Capture

Transport, Economy and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee

11 July 2022

Report of the Corporate Director Business and Environmental Services

Rail Update Report

1.0 Purpose of Report

1.1 To update members on rail developments and forthcoming changes for the railway and rail passengers in North Yorkshire. The report also provides Members with an overview of the rail industry to aid understanding of the opportunities for engagement and influence.

2.0 Current Position

2.1 The rail industry in the UK is governed by national legislation. This provides the framework for how the industry operates and what responsibility various bodies have for differing aspects of rail activity and delivery.

2.2 The current structure is dominated by national bodies and central control (see Appendix A) with little influence or control able to be exercised by local government. There is however a growing impetus for change in the rail industry, largely due to the impact of events such as the May 2018 timetable disruption, the on-going impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the move towards more devolved powers.

2.3 In May 2021, the government announced its plans for the biggest reform to the railway in three decades, in the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail (see Appendix B). Within the Plan there are chapters and key themes:

· Integrating the railways – creating Great British Railways (GBR) by 2024

o It will be the single guiding mind and lead the rail industry and the rail network in the public interest and will replace Network Rail.

o The government will hold the railways’ leaders accountable for meeting the needs of the customers and communities the network serves.

o Providing a 30 year Whole Industry Strategic Plan (WISP), all stations will be operated by GBR and there will be closer links and partnerships with devolved authorities and Community Rail Partnerships.

· Replacing train operator franchises - franchising will be replaced by new Passenger Service Contracts. There will be a focus on meeting passengers’ priorities and incentives to grow rail usage.

· A new deal for passengers – easy payment, pay as you go, simplified fares, fares integration with other modes.

2.4 Other chapters include – “unleashing” private sector potential (including SME’s) especially around economy, environment, connectivity and innovation and empowering rail staff.

2.5 Great British Railways HQ

2.5.1 In late 2021 the Department for Transport ran a competition for expressions of interest to locate the GBR HQ outside of London. The County Council strongly supported the submission from the City of York who have along with 42 other towns and cities across the UK put in bids - https://bit.ly/3u9i2ET. It is expected that DfT will confirm the shortlist of towns/cities through to the next round this summer with ministerial visits and some public engagement to follow.

2.6 Integrated Rail Plan

2.6.1 The Department for Transport in November 2021 announced its Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) with £96bn invested in rail in the Midland and the North and delivery earlier than the originally proposed schemes. Within the plan was:

· The removal of High Speed 2 (HS2) Eastern Leg – a high-speed rail network that would have linked London – Birmingham – East Midland Parkway (retained) – Sheffield – Leeds and York.

o Replaced with a £100m study on how to connect Leeds to the High Speed network and the development of a mass transit network for Leeds and a high speed link between Leeds and Bradford.

· Investment in the East Coast Main Line (ECML), including increasing capacity just north of York station and a new layout at Northallerton to accommodate expected growth. Enhancements on the ECML south of York will also reduce journey times to/from London and the South East by a further 14 minutes

· York – Birmingham journey time is expected to be 110 minutes. Currently 147 minutes though with HS2 it would have been 57minutes.

· The removal of Transport for the North (TfN) Northern Powerhouse Rail concept.

o Replaced by £17.2bn of funding to upgrade the current Trans Pennine Route between Liverpool and York including new railway routes (not via Bradford) and electrification and with a journey time of 55 minutes (currently 83 minutes) between York and Manchester.

o Removal of NPR plans between Leeds – Selby - Hull and Sheffield – Selby/Goole - Hull.

2.7 The wider context

2.7.1 Transport for the North (TfN) is the statutory sub-national transport body for the north and is primarily responsible for producing the Strategic Transport Plan (STP) for the North which was published in 2019. Work is commencing on a STP refresh for 2024 which will align with the work to also refresh the authority’s Local Transport Plan. TfN’s Strategic Rail team plays a key role in shaping and informing rail-related issues within the STP and its outputs for the Region.

2.7.2 The Rail North Partnership (RNP) acts on behalf of the Department for Transport and TfN to manage the Northern and TransPennine Express rail operator business plans for rail services across the north. TfN’s Strategic Rail team reports back to local authority partners on RNP activities at member and officer forums.

