Memorandum by Network Rail (RR 29)
RURAL RAILWAYS
INTRODUCTION
1. Network Rail is the infrastructure provider
for the national railways. The company is responsible for the
operations, maintenance and renewals of the rail infrastructure.
This includes the operation, maintenance and renewals of all rural
lines, which form an integrated part of the wider national network.
2. There is no question that rural railways
are of tremendous importance for the communities they serve. Transport
and other communications links are vital drivers of economic development
and contribute to the vital social "glue" that holds
communities together.
A SINGLE NATIONAL
RAILWAY
3. Network Rail believes that the continuation
of a single national rail network with one body responsible for
the operations, maintenance and renewal of the railway provides
the best opportunity for the continued provision of good quality
rural services fully linked into the national network.
4. There is no part of the network hermetically
sealed from the rest and proposals to "hive-off" any
part are likely only to reduce standardisation, increase costs
and undermine efforts to drive greater efficiency. Furthermore,
a single national network allows the single infrastructure company
the ability to make the appropriate trade-offs between high and
low-used routes within the context of the overall budget available
for the national railway.
5. In common with high-speed and commuter
lines, the railway in rural areas needs to become more efficient
and cost-effective. Network Rail believes this is best achieved
through increased standardisation and economies of scale across
the whole of the national network. Allowing certain rural lines
to "stand-alone" risks reducing the levels of standardisation
with a consequent increase in costs and reduction in efficiency.
Indeed, many of these lines would not be cost-effective on a stand-alone
basis at present, and any increases in costs would risk making
this situation even worse.
DIFFERENTIATED ENGINEERING
REGIMES
6. There may be scope for further improvements
in the cost effectiveness of rural lines through greater differentiation
of maintenance and renewals regimes and through derogations from
standards.
7. Today most Railway Group Standards and
Network Rail Standards are differentiated in respect of criteria
for performance, reliability and appropriateness. At the same
time, most standards set requirements, which are common across
the whole network. It may be possible to differentiate these requirements
on the basis that a lightly used community railway may have a
lower risk profile compared to that for a high speed/ high tonnage/high
density trunk route. We are fully prepared to work with external
agencies to agree which requirements may be relaxed on the basis
of robust risk assessment.
8. It is possible that this will lead to
a generic set of derogations potentially applicable to Community
Rail routes, although each case for a derogation will be decided
on its own merits as elucidated by the risk assessment. These
derogations may in turn be developed in differentiated standards
for Community Railways.
9. Network Rail is currently carrying out
a series of feasibility studies to explore the benefits that could
be achieved through a more efficient approach to engineering access
to the railways. This approach may involve fewer, but longer,
possessions and may deliver better efficiency on rural lines as
well as high-speed and commuter routes. Work to date in this area
appears to confirm that the potential cost savings are significant
and that this depends partly on the ability to maintain and renew
the network as a single entity, so that resources can be managed
as efficiently as possible. This suggests that the benefits that
could be derived by such an approach could be undermined by the
separation of rural lines away from the rest of the network.
LOCAL ACCOUNTABILITY
10. Network Rail is currently reorganising
itself on customer-focussed lines with operations managed through
eight routes with closer synthesis to the map of train operators.
11. One of the objectives of the reorganisation
will be to improve the Company's local accountability to stakeholders
and customers. The unit of Network Rail responsible for dealing
with political stakeholders, the Government and Corporate Affairs
directorate, will be restructured to be congruent with the map
of Government Regions, allowing for better accountability of the
Company to political stakeholders.
12. Network Rail agrees with the principle
that local funders should influence local outputs. Naturally,
we will be pleased to explore partnerships with train operators
and community groups for the development and enhancement of services
and infrastructure, including stations, on rural lines which can
further add to the benefit they are able to deliver to rural areas.
It is likely that such local partnerships could present opportunities
for joint marketing initiatives and similar which may add to the
overall appeal of such lines.
STATIONS
13. Presently, Network Rail owns all 2,500
stations in the national network. The Company also operates, maintains
and renews the largest seventeen stations—principally the
main London termini plus major provincial stations such as Manchester
Piccadilly, Leeds, Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley.
14. On the remaining stations, the responsibility
for maintenance and renewals is split between Network Rail and
the relevant train operator. Network Rail is largely responsible
for renewals and train operators largely responsible for maintenance,
although the split is not a clear one.
15. Network Rail believes that accountability
would be improved were a single body responsible for the maintenance
and renewals of stations. Given that Network Rail is responsible
for the maintenance and renewals of every other element of the
rail infrastructure, and given that short franchises for train
operators can make long-term investment decisions difficult, we
believe that Network Rail is the most appropriate organisation
to be given this responsibility.
CONCLUSION
16. Rural railway lines make a tremendous
contribution to the economic and social development of the communities
they serve. Network Rail believes that the long-term interests
of the rural railways are best served as an integral part of the
wider national network, providing substantial opportunities for
efficiencies and standardisation.
17. There are, however, significant opportunities
to allow reforms to the standards and engineering regimes which
could deliver particular benefits to rural lines. It may be that
this could lead to a series of generic derogations from standards
which could be applied to community railways.
18. Furthermore, Network Rail certainly
supports the principle that local funders should have the ability
to influence local outputs. We would be delighted to explore possible
partnerships with train operators, local authorities and local
community groups to develop services and infrastructure on particular
local lines. In our view, this should fit within the context of
the single national network.
April 2004
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