Hampshire County Council
Public Transport Sub-Committee Item 2
8 January 2001
Passenger Rail Franchising: Hampshire County Council
Aspirations for the Thames Trains and Wessex Franchises
Report of the County Surveyor
1. Summary
1.1 This report brings before Members lists of aspirations for the Thames
Trains franchise and the recently announced 'Wessex' franchise. The
aspirations for the Thames franchise are based on the draft brought to
the Sub-Committee on 19 June 2000. The Wessex franchise will replace
parts of the Wales & West and South West Trains franchises; therefore
the aspirations are tailored to refer to appropriate parts of those
franchises. The drafts have been amended following consultation with
district, town and parish councils, and in the light of discussions
with the industry and the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority (sSRA).
Members' comments are invited, following which it is proposed to
communicate the aspirations to the franchise bidders and the sSRA.
This report summarises the changes, and the detailed aspirations and
maps of the franchise routes are attached as Appendices 1 and 2.
2. Introduction
1.1 The Wessex and Thames Trains franchises will encompass the two
remaining short franchises serving Hampshire. Wessex is to include
most of the English routes run by Wales & West, plus the
Waterloo-Exeter 'West of England' and Reading-Brighton routes operated
by South West Trains. It will acquire Grateley, Andover, Whitchurch
and Overton stations from South West Trains. It is understood that
the Thames Trains network will not be significantly altered.
1.2 All these routes operate relatively modern (diesel) rolling stock.
Although the largest station operated by either franchise would be
Andover, both will provide important east-west links within Hampshire
and to regional centres outside the county, in addition to Wessex
acquiring a busy and remunerative route into Waterloo.
2.3 The current Wales & West franchise is to be terminated early, on 31
March 2001. Its Welsh routes will form part of the 'Wales & Borders'
franchise and most of its English routes will go to Wessex. Wessex,
Great Western and Virgin Cross Country will be offered the opportunity
to bid to run the Devon and Cornwall branches currently operated by
Wales & West. It is understood that existing operators will continue
to run the franchises, with negotiated extensions where necessary,
until the new franchisees are in place.
2.4 Thames Trains operates Reading-Gatwick, Reading-Guildford and
Reading-Basingstoke services through Hampshire, and is the Station
Operator for Bramley, Blackwater and Farnborough North. Given its
relatively modern rolling stock and infrastructure it is unlikely to
be included in the early batches of renegotiations.
3. The County Council's Aspirations
3.1 Comments on the County Council's draft aspirations were received from
five district councils, seven parish or town councils, Hampshire
Coalition for Disabled People, two rail user groups and the Southern
Rail Passengers' Committee. As a result the drafts have been
substantially added to or clarified, both in terms of generic
improvements to be expected of any franchise and items specific to
particular franchises.
Generic Items
3.2 Both sets of aspirations now contain standard sections on punctuality
and reliability standards, information provision, guaranteeing
connections between services, personal security (including reference
to 'Help Points') and bicycles. Later evening services and a wider
spread of weekend services are included for both franchises, although
Wessex is more lacking in this respect and therefore receives greater
emphasis. The section on access for the mobility impaired emphasises
the benefits for those encumbered with luggage, pushchairs, etc. The
section on services to new stations and re-opened routes is partly
standard and partly tailored to emphasise Chineham station for Thames
and Chandlers Ford for Wessex.
Franchise Specific Items
3.3 The Thames Trains aspirations now also refer to a possible Basingstoke
area travelcard; the need for station car parking at Bramley; improved
journey times between Reading and Gatwick; through services from
Basingstoke to the Thames Valley and Paddington, and beyond Gatwick to
Ashford International; greater coordination with bus services; a rail
link bus from Yateley to Blackwater; and arrangements for special
events, such as the Farnborough Air Show.
3.4 The Wessex aspirations include items drawn from the South West Trains
list, referring to Reading-Brighton and Waterloo-Exeter services.
These cover track 'redoubling' and higher frequencies between
Salisbury and Exeter; staffing levels at smaller stations; higher
frequency to Grateley, Whitchurch and Overton; and hourly
Reading-Brighton services with more stops at Hedge End and Botley.
