last for fifteen years - now its duration will be between five and seven years. At the same time, the SRA said it expected to announce the pre - qualifiers by March for the franchise to start in early 2003. Now the pre - qualifiers will be announced in March 2003 and the franchise is to start in summer 2004. The SRA is looking for the Northern franchise to provide passengers with better urban and rural services, and they are expecting a keen interest from bidders.

FLEETWOOD FREEPORT EXPANSION PLANS

When Freeport applied to Wyre Council to expand their shops and car-park, BAFRUA asked the Council planners to bear in mind that rail or rapid transit may need some space there. Before a formal decision was made, the plan was 'called in' by the Secretary of State, meaning that a public enquiry would be held. The association made a written request to that enquiry that, if the plans were accepted, there should be stipulation that no buildings or structures be placed on land needed for rail, which would prevent (or make more difficult) its return.

The enquiry began on the 15th of October, and declared that the Secretary of State would expect to hear the Inspector's views on subjects such as :- does the application fit Lancashire/Wyre official plans? ; does it allow access by public and private transport, and walking/cycling? ; does it complement other shops nearby, or might it close some? ; does it revive derelict areas? ; is it so horribly designed that nobody will want it? ; IS IT NEEDED?

BAFRUA attended the first morning of the enquiry, to hear the summaries of various parties' ideas. It emerged that Wyre Council approves, Lancashire/Blackpool acting jointly do not. Surveys of existing businesses (3.5 million people annually) at Freeport show that 65% of its visitors are visitors to the overall Fylde locality; of those visitors, 32% also go into Fleetwood town. Only 9% of visitors to Fleetwood town also go on to Freeport.

Planning rules which allowed the initial set - up of Freeport have changed since then. Freeport enterprise is willing to invest £200,000 in the tramway scheme. The enquiry will continue to allow Q.C.'s to discuss the merits of the application in respect of the Secretary's questions, and the Inspector will make visits alone, and accompanied, to the site. It is already plain that much discussion will be based on 'is Freeport in the town centre?' The eventual decision from the Secretary of State will be some time yet.

WHY ARE RAILWAYS A GOOD THING ?

In 2000, Government produced a ten year Transport Plan, which aimed to achieve 50% growth in passenger mileage (80% freight), by incremental changes to the existing network. This long - term statement of commitment accepted that rail has a part to play, and thus needs appropriate funding. The SRA was set up to direct the priorities for the necessary work, and oversee its implementation (**). In recent times, the rail industry has had shocks (accidents, fuel prices, Railtrack administration and strikes), so it is especially important to be able to focus on the benefits of the rail network to the nation's wellbeing.

In June 2002 Steer Davies Gleave produced a report, commissioned by Transport 2000, the RPC and others, to identify the benefits that existing rail facilities provide, and which would flow from system improvements. They analysed the various passenger and freight uses of the network, trying to assess costs of better rail provision for an expanding economy, on the assumption that wholly - road provision would be impracticable.
Some of their conclusions were :-

The apparent low share journeys undertaken by rail disguises significant types (long distance; urban commuter; bulk freight) where rail is a major, or dominant provider.

Substantial environmental benefits exist, already arguably more than subsidy level, and would expand with greater rail use.

City/town centre access by rail avoids pressure on the green belt, and allows substantial national and international tourist business. Tracks into rural areas are also 'lifelines'.

Rail services are used by all age - groups and social classes (note that 27% of households have no car, and 'even if only 10% of predicted extra car miles by over 70's were by rail, the economy would save over £100 million yearly'

Freight flows on rail do not have to fight their way through congested roads.

'Investment in railways creates and keeps skilled manufacturing jobs'. (Not just for the specific components of vehicles and track).

'Many of the rail network's current and potential roles are not recognised or included in plans and strategies produced by local, regional and Government agencies'.

'There are a number of ways in which investment for roads and railways is not assessed on a 'level playing field basis'.

(**)Local footnote. The priorities decided by the SRA are to focus investment on main routes servicing London…. And to maintain regional network service levels, rather than develop new infrastructure. Might this approach make it awkward for us to get ‘heavy rail’ back into central Blackpool, or open new stations ?

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Revised: 05, January 2005