Memorandum from East Midlands Trains (EM-13)
1. SUMMARY
1.1 There is substantial investment underway
to improve the region's rail services, funded by East Midlands
Trains and Network Rail.
1.2 East Midlands Trains is supporting Network
Rail and other delivery partners on a number of key investment
projects within the region.
1.3 East Midlands Trains supports rail electrification
and note the strong business case to electrify the Midland Main
Line north of Bedford.
1.4 We believe that conversion of our Meridian
trains to enable them to operate electrically south of Bedford
will provide an innovative solution, enabling the region to achieve
rapid benefits from electrification of the Midland Main Line at
a lower cost than full fleet replacement.
1.5 We are in active discussions with the
DfT to secure additional rolling stock vehicles for the Liverpool-Norwich
route, which suffers from severe overcrowding. However DfT funding
to address overcrowding on other routes in the region is unlikely
to be forthcoming.
1.6 There are opportunities to improve rail
services and grow rail usage in the region by EMDA taking a more
active role in funding additional rolling stock for local services
in the region (as Yorkshire Forward have done in Yorkshire) and
by the Highways Agency/DfT funding improved road signage to East
Midlands Parkway station to promote sustainable modal switch from
car to train.
2. INTRODUCTION
2.1 East Midlands Trains welcomes the opportunity
to respond to the Regional Select Committee's inquiry.
2.2 East Midlands Trains is the principal
operator of passenger train services in the East Midlands region.
East Midlands Trains is the operator of the East Midlands franchise
between 2007 and 2015 through a franchise agreement
with the Department for Transport.
2.3 East Midlands Trains operates 470 train
services a day using 92 trains, employs around 2,000 people
and is responsible for 89 stations on its network, including
Nottingham, Leicester, Derby and East Midlands Parkway.
2.4 East Midlands Trains have made capital
investment totalling £30 million in improving the region's
rail services since the start of the franchise in November 2007 with
a further £22.5 million of investment scheduled for
completion in the first half of 2010. In addition to this, East
Midlands Trains pays an annual charge to enable Network Rail to
recover its outlay in respect of the £25 million cost
of East Midlands Parkway station. Our plans for the franchise
are to invest £90 million in improving rail services
in the region.
2.5 The principal capital investment projects
underway or completed by East Midlands Trains are:
2.5.1 New depot at Etches Park, Derby (due
for completion in early 2010)
2.5.2 £10 million refurbishment
of 25 Class 158 trains (being undertaken by Delta Rail
in Derby)
2.5.3 £6 million refurbishment
of 11 High Speed Trains (being undertaken by East Midlands
Trains in Leeds)
2.5.4 Technical modifications to deliver
reliability improvements to all trains
2.5.5 Station improvements including accessibility
improvements for mobility-impaired passengers
2.5.6 Additional station car parking at
Chesterfield, Market Harborough, Wellingborough and various smaller
stations
2.6 Further investment is planned by East
Midlands Trains during the remaining term of the franchise.
3. INVESTMENT
IN THE
REGION
3.1 East Midlands Trains is keen to ensure
that rail services in the region get their fair share of investment.
3.2 We believe that the level of investment
being made into rail services in the region is very high by historical
standards. In addition to the significant investment being made
directly by East Midlands Trains (set out in 2.4 above),
we are working with industry partners to deliver a number of significant
schemes including:
3.2.1 East Midlands Resignalling (Network
Rail)
3.2.2 Nottingham Station Hub (Nottingham
City Council, Network Rail)
3.2.3 Midland Main Line linespeeds improvement
(Network Rail)
3.2.4 Robin Hood Line and Ivanhoe Line linespeeds
improvement (Network Rail)
3.2.5 National Station Improvement Programme
(Network Rail)
3.3 In 2009, the region can be proud of
the opening of the new rail stations at East Midlands Parkway
and Corby.
3.4 It is clear that key regional stakeholders
in the region have played a significant role in securing investment
in the region's rail services and this ought to be recognised.
In particular, the work of Nottinghamshire County Council to fund
studies into improving the region's rail infrastructure is notable.
Derbyshire and Lincolnshire County Councils are also active funding
partners into rail station improvements. The North Northants Development
Company, Corby Borough Council, East Midlands Development Agency,
Homes & Communities Agency and Northamptonshire Borough Council
have also been key partners in the project to open Corby rail
station. Various public sector bodies have contributed to funding
the rail-link bus between East Midlands Parkway and East Midlands
Airport.
3.5 It is worth noting that Nottingham station
is included in a group of 350 stations which will receive
a share of 4,500 additional cycle parking spaces at a cost
of £3 million announced by the DfT on 28 September
2009. We look forward to working with the DfT to implement this
scheme.
3.6 However no stations in the East Midlands
were included in the ten stations to benefit from a new £50 million
improvement fund announced by the DfT on 17 November.
4. ELECTRIFICATION
4.1 East Midlands Trains operates a train
fleet comprised entirely of diesel trains. Services to/from St
Pancras are operated with a fleet of 38 trains, comprising
11 High Speed Trains built in the 1970s and 27 Meridian
trains built in the past 10 years.
4.2 East Midlands Trains has been in active
discussion with the Department for Transport and Network Rail
regarding the business case for electrifying the Midland Main
Line and associated routes.
4.3 East Midlands Trains welcome the recommendation
in Network Rail's "Network RUS Electrification" document
(October 2009) that the Midland Main Line should be electrified
between Bedford and Sheffield via Derby, plus Trent Junction to
Nottingham and Kettering to Corby. This is an important step in
the process of securing a commitment from the DfT to electrify
the route.
