Memorandum by Shropshire County Council
(RR 12)
RURAL RAILWAYS
INTRODUCTION
1. Shropshire County Council represents
a largely rural area bounded by the West Midlands to the east,
and the deeply rural parts of Mid-Wales to the west.
2. There are 16 national rail stations within
Shropshire, with Shrewsbury acting as both the hub of the local
network, and also as a major railhead for both Shropshire and
Mid Wales.
3. Of the rail routes that feed into Shrewsbury,
those to Wolverhampton and Birmingham, to Crewe and Manchester,
to Wrexham and Chester, and to Hereford Newport and Cardiff, can
be classed as Inter-urban routes, but these routes also serve
as important links to the rural communities based along the lines
of route.
4. The remaining routes, the Cambrian Lines
to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli, the Heart of Wales line to Llandrindod
Wells and Swansea, are almost entirely rural in nature, and are
vital to the communities along the line. As Chris Austin states
in the SRA Consultation Document for Community Railways "these
lines fulfil a key role in the local economy . . . and in some
cases are the only form of public transport on offer".
5. Shropshire County Council is committed
to supporting the rail links within and through the County, and
welcomes any initiative which will help to retain and improve
services and facilities for rail users.
SHREWSBURY TO
WOLVERHAMPTON AND
BIRMINGHAM
6. This route is well served by both Arriva
Trains Wales and Central Trains services, jointly providing a
service half-hourly from main stations, and links Shropshire with
the West Midlands for commuting and business.
7. A joint project in 2001 between (then)
Railtrack and Central Trains to raise the line speed on this route
to 90mph was aborted, and does not now seem to be considered important
by Network Rail.
8. The Network Rail Business Plan for 2004
shows that large parts of this route are to receive signalling
and trackwork renewals during the year, at significant cost, but
the small additional costs involved in delivering the speed improvements
are not to be included.
9. These line speed improvements would have
enabled better connections to be maintained at Birmingham, reduced
journey times, and would enable operators to make more productive
use of units. Shropshire County Council believes that these improvements
are important to ensuring modal shift from the already congested
A5/M54 corridor.
SHREWSBURY TO
BIRMINGHAM, INTERNATIONAL,
AND LONDON
EUSTON
10. Shrewsbury is currently the only large
county town in England without a direct service to London.
11. The Shropshire Strategic Rail Group
is working with Virgin Trains towards creating a sound business
case for the restoration of a through service to London, by whatever
means the rail industry finds possible and affordable.
12. A through service to (and from) London
is considered vital to continued economic growth for the rural
areas of Shropshire and Mid Wales, and to the growth success of
Shrewsbury and Telford. It is to be remembered that a through
service FROM London to Telford and Shrewsbury is almost more important
than the service TO London.
SHREWSBURY TO
HEREFORD, NEWPORT
AND CARDIFF
13. The services along the Marches line
corridor also include several services to West Wales and the West
of England. Until this timetable, there was also a service from
Manchester to London Waterloo, via Bath, Woking and Clapham Junction.
This service was not included within the services specified by
the SRA when the franchise was awarded to Arriva Trains.
14. The service was not subsidised, and
was well used—especially by the elderly and those with a
fear of changing trains, and of crossing London by tube. It gave
a facility to access the south and south east of England with
ease, and also provided a connection to Eurostar services at Waterloo.
15. There is strong feeling that the usefulness
of this service was ignored by the SRA, for the sake of compliance
with the "One Operator" regime for London termini.
16. Shropshire CC believes it would be possible
to reinstate the effectiveness of this service, by joint operation
with South West Trains, to provide a back-to-back service within
each others franchise limits but with a through unit thus creating
a virtual through service for users.
SHREWSBURY TO
CREWE AND
MANCHESTER
17. Through services on the northern part
of the Marches route provide easy connections at Crewe for a variety
of destinations, and with through trains to Manchester provide
a direct link with the "capital" of the North.
18. Stopping services for the largely rural
stations between Shrewsbury and Crewe are provided by a mixture
of a basic two hourly all-stations service, supplemented at peak
times by stops on express services at the three larger towns of
Wem, Whitchurch and Nantwich.