They now also include car parking at Romsey; improved journey times on
the Cardiff-Portsmouth route; and additional through services from the
Waterloo-Salisbury line to Bristol and Cardiff, and from Winchester to
the Bristol-Southampton and Waterloo-Exeter routes. Reference is
also made to the benefits of maintaining through services to West
Wales once the 'Wales & Borders' franchise is established. It is
proposed to write separately to the sSRA on this with reference to the
'Wales & Borders' franchise.
3.5 It is proposed that these aspirations be communicated to the sSRA, to
Railtrack and to bidders for the appropriate franchise, including
those now bidding for the 'Wales & Borders' franchise.
4. Conclusion
4.1 Through consultation with local authorities and user groups, and
taking account of the views of the rail industry, sets of aspirations
are proposed for the Thames Trains and Wessex franchises which are
comprehensive and ambitious, yet achievable. If incorporated into
the plans of the new franchise operators, they will make a significant
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contribution to providing rail services which are a realistic
alternative to the private car.
Recommendation
That, subject to comments or amendments by Members, the Aspirations for the
Thames Trains and Wessex franchises contained in Appendices 1 and 2 be
communicated to the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority, appropriate franchise
bidders and Railtrack.
Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers
The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an
important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent
in the preparation of this report.
NB the list excludes:
1. Published works.
2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined
in the Act.
TITLE LOCATION
None.
6263/MF
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APPENDIX 1
Renewal of the Thames Trains Franchise
Hampshire County Council Aspirations
The following list of aspirations for a renegotiated Thames Trains franchise
takes account of the views of appropriate district, parish and town councils
in Hampshire.
1. Punctuality and Reliability Standards
It is expected that the renegotiated franchise will include
significantly improved reliability and punctuality standards covering
all services, rather than only those in the peak. The Performance
Regime will need to include financial disincentives to terminating
services short of their destinations, and omitting stops en route
(so-called 'skip-stopping'), to make up late running. It is suggested
that performance statistics should be based on train mileage rather
than number of train services, to provide a more representative
picture of how many passengers are affected.
2. Information Provision
The new franchise should include substantially improved standards of
information provision, at stations (signing, announcements - remotely
provided at unstaffed stations - and onward travel information) and
on-train (particularly displaying and announcing the next station
stop, and destination displays near the outside of carriage doors).
It would be expected that the successful franchisee will commit to a
programme of improvements, including standards of staff training and
standards of response time for repairing malfunctioning equipment, and
specific measures for the visually and hearing impaired, such as the
provision of tactile maps. It would also be hoped that the franchisee
will be required to commit to meeting its share of the costs of
multi-modal enquiries to the national PTI (Public Transport
Information) telephone enquiry service.
3. Connections between Services
Since the rail network cannot provide direct trains between all likely
origins and destinations, rail journeys involving change of train will
be a major component in modal shift. It is important that passengers
can have confidence that connections can be held, to a reasonable
extent, for late running trains. The Performance Regime should
therefore not penalise the operator for holding trains to meet
connections and indeed should contain incentives to operators to
maintain connections. Particularly beneficial would be improved
connections at the major hubs of Reading, Guildford and Basingstoke.
4. New and Re-opened Stations
New stations serving new or expanded developments are a major
component of local authority transport and land-use policies. In some
circumstances local authorities are prepared to fund and promote new
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stations, but a major hurdle is the need for train operators to
commit to operating and serving them. However, the train operator's
decision is normally based entirely on, often conservative, commercial
considerations.
It would greatly assist sustainable transport policy objectives if the
Thames Trains franchise included an obligation to use reasonable
endeavours to serve new stations, where technical and operational
feasibility can be demonstrated, and it can be reliably forecast (by
consultant's studies or rail industry modelling) that operating costs
will be covered with a reasonable margin.
Basingstoke and Deane Borough and Hampshire County Councils have
secured funding to build a new station at Chineham (serving housing
and business developments on the outskirts of Basingstoke). In
conjunction with Railtrack and Thames Trains they have progressed the
project to level 4 on Railtrack's investment matrix. In order to
protect this investment in the rail network it is important that an
adequate train service is provided. Therefore the renegotiated Thames
Trains franchise should include a commitment to operate the new
station at Chineham and to serve it with all its Basingstoke-Reading
'stopping' trains.