4.4 Part of our London route is already
electrified between London and Bedford. We believe that the electrification
development work should consider the potential to quickly gain
benefits from this existing electrification through the development
of our modern Meridian Trains to allow them to operate as electric
trains on this section of our route. Substantial work with Bombardier
has proven the concept and we believe this offers both immediate
CO2 savings as well as enhancing the business case for the
proposed electrification. These trains could then operate as electric
trains when the electrified network is extended north of Bedford.
4.5 In relation to the scope of Midland
Main Line electrification, we believe that consideration ought
to be given to electrification of the Corby to Syston and Erewash
diversionary routes to enable electric passenger services to operate
uninterrupted during times of disruption or engineering work.
Electrification of these diversionary routes will also enable
freight trains on the Midland Mainline to be hauled by electric
locomotives.
4.6 The committee will no doubt question
why the Midland Main Line was not selected for electrification
prior to, or at the same time as, the Great Western Main Line
(GWML). We believe that there are the following issues should
be taken into account:
4.6.1 The majority of high speed trains
on the GWML are InterCity 125 High Speed Trains (HSTs) built
between 1976 and 1982. First Great Western operate 43 of
these trains. These are approaching life-expiry and are due for
replacement under the DfT-led "Super Express" train
procurement programme. By committing to electrification of the
GWML, it is possible to procure these as electric trains rather
than diesel trains. This provides better funding terms and avoids
the costs of converting the trains from diesel to electric operation
later.
4.6.2 By contrast, East Midlands Trains
operates only 11 HSTs. The majority of our high speed trains
are Meridians built in the last 10 years.
4.6.3 The construction of Crossrail between
London Paddington and Maidenhead means that resources and equipment
to electrify the GWML will already been positioned on the route.
4.6.4 It is worth noting that the passenger
revenue between London and the principal cities on the GWML is
around 50% higher than the revenue between London and the principal
stations on the EMT network. This may give the GWML scheme a business
case advantage over the Midland Main Line.
5. TRAINS
5.1 As set out above, East Midlands Trains
is making significant investment in improving its existing train
fleet. It has also added 18 additional rolling stock vehicles
over and above the number projected in the initial Franchise Agreement.
Of these additional vehicles, 12 vehicles have funded by
additional franchise payments from the Department for Transport
as they relate to the opening of Corby station. The remaining
vehicles are funded by East Midlands Trains.
5.2 In its Sustainable Railway White Paper
in July 2007, the Department for Transport announced plans to
procure 1,300 additional rail vehicles to provide additional
capacity and relieve overcrowding.
5.3 Initially only three of the 1,300 vehicles
were earmarked for East Midlands Trains. We were disappointed
by this and we were not consulted on it. We believed that this
allocation did not reflect the reality of overcrowding on some
of our services.
5.4 Following this announcement, East Midlands
Trains has worked with the support of regional stakeholders to
make the case for additional rolling stock for its services, in
particular those on the Liverpool-Norwich route (which links four
of the eight core cities in England, including Nottingham, Sheffield
and Manchester). In July 2010, East Midlands Trains submitted
a formal proposal to the Department for Transport's HLOS programme
for additional rolling stock to address overcrowding on this route.
The Department for Transport and East Midlands Trains have been
working together to refine the proposal and we are encouraged
that negotiations are still progressing.
5.5 Other routes in our region require additional
rolling stock to address overcrowding, in particular the Derby
to Crewe service (which is operated exclusively by one-car trains),
the Nottingham to Matlock service (operated by a mix of one-car
and two-car trains) and services on the routes radiating into
Lincoln. The capacity that we are able to provide on these services
will act as a constraint to modal shift from road to rail in the
near future. The lack of rolling stock also inhibits the development
of services on routes such as Lincoln to Nottingham, for which
there is a good business case according to a study commissioned
by Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire County Councils. However we
understand that the business case for additional rolling stock
on these routes will not meet the DfT's current appraisal criteria.
5.6 East Midlands Trains notes that regional
funders in other regions have been willing to provide funding
for additional rolling stock and improved services. In particular,
Yorkshire Forward have provided funding to Northern Rail to lease
12 additional vehicles for improving services. Yorkshire
Forward are also a key funder in the partnership between East
Midlands Trains, South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive
and Yorkshire Forward to increase the frequency of Sheffield/London
services from one to two trains per hour from 14 December
2009. East Midlands Trains believes that there is an opportunity
for the East Midlands Development Agency to consider its role
in supporting similar projects within the East Midlands region,
in order to improve connectivity within the region with a low-carbon
form of transport.
6. OTHER MODES
6.1 East Midlands Trains notes that the
region has been successful in securing investment to double the
A46 and A453 trunk roads. We note that these projects
have been long standing regional aspirations, but we do anticipate
that their completion will have a detrimental effect on rail's
market share and they may make it more difficult to make a business
case for future improvements to the rail network.
6.2 East Midlands Trains is proud to be
the operator of East Midlands Parkway station which has 850 car
parking spaces and offers the potential to achieve modal switch
from car to rail for:
6.2.1 travel between the East Midlands
and London; and
6.2.2 shorter journeys into the city centres
of Nottingham, Leicester and Derby.
6.3 However the station is currently poorly
signed from the trunk road network, in particular the M1, A50 and
A453 northbound. There is an opportunity to achieve more
rapid modal switch to rail by improving the road signage. This
will cut carbon emissions, as rail is a lower carbon mode of travel
than car. East Midlands Trains have sought to secure additional
funding from the Highways Agency and DfT to improve the road signage
but so far without success. We have commissioned a feasibility
study and will discuss the matter again with DfT when the feasibility
study reports.
11 December 2009
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