Memorandum by the Countryside Agency (RR
17)
RURAL RAILWAYS
THE COUNTRYSIDE
AGENCY'S
INVOLVEMENT IN
RURAL RAILWAYS
1. The Countryside Agency is pleased to
be able to present evidence on the subject of railways in rural
areas. The Countryside Agency is the statutory body concerned
with conserving and enhancing the English countryside, promoting
social equality and economic opportunity for the people who live
and work there and helping everyone, wherever they live, to enjoy
this national asset.
2. Transport is one of the most critical
issues in rural areas. It has a major impact on people's access
to employment, education, services, leisure facilities and their
overall quality of life; on the viability of rural businesses
and, in particular, their access to labour markets; and on the
character of the countryside itself. National transport policies
and schemes have both a direct and indirect impact in rural areas.
3. The Countryside Agency works to ensure
policies and practices take full account of rural needs and circumstances
and that they pay sufficient regard to the beauty and amenity
of the countryside and to the needs of people living in, working
from and visiting it. The Government is committed to "rural
proofing" all its policies, as they are developed, to ensure
that they take account of the needs and circumstances of rural
people and businesses and the Agency has the role to monitor and
report on this process.
4. The Agency sees rail as a vital element
of any integrated rural public transport system. In order to demonstrate
the role rail plays and can play in rural communities, we are,
currently, providing support for ACoRP (the Association of Community
Rail Partnerships), as well as funding several rail partnerships
through the Rural Transport Partnership scheme. As part of our
Market towns Initiative, we are also providing funds for the "Gateway
Stations" project that is helping 12 stations to develop
their role as an integral part of the communities they serve.
INTRODUCTION
5. Rural rail is currently under the spotlight
as a result of the Strategic Rail Authority's (SRA) current consultation
on Community Railway Development and, more generally, as a result
of concern about the overall costs to the taxpayer of the railway
system. Rural railways are seen as carrying small numbers of passengers
with higher operating costs per passenger relative to the primary
network. This has led to a situation where the Government has
placed great emphasis on the primary network.
6. However, while immediate operating costs
per passenger may be higher, the total proportion of costs attributed
to these rural lines is a small proportion of the overall railway
spend. The current need to focus on some major infrastructure
issues, such as the West Coast Main Line modernisation, should
not result in rural railways being thought of as a major drain
on the system, or that costs could be significantly reduced by
not supporting them. There is a danger that, because of pressures
elsewhere and problems on the main lines, rural railways, which
have always received a relatively high subsidy, might be placed
in jeopardy.
7. Rural railways are perceived as being
the "branch lines", but the more core network serves
the rural population in many cases and there are many lines that
are quite strategic to the network, but whose stations are serving
small market towns and villages (the Cotswold Line and the main
Cornwall line, for example).
THE IMPORTANCE
OF RURAL
RAILWAYS TO
THE COMMUNITIES
THEY SERVE
8. The value to the communities served is
generally considerable. Research on the effects of 1960s closures
(by Mayer Hillman; Social Consequences of Rail Closures, 1980)
showed that they were of great value and importance. More recent
research by TR&IN ("What use are rural railways?"
1998) again highlighted the losses. Rural railways help people
to access jobs, services, etc and provide an alternative to the
car for visitors to the countryside.
9. While railways are generally used more
by higher income groups, analysis of the National Travel Survey
(based on small samples of rural residents who use rail) shows
that the use of rail by those on lower incomes is more important
(proportionately) than it is in urban areas. For these people,
the value of the journeys made is likely to be high and, so, it
is likely that social exclusion issues will be in part lessened
by the presence of rail.
10. The National Travel Survey shows that
about 8% of rural residents (in settlements of less than 3,000
people) and 26% of those in small towns (less than 25,000 population)
live within 25 minutes walk of a railway station, compared with
around 50% living in larger towns and cities. Rail, therefore,
does, or can, serve a significant proportion of the rural population.
11. Four per cent of rural residents use
rail in any week (compared with 7% in larger urban areas). Considering
the lack of stations, use is relatively high. There is much higher
use of cars to reach railway stations from rural areas.
12. One of the key factors in railways'
importance is their perceived "permanence". People will
move house to locations where they know they can commute from.
Under current bus provision methods, bus transport does not provide
anything like that permanence.
13. Railway stations can greatly enhance
the image of a settlement in a rural area. Having a rail connection
puts a place "on the map" and can be a factor in attracting
business and tourists to a town, even if they do not use rail
to access it.