2.7.3 Invest East Coast Rail - East Coast Mainline Authorities (ECMA) https://bit.ly/3OpIyCd represents 41 local councils, combined authorities and Scottish Regional Transport Partnerships from across the area served by the East Coast Main Line and works with other stakeholders to lobby for investment in the line.

2.7.4 Network Rail business planning runs in 5 year cycles known as Control Periods and the next Period (CP7) is 2024 – 2029. North Yorkshire County Council are a consultee as plans are developed and have regular meetings with them on specific projects and initiatives.

2.7.5 There is similar engagement with the Train Operators to work together on future investment opportunities and with their future business planning. North Yorkshire County Council currently has little direct influence over services and performance in our area however this could change as Great British Railways evolves and plans to move to a Combined Authority develop.

2.8 COVID-19 Impacts

2.8.1 Railways were seen as an essential service throughout the pandemic and most routes remained open, especially to ensure key workers could still get to work. In North Yorkshire at the start of the pandemic the number of train services halved with a few routes having all services withdrawn, and passenger numbers fell to below 10% for a considerable time. Currently the number of services in North Yorkshire stands at around 90% with passenger numbers overall reaching 80% of pre-Covid levels until the recent strikes.

2.8.2 The biggest change has been in how the trains are used, and whereas before the pandemic commuting and business travel dominated, with the move to more working from home and meetings moving on-line the numbers travelling have dropped significantly with both at around 40-50% of pre-Covid levels. In sharp contrast leisure and more discretionary travel especially at weekends and during the holiday periods has seen a significant increase with much higher demand than pre-Covid.

2.8.3 Rail freight also saw some growth especially in container trains supporting retail during the pandemic an example was a new train running Monday – Friday between Tesco’s distribution centre at Daventry and Teesside (via Northallerton).

2.8.4 Overall the Government has funded the railways throughout the pandemic at a cost of £16bn to the UK taxpayer and is now looking at ways to reduce these costs which will include whether all pre-Covid services still need to run.

2.9 The railway in North Yorkshire

2.9.1 The County Council’s Strategic Transport Prospectus is clear that North Yorkshire is at the geographical centre of the North of England, has much of the North’s strategic transport infrastructure running through it, contributes to the current economic prosperity of the North and has huge potential for future growth. The Prospectus identifies the following three strategic transport priorities:

o Improving east – west connectivity

o Improving access to High Speed and conventional rail

o Improving long distance connectivity to the north and south

2.9.2 Railways are a driver and facilitator of sustainable economic growth and social wellbeing connecting cities, towns and communities across the UK, the North and within North Yorkshire.

2.9.3 Overall, there are 260 miles (418km) of rail routes in North Yorkshire and pre pandemic some 8.75m rail journeys (reduced to 2.1m in the pandemic) were made annually to and from the 46 stations within North Yorkshire.

2.9.4 Two stations recorded over 1 million users a year (Harrogate at 1.77m, and Skipton 1.2m), a further three stations over half a million (Scarborough 973k, Northallerton 712k, Selby, 675k), Knaresborough 439k and 6 others, (Hornbeam Park, Malton, Thirsk, Starbeck, Cononley and South Milford) recorded usage over 170,000 passengers a year. See Appendix C.

2.9.5 Over recent year until the pandemic, rail patronage in North Yorkshire had grown by over 2.1 million extra journeys.

2.9.6 The above map highlights the rail network in North Yorkshire where national operations, local operations and open access operators provide the following rail services:

· London North Eastern Railway (LNER): to and from London and Scotland serving Skipton, Harrogate, Selby, and Northallerton;

· TransPennine Express (TPE): North East and East Coast Via York and Leeds to Manchester and Liverpool, serving Northallerton, Thirsk, Scarborough, Seamer, Malton and Selby;

· Northern Rail: Local Franchise services to York and Leeds serving Harrogate, the Dales, Skipton, Esk Valley & Selby;

· Grand Central (GC): Open Access between Sunderland & London serving Northallerton & Thirsk;

· Hull Trains (HT): Open Access between Hull & London serving Selby.

2.9.7 There are three key national rail gateway stations close to North Yorkshire at York, Leeds and Darlington.

2.9.8 There are also three heritage rail operators in North Yorkshire though they are not part of the national rail network. They are North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Wensleydale Railway Company, and Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway.