5. Developing the Rail Network
There needs to be a similar obligation for reasonable cooperation with
local authorities to examine extending and improving the rail network,
including re-opening disused or freight-only rail routes to passenger
services. This is of particular relevance to the Blackwater Valley,
where the historical lack of 'connectivity' between the area's three
rail routes needs to be overcome if modal shift from the private car
is to be achieved.
6. Waiting Facilities at Basingstoke
Basingstoke is a major origin or destination for Thames Trains
passengers, yet platform 5, provided for the use of Thames Trains, has
very limited shelter for passengers boarding or alighting. Hampshire
County Council would expect a renewed franchise to include a
commitment to fund the extension of the covered waiting area at
Basingstoke platform 5 to at least the length of a three-car train.
7. Improved Facilities at Blackwater
Taking advantage of the substantial development planned in the
vicinity of Blackwater station, the local authorities have secured
developer funding for a large additional car park for the use of the
station. Currently the station has only a few parking spaces. This
development would increase this tenfold, in view of which it is
appropriate that the new franchise should commit to constructing a
ticket office and waiting room at Blackwater station, with all-day
staffing on Monday to Saturday and at least one shift staffing on
Sunday.
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Bramley is a small but well-used station, particularly for commuting
into Basingstoke and Reading. However, it has no dedicated station
car parking and the Parish Council is concerned that a nearby public
car park is full to capacity, apparently with rail users' cars. The
County Council's policy to encourage access to stations by other modes
and it would wish the new franchise to provide secure cycle parking
and bus information to encourage this. However, there could be
benefit in the provision of dedicated station car parking (possibly in
the discuses goods yard to the north of the station) if it can be
achieved in accordance with local planning and transportation
policies.
9. Personal Security
CCTV: Closed Circuit Television linked to monitoring centres,
particularly when stations are unstaffed, can play a part in reducing
vandalism, violent crime and the fear of crime, and in addressing the
run-down state of rail stations. Hampshire County Council would
therefore wish to see CCTV provided at all stations, particularly
Sandhurst, Blackwater, Farnborough North, North Camp, Mortimer and
Bramley, and this to be monitored remotely.
'Help Points': Help Points stations have made a useful contribution to
improving personal security. These should be provided on all
platforms at Thames Trains stations, and should be linked to the CCTV
monitoring centres.
Lighting: Good station lighting assists CCTV and enhances personal
security. We would wish to see the franchisee commit to maintaining
standards of lighting and responding quickly to malfunctions.
Emergency lighting in subways would be particularly welcome.
10. Increased Frequency
The Thames Trains routes in and bordering Hampshire serve growing
residential and business areas, which are suffering increasing traffic
congestion. A Thames Trains franchise lasting up to 20 years could
play a part in containing traffic problems if it offered service
frequencies which could attract people from their cars. Hampshire
Council considers that at the very least this should include:
(i) increasing the Reading-Guildford service to half-hourly
weekdays and Saturday, serving Sandhurst and Farnborough
North; and
(ii) re-establishing the 20-minute frequency in the peaks on the
Basingstoke-Reading route and extending this frequency
throughout the day on weekdays and Saturday. Also providing a
greater than hourly frequency on Sunday.
11. Reading-Gatwick: Improved Journey Times
The Reading-Gatwick route provides an important link across southern
England and would benefit from line speed improvements, facilitating
reduced journey times without omitting station stops.
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12. Evening and Weekend Services
To reflect changing travel patterns and public expectations, there is
a need for services to run later in the evening and to start earlier
than is current practice. Thames Trains services link the large
populations of Basingstoke, Reading and Guildford, where clearly there
is a demand for services after midnight, if not a '24-hour railway'.
13. Strategic Links
The County Council's objectives for rail include improving the range
and frequency of through services from stations in the county, in
order to increase the modal share of rail travel. To this end it
would wish to see
(i) more Gatwick-Reading trains running to and from Oxford;
(ii) through services from Basingstoke to the Thames Valley and
London Paddington;
(iii) proposals to extend Reading-Basingstoke services south of
Basingstoke to existing, or proposed new, stations; and
(iv) proposals to extend Gatwick services to and from Ashford
International.
