Western Gateway Rail Strategy - Stakeholder eConsultation to 31.12.2019

[whole diary]

[grahame]

At https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WesternGatewayRailStrategy

Western Gateway Rail Strategy

Stakeholder eConsultation

The Western Gateway Sub-National Transport Body (STB) covers a key geography in the West of the country and is currently developing a Rail Strategy to investigate how rail can capture the region’s economic potential and deliver the best levels of connectivity possible.
 
You have been identified as a key community stakeholder in the area, and we would like to capture your views and priorities within this eConsultation.
   
The eConsultation contains four pages and should take 10-15 minutes to complete:
* an introduction page;
* comments on Vision and Objectives;
* a SWOT analysis of rail in the region; and
* an opportunity to provide any other comments.
 
The deadline to submit this eConsultation is 31 December 2019.

[grahame]

Western Gateway Rail Strategy

The Western Gateway Sub-National Transport Body (STB) covers a key geography in the West of the country and is currently developing a Rail Strategy to investigate how rail can capture the region’s economic potential and deliver the best levels of connectivity possible.

I posted under "new and improved services" because this is about making improvements.

The Western Gateway produced some earlier work on roads and this may be a start towards redressing the balance. I do suggest members take a serious look at giving a good response. 

Sadly, there's no immediate link in the email I received nor on the front of the survey to background reading. The first page of the survey calls for personal details and who you're representing even before you know what questions you're being asked. Which makes it hard in my case to know who I am best to answer for, and puts me in the awkward position of having to then give a view without the chance to check with colleagues at TWSW^» (TravelWatch SouthWest - website), Railfuture, MRUG^» (Melksham Rail User Group - site) or the Coffee Shop.   I have asked for links and a copy of the full survey prior to answering in order to help me provide the best possible answers, and will post follow ups here should I get them.

[infoman]

are the passengers in General classified as stakeholders?

[grahame]

are the passengers in General classified as stakeholders?

I took some time to decide whether to start this thread in public, in "Frequent Posters" or just for "Travel Scholars" and I opted in the end for public.

My view is that a "Stakeholder" in a business or other operation is someone who has significant and ongoing links to it, or could have, and wants to work in such a way as to encourage it along in a positive direction. A stakeholder will take a wider view than his own personal one in areas such as passenger flows and mass transit, and will look to work (or stand) alongside and with other stakeholders for a common ongoing good set of objectives.

The question's also one that's come up for TravelWatch SouthWest general meetings.  There, we welcome just about any group with a positive legal transport interest, but also a scattering of individuals not associated ("yet" in many cases) with a group. That is where the new ideas and direction may come from, and these views are to be nurtured.  With limited resourcses (we were full last time) we do ask that groups send no more than two people - intended as a key representative and a hopefully-younger trainee as we look forward so much at these meetings.

I only got details of the consultation last night and await some clarifications - but as it seems that the consultation's fronted by Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch, I think it would be a very good idea for informed "stakeholders" even if not attached to a group that's reponding to make their inputs if their corridors are ... Tewkesbury - Cheltenham - Gloucester - Stonehouse - Yate - Bristol, or Swindon - Chippenham - Trowbridge - Salisbury - Southampton, or Portishead - Bristol - Filton - Aztec West - Severnside business areas - South Wales.  However good a transport planner who live in Ringwood (or whether) might be, they're unlikely to have current daily knowledge of the other corridors.

[Red Squirrel]

I've just scanned over this:

https://westerngatewaystb.org.uk/media/2090234/western-gateway-exhibition-boards.pdf

That'll be over £440 million's worth of road schemes. Climate emergency anyone?

[grahame]

Copy supplied in alternative format so you can now read and think before you answer  . Thank you to my contact for this.

http://www.passenger.chat/wgrail_consult_dec19.pdf

[Red Squirrel]

Very useful, thank you. I will pass this on to my FOSBR^▸ (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways) colleagues..!

