Agendas, Minutes and Reports

[JG1]

Item 6.3

North Somerset Council

REPORT TO THE Planning and Economic Development Policy & Scrutiny Panel

Date of Meeting: 5 February 2007

Subject of Report: Current Rail Issues in North Somerset

Town or parish: All areas

Officer/Member presenting:

Key Decision: NO

RECOMMENDATIONS

Members of the Panel are asked to note this report [J2]

1. Summary of Report

[J3] 1.1 This report sets out the current situation with rail franchises that affect the residents of North Somerset and describes the action taken to lobby both train operators and the DfT on the issues.

2. Policy

2.1 The Council’s policy on rail is set out in the Joint Local Transport Plan for 2006/2007 and includes a vision for rail. Encouraging greater rail use as an alternative to the private car is a key plank in the strategy. The JLTP sets out a vision for rail and an action plan. This includes working with rail providers to improve infrastructure (including stations) and rolling stock to meet the increased demand over the next 10 years.

3. Details

[J4] Background

3.1 Train services in this area are now operated by two train operating companies, First Great Western and Virgin Cross Country. The Greater Western franchise operated by First Great Western (FGW) includes both local and intercity trains to London, Paddington. The local train services also provide important interregional connectivity to places like Weymouth (Heart of Wessex line), Taunton, Cheltenham and Gloucester, and beyond the region to Cardiff. Most importantly the service from Taunton to Bristol provides an important service for commuters to Bristol to both Temple Meads and the northern fringe through services to Filton Abbey Wood and Bristol Parkway.

3.2 FGW previously operated just the intercity trains to London, Paddington, but took over the local services from Wessex Trains in April 2006. The new franchise specified the minimum level of services in some detail and FGW won the franchise by committing to pay a considerable premium to the Government during the seven years of the franchise. The franchise required FGW to operate a similar timetable to that operated by Wessex Trains until the main rail timetable change in December 2006. The DfT then specified a timetable for implementation after that time based around the structure of intercity services.

3.3 The cross country franchise is currently up for renewal from November 2007. The timetable for the letting of the new franchise together with its specification is discussed in paragraphs 3.11-3.13 below.

Timetable Issues

3.4 FGW consulted on the proposed timetable changes in the spring and summer of 2006, but it was clear that this was too late in the timetable process to make any fundamental changes. Although a number of late changes were made to the timetable, the fundamental weaknesses of the timetable for local services into Bristol remain. In particular the southbound services between Bristol and Weston-super-Mare have lost their even interval clock face timetable and there is some bunching of services with large gaps in between.

New Timetable December 2007

3.5 Unfortunately, FGW is unable to make substantial changes to the timetable until December 2007. Consultation on this timetable change started at the end of last year and a series of aspirations and principles have been developed by partners. These were discussed at a meeting with FGW in December 2006 and have since been set out in a comprehensive letter to FGW drafted by the Chair of SCRP. A separate letter has also been sent by Councillor Crockford-Hawley as the Executive Member for Strategic Planning & Transportation, pressing for the timetable changes that particularly affect residents of North Somerset. These are attached.

3.6 In order to achieve a clock face even interval service in both north bound and south bound services, we may have to sacrifice the principle of cross Bristol services. Given that the vast majority of passengers are travelling to Bristol Temple Meads, the achievement of clock face even interval services must be a priority. We must now wait for the next stage in the rail timetable process which is an offer from Network Rail in response to FGW’s bid.

Capacity Issues

3.7 The DfT in letting the franchise also specified a minimum number of trains or coaches that FGW should use. This meant many trains would be formed of single or double coaches, with no three or four car trains. FGW proposed to handle the additional commuter demand by extending more of their HSTs from London, Paddington to Weston-super-Mare at peak times. Unfortunately the timing of these trains is not necessarily at the peak of the peak times and together with the uneven timetable has led to overcrowding on many services. The HSTs are not allowed to stop at Worle because of the short platforms. Fortunately Yatton and Nailsea & Backwell stations have something called grandfather rights, which allows trains longer than the platforms to stop at these stations. FGW are installing selective door opening in all their refurbished HSTs, which should allow them to stop at Worle station from December 2007. Unfortunately the punctuality of the HSTs has left a lot to be desired and as a result they frequently run late and occasionally are cancelled. This has raised questions about the robustness of the timetable. FGW has promised that HSTs to Weston-super-Mare from Bristol will not be cancelled if they are late running from London, Paddington.