14. Integrated Ticketing
Integrated (bus-rail) ticketing is a significant element in both
central and local government policies to increase the use of public
transport and reduce dependence on the car. This is particularly
relevant to the Blackwater Valley, through which Thames services pass,
and which needs a high degree of rail-bus integration in order to
address the historical lack of 'connectivity' between rail routes.
To play its part in this a renewed Thames Trains franchise should
include commitments to:
(i) issue and accept 'Sunday Rider' integrated tickets, which have
been in operation on buses in Hampshire and Surrey for a
number of years, on its services between Redhill and
Blackwater; and
(ii) join Blackwater Valley and Basingstoke area integrated
travelcard schemes when they are established, accepting and
issuing tickets at its stations and on its trains within the
Blackwater Valley and Basingstoke areas.
15. Access for the Mobility Impaired
The County Council would expect a 20-year Thames Trains franchise to
include a commitment to provide level, ramped or lift access for the
disabled and those with pushchairs or luggage at its stations.
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In particular, it would be expected to provide ramped or lift access
to and between all platforms at Bramley, Blackwater, Farnborough
North, Sandhurst and North Camp within the first five years of the
franchise. Also, at those stations where access between platforms is
only via a level crossing, there should be a footbridge equipped with
ramps or lifts.
The County Council would be prepared to discuss contributing to the
cost if this would reduce the timescale.
16. Rail-Bus Links
(i) Greater coordination between bus and rail services is
essential if rail use is to increase without excessive
reliance on the private car to access stations. This
objective would be assisted if the franchisee had in place a
mechanism for consulting with bus companies in order to
maximise coordination between their timetables.
(ii) Yateley, with a population of nearly 22,000, is not connected
to the rail network. The majority of the settlement is within
2½ miles of Blackwater station, making it a good candidate for
a dedicated rail link bus. The County Council would welcome
such a proposal.
17. Special Events
The County Council would wish to see the franchisee have arrangements
in place for special events, such as the Farnborough Airshow, which
provide a commercial opportunity for the train operator and need
additional effort from public transport providers if unacceptable road
traffic problems are not to result.
___________________________
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APPENDIX 2
Wessex Franchise
Hampshire County Council Aspirations
The following is a list of aspirations for the recently announced 'Wessex'
franchise which will encompass some of the services operated by the Wales &
West franchise and South West Trains (SWT). It is drawn from the County
Council's aspirations for SWT, which have been agreed by the Public Transport
Sub-Committee, and its aspirations for Wales & West, which are a draft. Both
incorporate comments from appropriate district, parish and town councils in
Hampshire.
1. Punctuality and Reliability Standards
It is expected that the renegotiated franchise will include
significantly improved reliability and punctuality standards covering
all services over seven days a week. The Performance Regime will need
to include financial disincentives to terminating services short of
their destinations, and omitting stops en route (so-called
'skip-stopping'), to make up late running. It is suggested that
performance statistics should be based on train mileage rather than
number of train services, to provide a more representative picture of
how many passengers are affected.
2. Information Provision
The new franchise should include substantially improved standards of
information provision, at stations (signing, announcements, remotely
provided at unstaffed stations, and onward travel information) and
on-train (particularly displaying and announcing the next station
stop, and destination displays near the outside of carriage doors). It
would be expected that the successful franchisee will commit to a
programme of improvements, including standards of staff training,
response time for repairing malfunctioning equipment, and specific
measures for the visually and hearing impaired, such as the provision
of tactile maps. It would also be hoped that the franchisee will
commit to meeting its share of the costs of multi-modal enquiries to
the national PTI (Public Transport Information) telephone enquiry
service.
3. Connections between Services
In many cases journeys involving the current Wales & West services
require a connection to or from another operator's trains. The rail
network cannot provide direct trains between all likely origins and
destinations, therefore ease of connection between trains will be a
major element in modal shift. It is crucial that passengers can have
confidence that connections can be held, to a reasonable extent, for
late running trains. The Performance Regime should therefore not
penalise the operator for holding trains to meet connections and
indeed should contain incentives to operators to maintain connections.