2.9.8 Rail freight is important with many operating through and within North Yorkshire. Aggregates from Swinden Quarry and Arcow quarry in Horton-in-Ribblesdale has increased the number of freight trains and follows the Dales National Park policy of reducing HGV movements. Drax Power station relies on rail for biomass delivery, and freight including metals and container trains travel from Teesside and the other east coast ports to/ major inland distribution centres. Whilst this is good for removing HGV’s off the roads there are some capacity challenges on the rail network and potentially increased impacts at level crossings.

2.10 On-going rail related work

2.10.1 Esk Valley Line – Additional Train Services

· Additional train services and infrastructure improvements along the Esk Valley, Whitby – Middlesbrough railway line are part of the York Potash (now Anglo-American) Section 106 agreement.

· At the time of the agreement there were only four trains a day in each direction, the agreement looked to ultimately increase this number to seven (by December 2024) and then eight trains per day in each direction.

· In December 2019 the number of services increased to six however due to resources issues at Northern Trains the number of trains has temporarily gone back down to four since May 2022. Northern have however doubled the capacity of the remaining train services and committed to restoring the other two services at the earliest opportunity.

· Work to finalise the planned infrastructure improvements is ongoing with the aim of modernising the railway, providing faster journey times and a much more reliable train service for passengers.

2.10.2 Transforming Cities Fund (TCF)

· This is a fund launched in 2018 aimed at improving productivity by investing in public and sustainable transport infrastructure in and around English cities, and in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority the following have been developed.

o Skipton Station Gateway project - https://bit.ly/3xo0SEk

o Selby Station Gateway project - https://bit.ly/3Hlfk4o

o Harrogate Station Gateway project - https://bit.ly/3HiSIlg

2.10.3 Levelling Up Fund (LUF)

· In partnership with Scarborough Borough Council (SBC) and Ryedale District Council, the bid due to be submitted by 6 July will improve access at and to four key railway stations (Seamer, Scarborough, Thirsk and Malton). The benefits will be:

o Decarbonisation of the transport network;

o Increased Rail Station Usage;

o Reduced Rail Journey Times; and

o Improved active mode access to each station

· Seamer station proposals

o A new pedestrian and cycle link connecting the station to residential sites in the west, a new three span open footbridge across the rail line and A64 including lifts to platforms 1 and 2 and a new station car park to the east of the track on to the A64.

o The proposals will complement National Highways proposed shared use path along the A64 which finish at the Dunslow Road roundabout.

o The scheme will deliver key access enhancements for users, improve safety, create increased access to employment sites and business opportunities and increase station passenger demand and subsequently revenue.

· Scarborough station proposals

o A Transport Hub which will host facilities including cycle storage, hire, repair and amenities, bus stands and waiting areas, taxi booking stands, electric vehicle rental facilities and some commercial space.

o The transport hub is part of a wider master plan for the station and surrounding area, led by SBC, but can be delivered independently.

o SBC have already successfully secured £6.68m of Towns Fund grant to deliver public realm improvement and station access works and their LUF bid builds upon the Towns Fund project and the Transport Hub bid to deliver regeneration of the station and town centre buildings.

o The proposals will reinvigorate a historic part of central Scarborough, and strengthen the connections between the train station and the town centre and sea front.

· Thirsk railway station proposals

o Replace the existing footbridge with a new two span bridge design with three lift towers with one adjacent to the upper car park and the other two located on the island platforms. A high-level walkway will connect the new footbridge to the drop-off point to the west on Carlton Road.

o These proposals will offer step free access to every platform, enhancing pedestrian and cycle access at the station. The existing barrow crossing will be extinguished.

· Malton Station proposals

o Aimed at delivering improvements to access especially for walking and cycling between Malton and Norton to the town and public transport interchange via the station forecourt and a new accessible link via a second platform and new bridge.

o The second platform will also improve reliability and resilience of the York – Scarborough railway line and for the wider rail network including the East Coast Main Line and Transpennine route both of which the Government are investing in heavily.

2.11 Rural Commission and rail issues

· The Rural Commission requested that the County Council review car parking spaces at railway stations. Pre-pandemic most station car parks were full, however the pandemic has changed this with more people working from home and travelling less regularly, it has meant that there are parking spaces for those travelling later in the day helping leisure travel.