[eightonedee]

My view is that a "Stakeholder" in a business or other operation is someone who has significant and ongoing links to it, or could have, and wants to work in such a way as to encourage it along in a positive direction.

Apologies for burdening you with a pedantic/subjective whinge, but I wish someone could find a more suitable word. A stakeholder originally meant (and still does in legal circles) someone who holds an asset or fund who has no interest in that asset or fund himself or herself, but has custody pending some contingency (such as completing a transaction, or deciding a dispute) when the fund or asset can be released to the party entitled to it.

Next to "sustainable" it is now possibly the most over- and misused word in the English language these days in my view. (Or does it mean someone who might be affected by a decision, whose views are canvassed to make it look like there has been consultation, but whose views will probably be ignored when the decision is made, that is assuming it was not already made before the consultation took place!) 

In this case - passengers please, not stakeholders.

[grahame]

My view is that a "Stakeholder" in a business or other operation is someone who has significant and ongoing links to it, or could have, and wants to work in such a way as to encourage it along in a positive direction.

Apologies for burdening you with a pedantic/subjective whinge, but I wish someone could find a more suitable word. A stakeholder originally meant ...

[snip]

In this case - passengers please, not stakeholders.

Not "passengers" either, though.   We're looking for a much more general word for "interested parties with an understanding of the overall issues".  So that's current passengers, wannabe passengers that would use proposals, and just about any other groups it would effect - from the residents of Redwick be they dismayed at the idea of extra traffic through their village to a station revitalised as a major park and ride, or delighted at the prospect of such a station giving them a fast, and frequent service into Bristol at a cost below parking charges (let alone the cost of running a car).  Then to meld in the interests of businesses who use rail or who's staff would want to use rail - perhaps there's a line running within 100 yards of 3000 jobs, but no station.  And I haven't even started to mention local government interest, special interest groups, spatial planning advocates ...

Next to "sustainable" it is now possibly the most over- and misused word in the English language these days in my view. (Or does it mean someone who might be affected by a decision, whose views are canvassed to make it look like there has been consultation, but whose views will probably be ignored when the decision is made, that is assuming it was not already made before the consultation took place!) 

Ah - the $640,000 question (I have added inflation to that figure).  It's hard to tell how much of many consultations are pre-loaded to give a veneer of asking, but I can point to cases where inputs appear to have had some measure of influence.  Of course, if you're involved pre-consultation and can help shape the questions 

[Red Squirrel]

FOSBR^▸ (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways)'s response:

Strategic objectives:
What high level impacts would you or your organisation like to see incorporated and addressed as part of this Rail Strategy?

Reduce carbon emissions by encouraging shift towards lower-carbon modes of transport.

Improve urban environments by reducing dependency on private motor cars, allowing space to be reallocated to improve public realm.

Improve connectivity between economic centres.

Strengths:
What do you think are the strengths of the rail network in the Western Gateway today?

East-West route via Bristol Parkway now electrified with increased speed and capacity.

Local rail services, where they exist, are well-used.

Weaknesses:
What do you think are the weaknesses of the rail network in the Western Gateway today?

Crucial parts of the network are running at full capacity, limiting opportunities for growth.

Ticketing and revenue collection on some local services is poor, leading to inaccurate usage statistics.

Local stations are often unattractive places to be.

Opportunities:
What opportunities do you think there are for rail in the Western Gateway?

The two major economic centres in the Western Gateway area - Bristol/Bath and Bournemouth-Christchurch-Poole - are poorly connected both by road and by rail. There is a significant opportunity to provide a new strategic rail link between these centres, potentially using old rail corridors. This would require a major investment, similar to the East-West Rail scheme now being developed to connect Oxford and Cambridge.

In other places capacity could be increased without land acquisition, restoring capacity removed when the railways were perceived to be in decline. For example, service frequency on the Severn Beach line could be increased to every 15 minutes over the busy section of the line by re-doubling the track from Clifton Down to Narroways Jct. Similarly, Platform 4 at Westbury could be recommissioned, allowing greater flexibility to terminate Bristol area local services there.