Particularly beneficial would be improved connections at the major
hubs of Basingstoke, Southampton, Salisbury, Bristol and Westbury.
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4. The Waterloo-Salisbury-Exeter Route
(a) The Waterloo-Salisbury-Exeter route provides an integral part
of the rail network in this area, serving fast-growing
settlements and 'railheads'. It provides an important
component of capacity and frequency into London for
settlements as far east as Basingstoke. Since it is not to be
retained as part of the SWT franchise it is essential that
services, timetables and conditions of carriage are
coordinated between SWT and Wessex services between
Basingstoke and London.
(b) The route between Salisbury and Exeter needs to be able to
respond to the substantial increases in demand currently being
experienced and provide much greater capacity, in order to
provide a realistic alternative to road on this busy corridor.
The current, mainly single track, route is inadequate even to
maintain the existing timetable reliably. A 20-year
franchise for this route must include sufficient redoubling of
the Salisbury-Exeter route to facilitate at least an hourly
frequency, with greater frequency in the later stages of the
franchise.
(c) In addition, the local authorities in this area would wish to
see an increased number of direct services linking the
Exeter-Salisbury route to Southampton, Portsmouth and
Brighton.
5. The Southampton-Bristol Corridor
The A36 corridor between Bristol and Southampton is heavily congested.
The current rail service (running hourly plus irregular additional
services) is neither frequent nor fast enough to encourage a modal
shift to rail. Nor does it have sufficient capacity for existing
demand, without considering potential growth in the future.
Frequency: The County Council believes that there is a need for a
half-hourly frequency on this corridor, with at least one train per
hour stopping at Westbury, to provide improved connections with
services to and from the West Country. However, it would not specify
how this is provided, whether by increasing the frequency of
Cardiff-Portsmouth, Cardiff-Brighton or Bristol-Southampton services,
or by other new services.
Journey Times: The current journey times, even on 'semi-fast'
services, result in an average speed significantly less than 50 mph.
Line speed improvements are needed to reduce journey times without
reducing the number of station stops.
Capacity: The two-car trains on this route do not provide adequate
capacity for a major increase in passenger numbers. Even the current
level of patronage on the route indicates a need for at least
three-car trains. It would be expected that the franchise contained
commitments to provide substantially larger trains.
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6. Access for the Mobility Impaired
The County Council would expect the Wessex franchise to include a
commitment to provide level, ramped or lift access at all its
stations, for the disabled or mobility impaired, or those with
pushchairs or luggage.
Within Hampshire, it would expect access for wheelchair users (or
those with pushchairs or luggage) to and between both platforms at
Grateley, Overton, Romsey and Whitchurch stations within five years of
the start of the franchise. The ramped access at Dunbridge and Dean
also needs to be improved to facilitate normal wheelchair access. The
County Council would be prepared to discuss contributing to the cost
if this would reduce the timescale.
7. Increased Staffing Hours at Overton, Romsey and Whitchurch and
Staffing at Grateley
Romsey station serves a population of 15,000 in addition to those
'railheading' from the Test Valley. However, it suffers from
vandalism and anti-social behaviour, making it an unwelcoming place
when not staffed. Overton, which is relatively remote from the
village, also suffers vandalism, which, combined with the lack of
staff for all but the morning peak, presents a bleak image to
potential rail users. The County Council has contributed to the cost
of installing CCTV at Romsey, but this is of limited value without
staff on hand to provide reassurance and some control, as well as
information. Whitchurch has fairly good waiting facilities
(refurbished with assistance from the County Council) which are
unavailable for much of the day when the station is unstaffed.
Grateley is an increasingly busy station, both for the local area and
for 'railheading' from the surrounding region, with excess demand for
car parking despite there being nearly 100 spaces available.
The County Council would like to see Romsey and Whitchurch staffed for
two shifts (approximately 6.30 am to 7.30 pm) Monday to Saturday, with
at least one shift on Sunday. Overton should be staffed for at least
one full shift, while serious consideration should be given to
restoring staffing at Grateley.