· Many North Yorkshire stations are close to the communities they serve and active travel options, along with appropriate station facilities can encourage this, as well as the use of public transport where available which can sometimes be a viable alternative to use of the car.

· Some stations act as railway gateways to the communities they serve and provide the alternative to long distance drives, for example Northallerton and Thirsk in recent years have seen increases in car park provision and funding bids for Scarborough, Selby and Seamer are looking to provide more car park provision. As potential new opportunities arise, the County Council will work with the rail industry and the District Areas (especially planners) to develop future car park capacity.

· Any car park developments coming forward would also be expected to help deliver the York and North Yorkshire Routemap to Carbon Negative.

2.12 Timetables

· Usually change twice a year in December and May, although during the pandemic timetables were changing around every eight weeks due to rapidly changing circumstances. The role of the County Council is to be part of the timetable consultation process and to try to influence future timetables.

· For May 2022, resource issues meant Northern Trains consulted on some timetable changes and temporary reductions on the Harrogate Line, Esk Valley Line and around Selby. Despite representations from a variety of sources, including letters from local MP’s, the County Council and local passenger groups to the Secretary of State, Northern were not able to amend the reductions, however some bus replacement services were provided.

· For December 2022 it is expected the services removed in May 2022 will be restored, alongside planned changes to the Scarborough and Selby services operated by Transpennine Express.

· For May 2023 (originally planned for May 2022) a new East Coast Main Line timetable will operate, which will see big changes to services on this nationally strategic route. In response to a consultation in 2021 the County Council highlighted issues with train stopping patterns and reduced connectivity for stations in North Yorkshire. Some of these concerns remain for the May 2023 timetable change whilst the current industrial relation issues detailed below could also force another delay to the timetable implementation date.

2.13 Industrial Relations

· On 7 June 2022, the Rail Maritime Transport (RMT) union announced that it was calling a national rail strike over pay, redundancies and the safety of the railway. The dispute is with Network Rail and thirteen of the train companies and in week commencing 20 June the three strike days effectively closed the network down and also had a significant impact on services either side of the strike days.

· Discussions between the rail industry and the RMT continue, and other rail unions are also balloting their members. At the time of writing, no agreements had been reached and a new round of strike days were likely to be announced.

· This is a dispute on a national level, and at a local level there is little that can be done, other than to work with the train operators to try and mitigate the impact on rail passengers in North Yorkshire.

· For further information on the strike impacts from the train companies operating in North Yorkshire see below:

o Northern - https://bit.ly/3mZ9CvX

o LNER - https://bit.ly/3N4wS6e

o Transpennine Express (TPE) - https://bit.ly/3N84z7a

o Cross Country – https://bit.ly/39wBAMl

o Hull Trains – serve Hull-Selby-London - https://bit.ly/3tHcSzX

o Grand Central – https://bit.ly/3xwmcYp

o Network wide rail updates - https://bit.ly/39wCyYZ

2.14 Level Crossings

· A 2020 study by Network Rail identified savings in barrier downtimes at Starbeck (Harrogate Line) and Kildwick (Skipton Line) level crossings by relocating rail signalling infrastructure closer to the level crossing, therefore reducing delays to road traffic. North Yorkshire County Council then commissioned highway level crossing surveys to enable a highway model to assess the potential improvements.

· The outputs from this modelling exercise were used for a high level Value for Money (VfM) analysis to ascertain the commercial viability of improvement schemes, with the journey time benefits offset against the base cost of the scheme.

· Officers are now working with Network Rail to finalise the costs at Starbeck level crossing and at Kildwick, officers are working to resolve additional journey time/queue lengths before finalising costs.

· There are a number of potential funding sources including third party funding from developers, improvements as part of any future Harrogate to York re-signalling work and as part of mitigation measures due to the enhancements to the Leeds/Bradford airport service impacting Starbeck level crossing.

2.15 Community Rail Partnerships (CRP’s)

· There are four CRP’s in North Yorkshire:

o Esk Valley Railway Development Company https://bit.ly/3u8sCvW

o Leeds – Lancaster – Morecambe (Bentham Line) https://bit.ly/3NtoM7r

o Settle & Carlisle Railway Development Company https://bit.ly/3xYIouj

o Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership https://bit.ly/3HVR896

2.16 They are accredited by the DfT and are members of the Community Rail Network https://bit.ly/3QRiyRM and provide an important link between the railway and local communities often in deeply rural areas.

