Delivering a better railway for the North West and West Midlands: our plans for 2014-2019

Delivering a better railway for the North West and West Midlands: our plans for 2014-2019

Our railway is more popular than ever. Passenger numbers have increased at a faster pace than expected and they continue to rise. Every day 4m people use the network and today we carry 50 per cent more passengers than 10 years ago. We ve enabled around 400,000 more passenger trains to run per year than we did in 2009 and the amount of freight moved has increased by 13 per cent. We ve invested almost 39bn in maintaining and improving Britain s railway. Modernisation and smarter ways of working have delivered more frequent, more reliable, safer services and brighter and better stations. We ve achieved a lot over the last 10 years. We ve a lot more to do, and we ve been given 38bn to carry out this work over the next five years. So how are we going to continue improving the railway? Here we set out the challenges we face and the plans we have to build a bigger and better railway for Britain over the next five years and beyond. #BetterRailway Jargon buster The rail industry benefits from the stability of five year funding settlements called Control Periods. 2014 marks the start of Control Period 5 or CP5.

A better railway for a better Britain Network Rail connects people to places and jobs. Our role is fundamental to the economy and our responsibility is to safely transport more people and goods to where they need to be, on time, every time. This is the reality of investing in the railway investment makes a real difference to people s lives. Dyan Crowther Route managing director, London North Western Our upgrade of the West Coast Main Line has been one of the transformational successes of the last decade. Looking ahead to 2019, the landscape across the London North Western route will have dramatically shifted again. By then, tens of thousands of passengers will be travelling on electric trains across the north west. The fantastic new facilities at Birmingham New Street will have become part of the daily lives of millions of people. The improvements at Manchester Victoria will have made daily life easier for hundreds of thousands of passengers. The Northern Hub will be driving economic growth by better connecting the great cities across the north of England: Liverpool, Manchester and on to Yorkshire and the north east. This is the reality of investing in the railway investment makes a real difference to people s lives. The nature of rail investment means that the benefits can sometimes be seen only on the horizon, but as soon as they are complete they change the way that people live their lives. We re committed to improving the railway your railway every day for the next five years and beyond. That means helping to improve your lives, your communities and your businesses. Projects such as electrification of the Chase Line in Staffordshire, which will help to transform lives by providing better connections to employment opportunities, or the improvements at Bromsgrove and Redditch in North Worcestershire, which will greatly improve access to employment, educational and social opportunities for those communities. We re also going to be more efficient operationally. By 2019 our two new Rail Operating Centres at Manchester and Rugby will open as two of 12 centres nationally which will eventually operate the rail network across Britain, replacing more than 800 signal boxes and other locations currently used to control trains. The next five years will see thousands of other smaller, incremental improvements on lines and at stations across the route. Every single one of them will make a difference to people s daily lives in some way. Helping to create a better railway for a better Britain. Dyan Crowther Route managing director BetterRailway.co.uk 01

Continuing the transformation Over the next five years we re delivering a wide range of projects to improve the railway in the north west and West Midlands. Carlisle 1 Watford area renewals programme Blackpool Preston 2 East West Rail 3 Chiltern Main Line train lengthening 4 North Worcestershire improvements programme 5 West Midlands re-signalling 6 Chase line electrification 7 Stafford area improvements programme 9 8 North trans-pennine electrification 9 North West electrification Wigan 10 Manchester 8 10 Northern Hub Station investment Liverpool Crewe Stoke-on-Trent 7 Stafford Wolverhampton 5 Birmingham 4 6 Coventry Rugby Northampton 3 Milton Keynes Bedford Bicester 2 Bletchley Oxford 1 London 02 BetterRailway.co.uk

Right: Manchester Victoria Station Left and above: Northern Hub Ordsall Chord Left: Manchester Oxford Road Station BetterRailway.co.uk 03

Meeting our challenges The London North Western route is the backbone of the UK rail network. It s nearly a quarter of the business. The route plays a crucial role in supporting the economies of the south east, West Midlands and north west and is carrying more trains, passengers and freight than ever before. The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is the busiest mixed traffic railway anywhere in Europe. It s almost full. In the longer term we will see a step change increase in capacity along the route as a result of HS2, but this will not help us in the next five years. We re fixing the last major bottleneck on the WCML at Stafford, but with no further new infrastructure to increase capacity planned on the route over the next five years, capacity will be constrained. It will not be possible to run more trains to more destinations to accommodate growing passenger numbers, while at the same time running a reliable service along the route and becoming more efficient. This is the challenge we are already facing on a daily basis. It will become more pressing over the next five years. Choices will have to be made. We ve made significant improvements over the past 10 years our railway is now one of Europe s safest and most reliable. That makes it ever harder to deliver continuous improvement. It is important we are open and honest about these challenges now. We may not be able to expand capacity at the same time as maintaining reliability and increasing efficiency. Trade-offs will be necessary, but finding the right balance between the three priorities will be essential. The demand for rail services along our route continues to rise, with several towns and cities wanting new direct services into London Euston. Dyan Crowther Route managing director, London North Western Above: West Coast Main Line 04 BetterRailway.co.uk