3.8 Following pressure from ourselves and our partners in the Severnside Community Rail Partnership (SCRP) and through the West of England partnership, FGW has now agreed to strengthen the 17.25 departure from Bristol Temple Meads to four coaches, which should help reduce the over crowding.

Reliability issues

3.9 Unfortunately unreliability due to the reduced rolling stock and the operation of the new (untested) timetable has been exacerbated by problems with reliability of the rolling stock. When the local trains were operated by Wessex Trains they were maintained at Canton depot in Cardiff. There were frequently problems with this arrangement and services were frequently short formed as coaches were not available. To overcome this problem FGW has transferred the maintenance to a new facility in Bristol. However, work transferred before the new facility was complete, maintenance staff were not all familiar with the rolling stock and the reliability of the rolling stock was a lot worse than FGW expected. This has meant that availability of rolling stock on any day has been far below what is needed to meet demand and passengers have been suffering from cancellations and severe overcrowding. FGW has recently acquired additional coaches to relieve the pressure.

Passenger complaints

3.10 The combination of the reduced capacity and the unreliability has led to many passenger complaints including an organised fare strike on the Bath to Bristol line, where cancellations and overcrowding have been particularly severe. One passenger has even set up an e-petition on the Prime Minister’s web site where individuals can record their disquiet. The link for this petition is petitions.pm.gov.uk/wessextrains. The deadline for signing it is 7 February 2007.

New Cross Country franchise

3.11 The new cross country franchise is expected to be let from November 2007. The DfT consulted on a draft specification for the service in June 2006 and a response was submitted on behalf of North Somerset Council following an Executive Member decision (06/07 DE 136). The Government issued an invitation to tender (ITT) to the four short listed train operating companies in October 2006 and at the same time published a stakeholder briefing document that set out the revised specification. The four bidders are Virgin Cross Country (the incumbent), National Express, Arriva Trains and First Great Western. They are due to submit their bids 2 March 2007 with the outcome announced in summer 2007.

3.12 The draft specification included a very different timetable from that currently operated by Virgin with a direct service between Penzance and Edinburgh using the east coast main line and Bristol and Manchester via the west coast main line. The service between Manchester and Glasgow is to be transferred to the West Coast main line. All services would continue to go through Birmingham, which will be a hub for the network. It was not clear if or how many services would call at Weston-super-Mare, but this has now been clarified and the specification requires that one service a day in each direction will call at Weston-super-Mare, though it is not clear which service this will be. This new timetable is expected to be introduced from December 2008, with a transitional timetable in December 2007.

3.13 Officers have attended meetings with all the potential bidders to press them to include services to Weston-super-Mare and reduce the need for interchange at Bristol and/or Birmingham. Recently Virgin Cross Country has consulted the Council on its proposed timetable for December 2007. This includes two calls a day at Weston-super-Mare in each direction at more convenient times than currently. These calls would be on trains to and from Paignton/Plymouth to and from Newcastle. There is some concern that the December 2008 timetable may not continue these two services a day. They may also become trains extended from the Bristol-Manchester service, rather than those to Newcastle. Officers have responded to the consultation welcoming the better timing of the two trains a day in each direction and asking for more trains to stop. We have also sought clarification on where people are currently travelling – to/from the north west or north east. Officers will continue to press both the operators and the DfT to achieve the best outcome for North Somerset residents.

4. Consultation

4.1 The Council has not consulted any of its own residents except through its normal work in various partnerships. Generally speaking we act in the role of consultee for rail issues.[J5]

5. Financial Implications

5.1 There are no direct financial implications [J6] , though we may invest some capital in future in improving local rail stations in partnership with both FGW and Network Rail

6. RISK MANAGEMENT

6.1 The only risk to the Council is failure to reach its public transport patronage targets through failure [J7] of the train operating company to run a reliable train service with sufficient capacity.

7. Equality Implications

7.1 There are no equality implications

8. Corporate Implications

8.1 There are no other corporate implications

9. Options considered

9.1 The authority is not in a position to propose options.[J8]

Author

Ruth Sanders [J9]

Sustainable Travel Team Leader

Background Papers

New Cross Country Consultation Document published by DfT June 2006

Stakeholder briefing Document: New Cross Country Franchise published by DfT October 2006