19. This pattern has evolved over many years
to serve the requirements of the users on the route, and provides
commuting opportunities to and from Shrewsbury, Manchester and
beyond, and also covers local school travel and shopping requirements.
20. Arriva Trains Wales proposals for a
Standard Pattern Timetable for December 2005 remove all stops
on express services and rely wholly on a single unit working shuttling
between Shrewsbury and Crewe to create a basic fixed two-hourly
service.
21. Whilst undertaking the service provision
with the barest minimum of equipment, and with operational needs
paramount, this in no way meets the needs of the users. It effectively
destroys any commuting opportunities to Shrewsbury (by restricting
homeward trains to 16:44 then 18:44 from Shrewsbury) and makes
longer distance commuting impossible by service and poor connections.
22. We would urge Arriva Trains Wales to
reconsider the way it provides service for rural users on this
line, to create a service that is effective, fit for purpose,
and that can be marketed to the communities served.
SHREWSBURY TO
WREXHAM AND
CHESTER
23. This route is set to benefit greatly
from the Standard Pattern Timetable proposed by Arriva Trains
Wales, and Shropshire CC would welcome the introduction of this
proposal as far as this route is concerned.
24. The route is suggested for inclusion
as a Community Railway within the consultation currently under
way by the SRA. Although it meets some of the criteria for a Community
Railway as outlined by the SRA, it is felt that the route should
more rightly be considered as an Inter-Urban route.
25. The Arriva Trains Wales Standard Pattern
Timetable proposes long distance services via this route, from
Birmingham Cardiff and the West of England, to Holyhead, and the
classification "Inter-Urban" is contained within their
own timetable proposals. Indeed, the SRA has agreed the basis
of this timetable, so is at odds with itself concerning this designation.
26. Shropshire CC proposes that the route
be excluded from the list of lines to be classified as Community
Railways.
27. This should not affect the existing
Community Rail Partnership which already exists for the line,
which can continue to promote and market the line to local users
and residents.
CAMBRIAN LINES
28. This route also has an existing and
very effective Community Rail partnership. Surprisingly the section
from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth has already been excluded from
the lines proposed for inclusion as a Community Railway by the
SRA.
29. The service is restricted to two-hourly
due to infrastructure constraints. Proposals exist to augment
the infrastructure to permit an hourly service to operate on the
route, and funding has been earmarked for many years by the Welsh
Assembly to undertake the necessary work.
30. Shropshire CC urges the Committee to
push for the infrastructure work to be commenced, as an hourly
service will go a long way towards providing regeneration for
the area of central Wales, and assist with overcrowding on existing
services.
THE HEART
OF WALES
LINE
31. This route, from Shrewsbury to Swansea
via Llandrindod Wells is the truly rural railway.
32. Running for 120 miles and linking some
very sparsely populated areas, it is a lifeline for many of the
often remote communities that are dotted along its line of route.
33. As a tourist line, it runs through some
of the most spectacular scenery, and is popular with sightseers,
ramblers, and others who wish to visit the beauty of the remote
countryside.
34. The route is served by four trains each
way per day, with two on Sundays, one of which has been funded
from Welsh Assembly and English and Welsh Local Authority contribution.
35. These timings of these four services
are severely constrained by the need to operate them with a limited
number of resources provided from either end, changing over mid-journey.
As a result, they do not always provide for the needs of the communities,
with very large gaps in service as a result.
36. There is an urgent need to establish
how a better form of service could be provided on the line, maybe
by basing trains and crews at a point on the line itself. This
would eliminate unproductive running at the beginning and end
of the day, and hopefully provide a more consistent service which
meets the commuting, school and shopping needs of users as well
as providing tourism opportunities for those from outside the
area.
37. Again, a very effective Community Partnership
exists for the line, under the title of the Heart of Wales Forum.
The Forum is well represented and has achieved some notable marketing
and promotional successes. The web-site is innovative, and receives
regular hits from across the world. (www.heart-of-wales.co.uk)
Dave Koring
Rail Development Officer
16 April 2004
| 
