Chiltern Evergreen 3 - Further new Track Access Agreement Application

[whole diary]

[Chafford1]

Chafford1's questions here and elsewhere are pretty much unanswerable, on the reasonable assumption that no one from the upper echelons of any of those organisations posts here...

Paul

From another website:

'Chiltern and DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) failed to achieve financial sign-off before the 1st December deadline contained in their franchise agreement due to the number of other track access and development funding agreements with ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) and Network Rail that had to be in place first. They have continued negotiating and should get sign-off shortly with an announcement expected within the next two weeks. The Transport & Works Act Order applicatioin is being made to DfT today'

[Btline]

If these hiccups delay the project sufficiently, I will be disappointed. Another year to wait...

[Chafford1]

If these hiccups delay the project sufficiently, I will be disappointed. Another year to wait...

It looks as if the project is back on course:

http://www.chiltern-evergreen3.co.uk/uploads/Evergreen%203%20Newsletter%20Jan10%20v8%20Low-res.pdf 

[IndustryInsider]

If these hiccups delay the project sufficiently, I will be disappointed. Another year to wait...

It looks as if the project is back on course:

Perhaps, but no mention of any dates in that little bit of propaganda.

[ChrisB]

The TWA^▸ (Transport and Works Act 1992) advert appeared in the CHristmas Eve edition of my local paper.

[willc]

From Oxford-Bicester Rail Action Group's website

http://www.obrag.org.uk/archives/91

[John R]

Good to see their site is a little more accessible to occasional users than it was.

[Chafford1]

From the Financial Times:


'This Friday, Chiltern is expected to announce a new project, called ^Evergreen 3^, designed to cut journeys from London to Birmingham by up to 20 minutes'

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aed33bd8-ff8e-11de-921f-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

[ChrisB]

That's the date of the official launch.....

[devon_metro]

Is the Chiltern mainline ever going to be a contender in terms of speed? When compared to the West Coast line.

[ChrisB]

Doubnt it realistically - it's further, more stops & the current stock is slower at top speed.

[Btline]

Is the Chiltern mainline ever going to be a contender in terms of speed? When compared to the West Coast line.

No, but 100 mins will enable CH to compete better with Virgin's 80.

And they other attributes - better onboard environment, friendly staff, lower fares, better reliability/punctuality, overall better service, etc.

I read that the GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about) route to B'ham is actually 2 miles shorter than the Midland route. But perhaps the GC^» (Great Central Railway - link to heritage line) route to Marylebone removes this.

[JayMac]

If these hiccups delay the project sufficiently, I will be disappointed. Another year to wait...

Let's hope these hiccups don't last as long as those suffered by the poor bloke featured across the media this week! 

[paul7575]

Is the Chiltern mainline ever going to be a contender in terms of speed? When compared to the West Coast line.

As far as Virgin are concerned, Evergreen 3 definitely has the potential to affect their revenue, so in time honoured fashion, they have written to ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) and reminded them about it.

It's on p12-p13 of the grouped responses here:

http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/s22-chiltern-73sa-responses.pdf

2.. Revenue Abstraction
2.1 As a result of the infrastructure improvements likely to be introduced in December
2010, and the resultant benefits of faster services to / from the West Midlands, there is
an expectancy that a significant volume of revenue abstraction will occur, based upon
the presented Phase 1 timetable. This is without factoring in any risks associated with
the timetable as a result of locomotive hauled and/or additional services (as outlined
above).
2.2 Whilst sympathetic to the reality that whenever service frequencies & stopping patterns
change in sync with faster journey times, that other Train Operators operating on those
same routes or in parallel are always likely to be affected, we nonetheless regard that
in these circumstances, the overall likely affect on our own business is substantial
enough to warrant raising this issue as a future concern.

Paul

[Chafford1]

According to Railway Eye, ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies see - here) jumped the gun and issued the following press release a day early!


CHILTERN RAILWAY^S NEW LINE IS GREAT NEWS FOR PASSENGERS ^ ASSOCIATION OF TRAIN OPERATING COMPANIES

News provides perfect example of what train companies can achieve with smarter franchising

Responding to Chiltern Railways^ announcement of a ^250m new line, Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said:

^Chiltern Railway^s project to significantly improve services between London and the Midlands is great news for passengers, and a good example of what a private train operating company can achieve under the right conditions.

^Franchises which run for 15 years or more, as with the case of Chiltern Railways, provide incentives for train companies to invest in upgrading their services and to focus ever harder on meeting passengers^ needs.

^We want to move to more widespread use of longer franchises, together with other smart franchise reforms, to free train companies to provide passengers and taxpayers with a better deal.^