DfT Rail White Paper Unveiled

[whole diary]

[Lee]

The White Paper , entitled Delivering a Sustainable Railway , has been unveiled (links below.)
http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=302259&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

http://www.dft.gov.uk/about/strategy/whitepapers/whitepapercm7176/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6912930.stm

Costed plans for the near future include approval for the ^5.5 billion Thameslink project , major redevelopments at Birmingham New Street and Reading stations to eliminate the system's biggest bottlenecks , and ^200 million to start work on a strategic freight network. There will be 1,300 new carriages to ease overcrowding.

The White Paper includes the High Level Output Specification (HLOS^▸ (High Level Output Specification)) , the Government's proposed spending plans for rail in England and Wales from 2009-2014 , and the Statement of Funds Available (SoFA). While government money for the railways will amount to ^15.3bn between 2009 and 2014 , passenger fares are expected to make up ^39.2bn in the same period.

Here are some more links on this.
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/07/britain_plans_10_billion_sterl.html#more

http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/07/rail_investment_a_step_forward.html#more

http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/07/fare_games.html#more

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/6912705.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/6914491.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6914375.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6914757.stm

http://thisisplymouth.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=133464&command=displayContent&sourceNode=133158&contentPK=17918444&folderPk=78031&pNodeId=133174

http://thisisdevon.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=143632&command=displayContent&sourceNode=142719&contentPK=17916835&folderPk=91672&pNodeId=201778

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_headline=new-trains-8211-in-six-years-8217-time%26method=full%26objectid=19514431%26siteid=50082-name_page.html

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_headline=more-trains-longer-trains-better-trains%26method=full%26objectid=19516731%26siteid=50082-name_page.html

http://www.transport2000.org.uk/news/maintainNewsArticles.asp?NewsArticleID=399

http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=302315&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=302320&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=302324&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=302326&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=302330&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=302334&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=302342&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=302348&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=302338&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

Quote from the final link :

"Major improvements include 1,300 new carriages for the busiest trains across England and Wales. This will include extra carriages on services in the Bristol area."

[Lee]

It should not be forgotten that the government plans to reduce its subsidy from ^4.5bn a year to ^3bn by the middle of the next decade (link below.)
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2007/07/uk_passengers_to_bear_brunt_of.html#more

[Lee]

Cardiff Central MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Jenny Willott has said commuters should not pay for an overhaul of South Wales train services (link below.)
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_headline=rail-passengers-must-not-pay-for-upgrade%26method=full%26objectid=19526524%26siteid=50082-name_page.html

Here is the view from Reading and Bristol (links below.)
http://icberkshire.icnetwork.co.uk/chronicle/headlines/tm_headline=extra-platforms-and-a-better-rail-service-is-on-the-way%26method=full%26objectid=19523242%26siteid=50102-name_page.html

http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=146238&command=displayContent&sourceNode=146064&contentPK=17947642&folderPk=100268&pNodeId=145795

There are a lot of interesting quotes in the link below.
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=180730&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232315&home=yes&more_nodeId1=163047&contentPK=17937123

[simonw]

Hi

If the government is serious in increasing capacity on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) network, why not introduce some double decker trains to cover the Bristol-London routes.

It would require some changes, but most tunnels and overhead gantries where designed to accommodate steam engines which are much larger than current engines, so the number of alterations may not be horrendous.

There is no reason why an eight carriage double decker train could not carry over 800-900 peope, reducing the amount of train congestion at Reading and Paddington.

Any views?

[Lee]

Christian Wolmar's view (link below.)
http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/articles/independent/july25,07.shtml

[Lee]

Former Shadow Transport Secretary Chris Grayling gives his view in the link below.
http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=146238&command=displayContent&sourceNode=146064&contentPK=18115337&folderPk=100268&pNodeId=145795

Quotes :

"Over the past 10 years, the South West has had promise after promise of improvements to its transport systems - such as getting on with the Stonehenge tunnel and improving services on the Severn Beach railway line.

Most of the bigger promises haven't happened because Gordon Brown's Treasury blocked them.

So will things change now he's Prime Minister? His first action on transport was to publish a White Paper on what our rail system should look like for the next 30 years. A revolution for rail commuters in Bristol?

Well no, not exactly. The word Bristol appears only once in 155 pages of text, and then, believe it or not, only buried in the small print. No change there, then."

[Lee]

Christian Wolmar puts the White Paper in historical context (link below.)
http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/articles/tt/sept,07.shtml

[Lee]

The Government's rail White Paper is "not about helping the railways at all", a former British Rail safety chief has told MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament) (link below.)
http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2008/02/rail_white_paper_keeps_status.html#more

Instead, the White Paper was "about keeping the status quo and moving forward on things that don't cost a lot," said Peter Rayner.

Now a consultant and expert on rail operations and safety, Mr Rayner told the House of Commons Transport Committee that the Government had been wrong not to seriously look at electrification projects in the White Paper.

[Lee]

The new fare structure which features in the White Paper is explored further in the link below.
http://www.iworkforfgw.com/information/index.php?page=newfarestructure

[smokey]

Hi

If the government is serious in increasing capacity on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) network, why not introduce some double decker trains to cover the Bristol-London routes.

It would require some changes, but most tunnels and overhead gantries where designed to accommodate steam engines which are much larger than current engines, so the number of alterations may not be horrendous.

There is no reason why an eight carriage double decker train could not carry over 800-900 peope, reducing the amount of train congestion at Reading and Paddington.

Any views?

Why muck about with double deck trains, which in this country are restricted in Height, they were tired on the Southern Railway and had serious problems with station dwell times.
People forget that in in the Mid 70's Paddington used to dispatch 12 carriage RELIEF TRAINS to Plymouth and the West Country.
What is needed is a return to loco and coaches, built for High speed running, not fixed formation HST^▸ (High Speed Train) that can not cope at peak hours or on peak days.