8. The Range and Frequency of Through Services
The County Council's objectives for rail include improving the range
and frequency of through services from stations in the county, in
order to increase the modal share of rail travel. It is particularly
to be hoped that the current range of through services is not reduced
as a result of the re-franchising process.
(i) To this end it believes there is a need for a greater number
of through services from Hampshire:
* to the West Country, possibly by dividing trains at
Salisbury or Westbury
* to the Welsh borders
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(ii) There would be benefit in increasing the number of services
between Waterloo/Basingstoke and Bristol/Cardiff, stopping
additionally at Andover. There is a preference for which
franchise should provide this; indeed the best way forward
might be for the 'Wales & Borders' franchise to operate joint
services with Wessex.
(iii) Similarly, the current through services beyond Cardiff to
Swansea and West Wales provide useful links, for example to
ferries to Ireland. It is to be hoped that the re-drawing of
the franchise map will not prejudice the continuation of these
services. Indeed, an increase in their frequency would be
desirable, perhaps jointly operated between train operating
companies.
(iv) Services through from the Bristol-Southampton corridor to
Winchester would also attract support, particularly if
including through trains or portions to Exeter or Bristol.
9. Interchange Facilities at Westbury
Despite the new Portsmouth-Penzance services, Westbury remains
important as an interchange. There is a need for improved waiting and
interchange facilities, particularly heated waiting rooms and adequate
toilets and buffet facilities for the substantial numbers of people
interchanging. Also there need to be lifts or other improved
arrangements for getting to and between platforms, as this is
currently difficult for mobility impaired passengers or those
encumbered with luggage.
10. Personal Security
CCTV: Closed Circuit Television linked to monitoring centres,
particularly when stations are unstaffed, can play a part in reducing
vandalism, violent crime and the fear of crime, and in addressing the
run-down state of rail stations. Hampshire County Council would
therefore wish to see CCTV provided at all stations and for this to be
monitored remotely, particularly when stations are not staffed.
'Help Points': Help Points at South West Trains stations have made a
useful contribution to improving perceptions of personal security.
It would like to see these on all platforms at Wales & West stations,
linked to the CCTV monitoring centres.
Lighting: Good station lighting assists CCTV and enhances the station
environment and personal security. It would wish to see the
franchisee commit to maintaining standards of lighting and responding
quickly to malfunctions. Emergency lighting in subways would be
particularly welcome.
11. Regular Hourly Frequency on the Reading-Brighton Service
The Reading-Brighton service has been a useful addition to rail
services across southern England, providing the majority of services
between central Hampshire and Brighton. Its drawback is that it does
not offer a regular frequency, particularly in the peaks. It would be
expected that a Wessex franchise would recognise its importance by
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providing a regular hourly Reading-Brighton service across the day and
avoiding the current practice of terminating at Basingstoke. The
small number of services which call at Hedge End and Botley should at
very least continue and preferably be substantially increased, to meet
the growing demand on this route which is leading to substantial
overcrowding at peak times.
12. Improved Frequency to Dunbridge, Dean, Grateley, Overton and
Whitchurch
Dunbridge, Dean and Grateley stations serve rural communities in the
Test Valley, half of whose population reside in rural areas.
Hampshire County Council is aiming to provide a reasonable alternative
to the car for people living in this area and is investing in
additional 'Information Points', secure cycle parking and bus
information at these stations (the work at Dean funded jointly with
Wiltshire County Council). To complement this investment the
Hampshire County Council considers that Dunbridge and Dean should have
train services at a minimum interval of every two hours in each
direction between 7.00 am and 11.00 pm Monday to Saturday and between
10.00 am and 11.00 pm on Sunday. Grateley, Overton and Whitchurch
have an adequate service in the peaks but only a two-hourly frequency
in the off-peak. To provide a realistic alternative to the car they
need at least an hourly frequency in the off-peak.
13. Evening and Weekend Services
If rail is to provide a realistic alternative to the car and reflect
changing travel patterns and public expectations, there is a need for
services to run later in the evening and to start earlier on Sunday
than the current patterns.
Specifically there is a need for services from Southampton towards
Salisbury after 11 pm on Saturday, and between 8 am-10 am and 9
pm-11 pm on Sunday.