2.17 Community rail typically involves local people and organisations working in partnership to improve their local railways. Community rail initiatives such as station enhancements and innovative promotional schemes can help get better value for money from the rail network.

2.18 CRP’s work can include improving bus links to stations, developing walking and cycling routes, bringing station buildings back into use, art and educational projects, working with charities like the Alzheimer’s Society to create a Dementia friendly railway or local organisations such as Botton Village, input into fares and timetables, as well as organising special events promoting the railway.

3.0 North Yorkshire Line by Line Updates

· Leeds – Harrogate – York Line

o A £10m infrastructure upgrade between Harrogate and York, funded by North Yorkshire County Council and York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership enabled an increase in frequency to two trains an hour to run reliably all day.

o LNER introduced six trains a day in each direction between London and Harrogate pre-pandemic and plan to re-introduce the services in the near future.

o In May 2022, due to COVID, industrial action and a driver training backlog, Northern removed four services on the corridor in the early morning and late evening. Stakeholders have been advised that this is a short-term reduction and the plan is to return to full service from December 2022.

o Northern have over the last few years transformed their customer service with improvements at stations along the line as well as more modern rolling stock (withdrawing all pacer trains).

o The County Council is continuing to work with the local planning authority on developments such as Cattal that are close to the railway line.

o The development by Network Rail of a scheme to enhance capacity north of York station on the East Coast Main Line will also help the Harrogate Line.

o The Friends of Knaresborough Station Group are very active and the station has seen many improvements as a result.

o Recent work to increase capacity into and out of Leeds station that will improve reliability has just been completed.

o WYCA have developed plans for a new Leeds Bradford Airport Station.

· York – Scarborough Line (see also the LUF bid above in section 2.10.3)

o Transpennine Express (TPE) have recently invested in new and refurbished trains on the route and improved facilities at all stations.

o The current service is hourly and most services are shuttles between York and Scarborough, though from December 2022 the service will be to Manchester Piccadilly. The County Council are in discussions with TPE regarding the introduction in 2023 of additional services at key travel times throughout the day and year.

o At Malton Station TPE were successful in bidding for Access for All funding for to extend the height of the platform to make the trains more accessible. A new waiting area and new accessible toilet facilities have also been delivered.

o Transport for the North and Network Rail have also identified relatively cheap solutions to improve line speeds on the line. Work is ongoing to deliver some of these as soon as possible.

o Haxby Station – City of York Council submitted a bid to the DfT New Stations Fund and have been successful in getting development funding and the plan is for the station to open in spring 2024. This will give access from the eastern side of York, and in a recent public consultation, 60% of responders said they would use the station to get to Scarborough.

· Skipton Line (including the Settle & Carlisle and Bentham Line)

o There have been some improvements to frequency of services and improvements at stations, and new or refurbished rolling stock has also been introduced.

o Like Harrogate there have been some short-term reductions in services but these again should return from December 2022.

o Skipton Station – Northern Trains will be submitting a bid for Access for All funding this summer. This would remove some steep non-accessible ramps and use of the subway and replace them with stairs and lifts. It would also compliment the TCF scheme described in section 2.10.2.

o The Bentham Line Community Rail Partnership have recently produced (with County Council involvement) a well-received strategic case for investment in the line. The Executive Summary is available https://bit.ly/3u7eoeT

o Working with Ribble Valley Borough Council and Lancashire County Council a bid was submitted to the Restoring Your Railway (RYR) fund for a new passenger services to operate between Clitheroe and Hellifield and potentially beyond. In June 2022, stakeholders were advised that the bid was unsuccessful, however they were advised to continue to pursue other funding opportunities.

o The long running campaign (led by SELRAP) to reopen the Skipton – Colne line is not going through the RYR process, however further development of the scheme is currently with the DfT for decision.

o Settle and Carlisle Line – one of the most visited and famous pieces of rail line in the UK and very popular as a tourism destination. Whilst services have improved in recent years there are issues with passenger capacity at peak leisure times and further enhancements to the services and use of different rolling stock are being lobbied for by stakeholders.

o There was also a bid to the RYR fund to reopen the Garsdale – Hawes railway line but this was unsuccessful.