The MetroWest project should be accelerated and widened in scope, to include links to Thornbury, the full Henbury Loop service, and other new stations detailed in FOSBR’s Plan for Rail (see https://fosbr.org.uk/campaigns/fosbr-plan-for-rail/)

Local stations should be developed as transport hubs (such as those being investigated by WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about)’s Future Mobility Living Lab) and retail centres; potentially these schemes could be fundied by developers.

Threats:
What do you think are the greatest threats for rail in the Western Gateway?

Investment decisions are glacially slow; even schemes with high BCR^▸ (Benefit Cost Ratio) take decades to deliver.

Adding rail capacity is perceived as expensive, even when the BCR suggests a very high return on investment.

Some potential routes for new services are still not protected from development, making re-use of old routes more expensive and difficult.

Further comments:
Do you have any further comments - specific to your organisation or otherwise - regarding rail in the Western Gateway area?

It is hard to understand how, in a time when global warming is recognised as an existential threat, an organisation such as Western Gateway is seriously considering a spend of in excess of £440 million on new road schemes. New roads should only be considered where it can be proven that they will reduce GHG^▸ (Greenhouse gas) emissions. All road schemes currently being considered by Western Gateway should be halted and re-evaluated against this criterion.

[grahame]

FOSBR^▸ (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways)'s response ...

Thank you for sharing that.  I'll copy / link to various groups I know so we're all informed and looking to make it clear we're giving the same view from different angles (which we can the vast majority of the time  )

[Red Squirrel]

...and a post, to highlight it:

https://fosbr.org.uk/western-gateway-consultation/

[Red Squirrel]

Western Gateway Rail Strategy 2020-2040

Western Gateway STB is pleased to present its Rail Strategy 2020 ? 2040 which sets out the outcomes that it is seeking from the rail network provider and explains the need for change based on a review of policy, challenges and trends.

A thorough review of the Western Gateway rail priorities has been undertaken and the strategy explores the region?s vision, objectives and priorities, and develops a series of ambitious outcomes called Conditional Outputs which are grouped under five themes of Choice, Social Mobility, Decarbonisation, Productivity and Growth. Each theme and its objective is explained below:

Theme 1 ? Choice: Seeks to make rail the mode of choice across the Western Gateway and the objective for theme 1 is to make rail a realistic and viable option for journeys to and from within the Western Gateway area.
Theme 2 ? Decarbonisation: Acknowledges that rail will be a positive contributor to the Climate Change Emergency, Net Zero targets and the national decarbonisation agenda. The objective for theme 2 is to enable rail to contribute more actively towards the decarbonisation of the Western Gateway.
Theme 3 ? Social Mobility: Focusses specifically on addressing the needs of the remote, less connected and/or deprived parts of the Western Gateway, with the priorities set to unlock access to rail including physical, social and financial aspects. The objective for theme 3 is to provide equal journey opportunities by rail for all Western Gateway residents.
Theme 4 ? Productivity: Found to be a key policy consideration and the core message from the Industrial Strategy. The objective for theme 4 is to enable rail to contribute more actively to improvements in productivity across the Western Gateway.
Theme 5 ? Growth: Addresses the importance of the link between housing and industrial growth as identified in each council?s Local Plan and transport policy. This theme is also directly linked to all the other four themes due to alignment with land use and planning policy and aims to provide sustainable travel options for people and businesses across the Western Gateway. The objective for theme 5 is to enable rail to provide sustainable travel options for housing and job growth across Western Gateway.

The strategy highlights 23 Conditional Outputs (CO?s) which set out the ambition for rail and addresses the need for change in the Western Gateway region and sets out six route maps to follow to implement this strategy.

[...continues]

Download the full strategy document here: https://westerngatewaystb.org.uk/rail-strategy-2020-2040/