'Herefordshire campaigners vow to stop twin track bid being derailed'

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Hereford Times:

Herefordshire campaigners vow to keep fighting to stop twin track bid being derailed

There's no ^two ways^ about it, a much-wanted twin rail track between Hereford and Ledbury won^t be along any time soon.

The failure of the project to make the latest five-year plan for public transport in the West Midlands is offset only by the 1,000-plus response to a petition in its favour that went to regional rail bosses in Birmingham recently. So with the signal seemingly stuck on red, the twin track campaign is looking to a new route that takes it straight to Whitehall with Jesse Norman, Conservative parliamentary candidate, on board.

It was Mr Norman who got the twin track petition going and then sent it along to Centro ^ the passenger transport executive for the West Midlands ^ with Herefordshire Council^s consultation response to the plan setting out structural improvements to the region^s rail network over the next five years.

That the petition should call on the secretary of state to support twin-tracking shows how far Rail for Herefordshire (RFH) has come, bold enough now to take out billboard ads at Hereford station and directly compare their key cause to the city^s planned outer distributor road, but completed at a fraction of the price. With so much attention on far bigger ^ and arguably more attention-grabbing ^ projects, public transport in Herefordshire had to take a back seat.

Now, RFH sees a chance to make up for lost time and an opportunity of moving county transport policy away from its apparent reliance on roads.

Mr Norman^s hands-on approach to twin-tracking strengthens support for the scheme long shown by the man he hopes to replace, Hereford^s current MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Paul Keetch. With this claim on cross-party consensus, RFH can avoid splits that so often see the county^s transport schemes come apart at the seams and boast London connections to rival First Great Western.

It was just under a year ago that Peter Strachan, route director for Network Rail, told Mr Norman that there was a strong case for twin-tracking between Hereford and Malvern, with the present 11-mile ^bottleneck^ stretch of single track seen as the biggest barrier to better rail links between Hereford, London and Birmingham.

The best Mr Norman came away with, though, was confirmation that the work was ^under consideration^ in the 2009-2014 phase of national rail investment.

The problem, of course, is the tunnels at Ledbury and Colwall, the adaptation of which would push the cost up considerably. There is another major tunnel near Evesham that would need work. But to RFH, the twin track is the lead in to all that could be done with the county^s rail services.

RFH secretary Becky Roseff said: ^The twin tracking is the most important thing. Without it, it is impossible to improve the London and Birmingham service. They can^t put on more Trains, and those they have are always at risk of delay or cancellation ^ though this has been getting better.^

RFH chairman Gerald Dawe pitches the wider context to directly compare twin-tracking to Hereford^s proposed ring road, the funding for which is effectively on hold. ^We calculate the double line could be re-instated for about ^20 million, a fraction of the price of the (ring) road. If we are serious about reducing congestion and carbon emissions, reinstating the twin track is essential,^ he said.

WHAT DOES RAIL FOR HEREFORDSHIRE WANT FOR THE COUNTY^S RAIL SERVICES?

With twin-tracking as the top priority, RFH^s other immediate issues are:

■ More stations ^ one at Pontrilas for the Golden Valley and Hay-on-Wye and maybe another at Withington to serve fast-growing communities north-west of Hereford and the Whitestone business park.

There is also talk of re-opening the station at Moreton-on-Lugg.

■ Overcrowding ^ particularly the number of carriages on rush hour services, especially during term time. Rush hour trains run by Arriva Trains Wales and London Midland can get pretty packed, occasionally to a wholly unacceptable degree.

More carriages on these trains is the simplest solution.

■ Fares ^ Too high, as simple as that. More than ^4 for a single between Hereford and Leominster alone. The latest example is socalled super off peak fare to London via Newport, up to ^68 from ^57 in the past month. RFH wants clarification from rail companies of their pricing policies and better ticket deals from the county^s stations.

■ Better connections for London between Hereford and Newport and Birmingham-Hereford-Leominster, which often need almost the maximum waiting time of one hour.

■ A better approach to Hereford station, which RFH says needs more than the ^bike rack and pedestrian crossing^ that took nearly 10 years to get. One bus stop instead of two, a 10mph limit, a decent walking route to town and better signposting would be a start.