14. Analysis for the Highlands and Islands
Region in Scotland showed that closure of railways would have
employment impacts that were far greater than the railway employees
themselves. These lines bring in much tourism, as well as providing
for commuting, business and other journey needs. "Social
welfare evaluation" in the same study showed significant
losses for consumers, businesses, freight, accidents, environmental
impacts, and social impacts of about £850 million discounted
over 30 years).
15. The environmental benefits of rail should
also be considered. They provide access where the alternative
would be car, and many lines carry much freight. Commuting by
car can be much reduced, and access to rural areas for leisure
by rail can be high where rail provides good access (such as the
Settle Carlisle and other lines).
16. The SRA has started a national survey
of passengers. When that is analysed, we will have a better idea
of the uses of such lines.
THE PROSPECTS
FOR INNOVATIVE
APPROACHES TO
THE FUNDING
AND MANAGEMENT
OF SUCH
RAILWAYS
17. The current interest by SRA (in their
consultation document) appears to show real commitment to trialling
innovative approaches, but it is important that the pilots that
are carried out are ones which will show the potential and that
they are properly monitored and evaluated.
18. Rural rail is relatively expensive to
run per passenger, but there are benefits to be gained through
lowering maintenance costs by re-specifying standards on slower
speed lines, as long as the lower maintenance does not lead to
a situation where operability becomes difficult leading to calls
for closure.
19. Whilst the present arrangements are
in place for the rail network, we believe that there are benefits
in enabling local lines to run their own affairs, whilst remaining
integrated within the overall network. If a greater measure of
public control were introduced in the future, we think there would
still be a strong case for increasing local management through
community rail partnerships.
20. Many lines that were earmarked for closure
as a result of the review by Dr Beeching are now important lines
in terms of commuting. Most of these are lines which have become
commuter lines into London and other metropolitan areas (such
as Leeds to Ilkley to Skipton). Changing travel behaviour has
increased the viability of these lines—future changes in
travel behaviour may be able to capitalise on the existence of
railways in rural areas.
THE PROSPECTS
FOR TRAFFIC
GROWTH ON
SUCH RAILWAYS
21. Experience from Germany and from some
UK Community Rail Partnerships shows that growth can be achieved
in many cases. Many patronage increases in the UK have been over
40% in about three years, while the Bittern Line in Norfolk has
shown a 140% increase. Lines in Germany, where the approach has
been strengthened by microfranchising, have shown larger increases.
Greater local control of lines in metropolitan areas has provided
increases in patronage and such growth should be transferable
to rural lines.
22. It is important that trials are done
which will allow potential to be realised.
23. Besides increases in traffic, the approach
also provides scope to lower costs of maintenance on lines which
are not part of the Trans European Network and which have low
operating speeds.
24. The potential for visitor access to
the countryside using these railways is also great. Many lines
that have marketed themselves have built on tourism and visitor
patronage (such as the Settle Carlisle line). Even in less obvious
tourist areas there is scope to encourage visitors to use the
rail service as well as attract tourism from those not having
their own car.
25. The Countryside Agency and the Rail
Passengers Council have commissioned ACoRP and AEAT Ltd to carry
out research on the scope for light rail operation on rural branch
railways. The research is not yet complete, but initial results
point to the scope for "heavy trams" to operate on rural
railways at lower costs. The research should be complete in early
May to allow results to be used for responses to the SRA's consultation.
THE IMPACT
OF MEASURES
SUCH AS
BUS SUBSTITUTION
FOR RAIL
SERVICES
26. Bus substitution is generally no substitute
for a rail service for those who currently have that rail service.
This is because the road network is not usually set up to serve
the locations that rail does at the speed that rail offers, as
well as the perception accorded to bus travel relative to rail
impacting on patronage.
27. But there are cases, where a line is
running at maximum capacity (in terms of trains per day), where
extra services provided by bus or coach could make the service
more frequent.
28. General bus services should be designed
so that they complement rail services by feeding passengers into
them at set points along the route. In this way the areas that
rail does not serve well can be served (as railway stations are
often not in current optimal locations) and integration between
bus and rail can be helped.
29. Keeping a complete network is important
for the vitality of the core network. If anything, key bus and
coach routes should be added to the "rail map" to extend
the network that a "permanent" public transport system
covers.
16 April 2004
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