14. Bicycles
On Trains: Hampshire County Council welcomes the sSRA's statement that
new rolling stock must include space for bicycles, and would hope that
the franchise would specify a minimum quota of bicycle spaces per
available seat. While it is accepted that space for bicycles is
likely to remain limited on peak journeys into large cities, new
rolling stock should have flexible space for cycles, which can be
expanded for off-peak, leisure or rural journeys.
At Stations: More people accessing stations on bicycles will mean
greater use of rail and/or less pressure on station car parking. The
majority will want to park them at the station and will need
confidence that they can be left securely. The County and District
Councils have funded secure cycle parking at a number of future
'Wessex' stations and would wish to see the new franchisee add to this
and commit to work with the local authorities in encouraging cycle
access.
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15. Car Parking
The limited amount of car parking at future Wessex stations in
Hampshire is at or near capacity. However, merely increasing the size
of these car parks is likely to increase traffic on local roads, in
conflict with the objectives of planning and transport planning
authorities. Instead the franchisee should commit to working with
local authorities to develop alternative means of access to stations,
such as cycling, walking and bus links, thereby reducing pressure on
station car parks and local roads. District Councils have suggested
that a way forward would be for the franchisee to commit to publishing
its strategy for car parking at an early stage in the franchise. This
would provide an opportunity for local authorities to work with the
franchisee to try to identify acceptable ways to improve access to
stations.
16. South Hampshire Rapid Transit
South Hampshire Rapid Transit (SHRT) is a major element in the County
Council's transport strategy for southern Hampshire, integrating light
rail, guided bus and bus priority schemes with heavy rail services. To
assist this objective the Wessex franchise needs to include
commitments to work with the local authorities in developing the SHRT
proposals, particularly by taking part in joint ticketing, information
and branding initiatives.
A major component of SHRT is the Eastleigh Chord proposal, which would
enable Cardiff-Portsmouth/Brighton services to access Southampton
Airport, continuing to Fareham and Portsmouth via the Botley line,
with minimal effect on end-to-end journey times. A commitment from
the new franchisee to diverting its trains to serve the airport via
the Chord would further a project which would provide direct rail-air
access for a significant population across the south-west of England.
17. Serving New Stations
New stations serving new or expanded developments are a major
component of local authority transport and land-use policies. In some
circumstances local authorities are prepared to fund and promote new
stations, but cannot proceed unless train operators commit to
operating and serving them. However, the train operator's decision is
usually based entirely on commercial considerations.
(a) It would greatly assist the Government's sustainable transport
policy objectives if the franchise included an obligation to
make reasonable endeavours to serve new stations, where
technical and operational feasibility can be demonstrated, and
it can be reliably forecast (by consultant's studies or rail
industry modelling) that operating costs will be covered with
a reasonable margin. There needs to be a similar obligation
for cooperation with local authorities to examine re-opening
disused rail routes to passenger services.
(b) As a component of SHRT (see 16 above) the County Council,
working with South West Trains, Railtrack and Eastleigh
Borough Council, is progressing a scheme to build a new
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station at Chandlers Ford, near Southampton, and linking it
to the passenger network. The County Council has secured
funding for the station and funded Railtrack studies to
establish the feasibility of the station, and a rail service
between Chandlers Ford and Southampton. The proposal is now
at an advanced state of readiness. A service operated by the
Wessex franchisee linking Chandlers Ford (plus Eastleigh and
Southampton Airport) to Romsey, Salisbury, and Bristol or
other West Country destinations would be welcomed.
South West Trains plans to serve Chandlers Ford by extending
the existing Southampton-Eastleigh 'local' service using new
diesel units; which presumably will not be available now that
the 'West of England' line is removed from the SWT franchise.
In that eventuality, if provision is not made through the SWT
franchise for that service to be operated, it is hoped that
provision would be made through the 'Wessex' franchise.
18. South Coast Trans European Network
A strategic plan to address infrastructure capacity needs for the next
20 years throughout the Wessex network would be particularly welcomed
by local Planning and Transport Planning authorities. It should take
account of the significance of, and the need to accommodate strategic
proposals arising from, the South Coast Trans European Network (TEN)
initiative.
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