■ Sunday services by London Midland. RFH acknowledges that the company is working on solutions that were recently hampered by a one-day strike over Sunday working conditions for train staff.

FACTFILE

Hereford-Ledbury twintracking had strong support when Leominster Town Council met to debate the draft rail development plan. Members chided the overall plan for its lack of ambition, but there was enthusiasm for the idea of opening up Moreton-on-Lugg station and maybe even reinstating the Leominster-Kington line for quarry traffic.

There was disappointment, though ^ and not a little frustration ^ at Leominster station seemingly missing out on much-needed needed improvements at the expense of Ludlow. Campaigners felt that disabled access in particular needed addressing.

The apparent absence of any direct service from North Wales to London via the West Midlands to link up with Eurostar was also noted.

[willc]

They probably ought to wait for the West Midlands and Chiltern RUS^▸ (Route Utilisation Strategy) next year to find out Network Rail's longer-term view of prospects. I would be amazed if the RUS didn't set out redoubling the 12 miles from Ledbury to Shelwick junction, north of Hereford, as highly desirable. With the now hourly LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise) Hereford-Birmingham service and FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s Hereford trains added to the mix, this section must be under the same kind of capacity pressure as the Cotswold Line.

But I don't think anyone will be 'adapting' the tunnels.

Ledbury has always been single track and boasts some of the tightest clearances on the network - Mk3s just about squeeze through - and after what happened between Colwall and Malvern Wells when the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) bored the tunnel now in use during the 1920s, I don't think anyone will be risking boring another tunnel. The idea was to have two single bores, creating a double track route, but ground movement made the original tunnel unsafe so the line stayed single track, using the new bore.

[Mookiemoo]

Thats why you have the silly TM^‡(resolve) job to the rear power car because the doors dont open in the tunnel!

As for the fares - I cant comment on HFD^» (Hereford - next trains) to Leominster but I do know I can get HFD to LUD for 4.95 which for 30 miles is not bad (ok that with a raiil card but add on 30%) - Liverpool to Manchester would be more for not that more than the same distance

[Don]

This is another aspect of the conservative party policy to find a problem and talk about `their wonderful solution' just so that they can get elected.  Only to forget all about them, post election because the cost to benefit analysis shows them to be far to expensive.

Doubling of the tunnels will never happen and is not actually needed - the tunnels are short and even with a service of 4 trains per hour between Malvern and Hereford they would not be needed.  Doubling of the two stretches of line - 12 miles Hereford to Ledbury and 8 miles Ledbury North End to Colwall could be done, but there is always a limited amount of money, and I can think of lots of better uses for what is of course our money such as increasing the number of car parking spaces at appropriate stations and building more carriages.

I love the comment "There is another major tunnel near Evesham that would need work." Now there is a political candidate who has his finger on the pulse!  There should be a law prohibiting candidates who do not live in, and have no connection with, an area, from standing.

[Btline]

If (God help us) the Tories get elected then you can kiss goodbye to ANY work on the Hereford line, let alone a mad plan like that! Once again, a Tory talking big as part of their "get power at all costs" mantra, when they know that they'll have to bottle it eventually.

Look at the Lisbon treaty. After pumping out reams of propaganda about how Labour are bad for not having a referendum, Cameron's bottled it, and hasn't got the balls to say whether he will or not if he were to become PM. Again, he doesn't want to loose any voters ("get power at all costs"), so he says -in effect- nothing.

Unfortunately it's working, as we're in a recession so people point to the government to blame. Despite the fact that it is because of Labour and Gordon Brown that no UK^▸ (United Kingdom) person has lost any money from their banks, that the UK was the first to bail out the banks and that other heads of state have looked at what he has done for advice! If the world leaders were voting, would they vote for Dave's "do nothing and cut" approach, which would have turned the recession into a depression, and cost us more in the long term? No - they'll have voted unanimously for Gordon.

Cameron's been getting away with murder and is being given too soft a rid by the press.

(Sorry, another political rant - I get so passionate!)

[John R]

Despite the fact that it is because of Labour and Gordon Brown that no UK^▸ (United Kingdom) person has lost any money from their banks,

We've all lost money. Think of it like one enormous mortgage that we'll all be paying for for the next 20 years, (well into my retirement).

Let's keep the politics out of it please. 