· Hull – Selby – Leeds Line

o The Integrated Rail Plan had minimal mention of this route for investment, however the previous NPR work had started to develop proposals for electrification and identified opportunities to improve journey times. The County Council is continue to work with train operators and other local authorities on any potential quick win opportunities such as line speed improvements.

o TPE run the “fast” hourly services on this route continuing after Leeds to Huddersfield, Manchester and from December 2022 to Liverpool.

o Northern run the “local” hourly service from York – Selby/Hull via Ulleskelf (lower frequency), Church Fenton and Sherburn-in-Elmet, and the Halifax - Leeds – Selby - Hull/Bridlington local service that serves South Milford. There have been some recent issues with reduced frequencies at South Milford and this should be resolved from December 2022.

o Hull Trains and LNER run services between Hull – Selby and London.

o Selby station (see Transforming Cities Fund in section 2.10.2) has been successful in getting Access for All funding for new lifts and stairs which will make the station fully accessible. The project is planned for delivery over the next year.

o Selby District – there are two routes with a very limited service.

§ Goole – Leeds with only three services in total each day, stopping at Hensall and Whitley Bridge in North Yorkshire. There is a business case being developed and lobbying for this line to have an increased level of services in the future.

§ York – Sheffield via Ulleskelf, Church Fenton, Sherburn-in-Elmet, Moorthorpe, Pontefract, Rotherham and Meadowhall, it had three services each way until the pandemic when the service was withdrawn and these have yet to be restored.

· Scarborough – Hull Wolds Coast Line

o The improvements on this line (Hunmanby, Filey, and Seamer stations in North Yorkshire) has seen the introduction of modern rolling stock and an hourly service, and this service goes on to Goole, Doncaster and Sheffield.

o Connections at Seamer for the TPE trains to York are raised by passengers and the introduction of additional services on the Scarborough line to York would improve connectivity.

o The Friends of Hunmanby Station and the local community are very active and successful in promoting rail travel from their village.

o Since the pandemic with the increase in leisure travel and staycations, this line has been regularly highlighted as one of the busiest routes by Northern.

· Esk Valley

o Please see section 2.10.1 above.

· Northallerton and Thirsk

o The Integrated Rail Plan recognised Northallerton as a pinch point for the strategic East Coast Main Line. Proposals are being developed by Network Rail that could see a significant improvements to the track infrastructure at Northallerton. Proposals are at Business Case stage and the County Council would expect further engagement with Network Rail as the scheme comes forward.

o Northallerton is served by TPE with services to the North East, Teesside (including new services to Saltburn), York, Leeds and across the Pennines to Manchester and Liverpool. LNER provide the services along the East Coast Main Line to Scotland, North East, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and London. Grand Central provide services between Sunderland the Durham Coast, Teesside, York and London.

o Northallerton Station was successful in getting Access for All funding and the work on new lifts and stairs has recently been completed making the station fully access compliant.

o Thirsk (see LUF bid above in section 2.10.3) has TPE and Grand Central services stopping, though these are less frequent than at Northallerton. In recent years the car park has been improved and the capacity has increased.

o If the Thirsk Levelling Up Fund bid is not successful the business case work is very advanced and could form a bid to the Access for All fund for lifts and a bridge to make the station fully access compliant.

4.0 Recommendation:

4.1 It is recommended that members note the content of the report and the progress being made on rail matters across the county.

Authors: David Hern, Regional Transport Planner & Graham North, Rail Officer

Presenter: David Hern, Regional Transport Planner

Date: 11 July 2022

Background papers relied upon in the preparation of this report:-

Great British Railways HQ Bids - https://bit.ly/3u9i2ET

Invest East Coast Rail - East Coast Mainline Authorities (ECMA) - https://bit.ly/3OpIyCd

Transforming Cities FundSkipton Station Gateway project - https://bit.ly/3xo0SEk

o Selby Station Gateway project - https://bit.ly/3Hlfk4o

o Harrogate Station Gateway project - https://bit.ly/3HiSIlg

Train Operator Strike Information