[Not from Brighton]

Politics and railways have gone hand in hand right from the beginning. I think it's difficult to have a discussion about investment in public transport without it being political!

[Btline]

And if we'd taken the Tory approach, it would have been worse! A mortgage for a lot longer than 20 years!

Brown acted quickly and saved the banks. Blame the bankers for the unavoidable penalty.

[stebbo]

Let's not get political - except to say that Gordon B, Tony B,the Millibands et al. and the rest should, in my humble opinion, be shot.

Frankly, there is a case for spending on the railway network and, having lived in Hereford for 19 years (though sadly no more), the Hereford (ie Shelwick) to Ledbury line should be redoubled. I'm sure the Ledbury to Malvern section could stay as is for the time being.

[Btline]

Let's not get political - except to say that Gordon B, Tony B,the Millibands et al. and the rest should, in my humble opinion, be shot.

So you would shoot the man who saved Northern Rock, who prevented any UK^▸ (United Kingdom) people loosing any savings. A man who has been praised around the world for his actions, and thus copied!

[devon_metro]

The man who means we are still in recession as they fudged the predictions...?

[Btline]

The man who means we are still in recession as they fudged the predictions...?

We're bound to be in recession for longer than other countries, as a much higher proportion of our wealth was in the City.

[Don]

Just to even the balance:

The Tories brought in the reforms - deregulation - that allowed the banks to beat the other world banks by taking massive risks and making loads of money.  Banking is therefore pretty well our largest sector these days and was doing very nicely for bringing in money to this country and into the governments coffers. As a result and despite over 10 years in power the labour government did not see the need to reverse even some of this and put in the checks and balances that perhaps with hindsight should have been there.  Perhaps the same civil servant advisers are really to blaime?  We were therefore hit hardest when the banks lending to the "sub-prime" market in the USA failed.

Surprisingly to most people in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), Gordon Brown was seen by many of the world leaders as the best man to get the world out of this mess and, as said by stebbo, was lent money by the IMF and has had his solution copied by other countries.  Yes many other countries are now out of this recession, but that is because they followed Gordon Brown's lead, we were hit the hardest and as a result have further to climb.

Looking at the current Conservative plans to see if their way would have worked is hard as they do not seem to have any concrete plans of what they would have done, and in fact little concrete plans on anything.  The mostly likely seems to be to do nothing and let the free market recover in it's own time.  This has a precedent as in the recession of the late 1980s the IMF refused to lend money to the Thatcher government as their plans were not seen as sensible and as a result there was little that they could do, and so they sat back and waited for the market to recover pointing out that the cuts and job losses would provide leaner more effective business more able to make money in the world market, post recession.  Inflation went through the roof; taxes were raised to pay for the unemployed; maintenance on the fabric of the country (roads, rail, schools, hospitals, etc.) was halted; and most of our manufacturing industry collapsed - we came out of that recession pretty well destroyed and in a vain attempt to get back to railways much of our rolling stock was scrapped or stored as there was almost no freight and so few passengers that most new passenger trains were designed to be just 2 coaches in length (replacing 5 to 7 coach trains) or for Cross Country 4 or 5 coaches (replacing 7 - 10 coach trains).

The trouble with the present government is that it does not seem to have anything new to offer and has a leader who is not particularly charismatic.

The trouble with David Cameron's government in waiting is that they are so desperate to be elected that they are too scared to say what their plans and policies are in case this will loose them some votes.  This incidentally, seems to be being copied rather effectively by the BNP^▸ (Barnstaple) - "were not against ethnic minorities and we don't want any of them to leave, we just feel that we have got too many new people in the country and feel the need to discuss how we can make it harder for more to get in."

It is going to be a bizarre election: victory seems likely for the parties who have no published plans or policies and have promised to do no harm, but have nice men in charge.

[TerminalJunkie]

The man who means we are still in recession as they fudged the predictions...?

How, precisely, do fudged predictions extend a recession?

[John R]

Brown acted quickly and saved the banks. Blame the bankers for the unavoidable penalty.

Remind me who removed regulation of the banks from the Bank of England and gave it to the totally ineffectual FSA, who failed to regulate the risk management of banks and couldn't spot a bank going bust from 10 yards until the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) told everyone. A certain Gordon Brown if I recall.