Improving our operations We work closely with the rail industry to make the network safer. Our Route Safety Improvement Plan concentrates on three key safety risk areas: passenger, public and workforce safety. LNW is preparing a strategic plan for Control Period 5 (April 2014 to March 2019) with the aim of closing 200 level crossings. The plan will consider various means of closure such as; Footbridges to replace crossings (stepped/ramped) New road bridges to replace crossings Closing crossings using diversions to existing nearby alternatives i.e. bridges/underpasses Purchasing of access rights Provision of new access routes In order to achieve this, the route has pulled together a specialist team from different parts of the business. Over the next five years we intend to close 200 level crossings on the London North Western route. Where we cannot close a level crossing, we will work to reduce the risk and make it as safe as possible. We are also working closely with a number of train operators including Merseyrail, Chiltern Railways and Northern Rail to improve the safety culture across the rail industry. Delivery of the route s key objectives need to be supported by appropriate processes and delivered by people with the right skills. We ve developed a Route People Plan, designed to focus on the development of all employees. We use cross-industry secondments and project-based development, as well as offering industrial placements and graduate development programmes, to attract and grow the best talent. And we re working closely with Network Rail s apprentice training scheme to offer wider engineeringbased training and progression opportunities. CP5 provides a significant challenge to drive efficiencies while improving safety, reliability and performance. We re investing significantly in new technology and reviewing work practices to become more efficient while delivering a safe, reliable railway. Safety is at the core of everything we do. And we do it as a team. BetterRailway.co.uk 05

Improving our stations We re redeveloping Birmingham New Street station turning what was one of the worst stations in the country into one of the best when it completes in 2015. Backed by a wide range of funders including Birmingham City Council, the Department for Transport and Centro, the redevelopment of the station will deliver: Space to accommodate future passenger growth: the new concourse will be three and a half times bigger than at present and will have natural light flood throughout the giant atrium Better access for all: more than 30 new escalators and new lifts will make it much easier to travel between the platforms and the concourse above New connections across the city centre: including a direct link with the Midland Metro extension which opens in 2015 Cutting edge design: a stunning new station façade will create a new landmark building in the heart of Birmingham. The project was funded on the basis of the economic benefits it will deliver for Birmingham. New pedestrian connections and public space will open up the south side of the city centre for regeneration, while the development of the Grand Central shopping centre, anchored by a John Lewis department store above the new station, will put Birmingham at the heart of the retail map and deliver over 1,000 new jobs. One of the biggest challenges for the project team has been keeping the station fully open while undertaking one of the biggest refurbishment jobs in Europe. To achieve this, the project is being delivered in two halves, the first half of the new station concourse opened to passengers in April 2013 with the project set to complete in 2015. In addition to the redevelopment of the station we will upgrade the signalling through the entire New Street area over the next five years. The redevelopment of New Street station will deliver a station that Birmingham can be proud of when it completes in 2015 and it will also benefit local people by contributing to economic growth in the city and creating new jobs. It s very exciting to see the changes taking place around the station. This is a vital project for the city, stimulating regeneration and Grand Central will provide one of the best-connected retail spaces in the country. Sir Albert Bore Leader of Birmingham City Council 06 BetterRailway.co.uk

I now have a full-time job that I love. I ve been treated really well by Coleman & Company and they ve put me through loads of training. Having the means to support myself has made a real change to my life. James Skyrme Apprentice James Skyrme James Skyrme, from Birmingham, was the 100th apprentice to be recruited to work on site at Birmingham New Street as an apprentice for local demolition firm Coleman & Company. Before this, James had been unemployed for two months after completing a Future Jobs Fund placement with Birmingham City Council s housing department. James registered on the council s employment access database and was contacted to see if he was interested in applying for a vacancy with Coleman & Company. BetterRailway.co.uk 07

Our plan for the north We re investing 1bn to support and grow the economy across the north by improving the railway. Through a series of capacity upgrades, the Northern Hub will help stimulate economic growth by improving connectivity between key towns and cities in the north, allow faster, more frequent trains to operate, provide room for freight growth and enable more direct services to Manchester Airport. And we re electrifying 390km of track on key routes across the north to deliver better journeys and more seats with clean, modern electric trains. In conjunction with the Northern Hub, this will enable faster, more frequent trains to operate. Phase 1 of north west electrification across the Chat Moss route was completed between Newton-le-Willows to Castlefield junction in December 2013. The electrification project will be completed by December 2016. The Northern Hub will: Create capacity: for more trains and 44m more passengers Make returns: of 4 to the economy for every 1 spent Create jobs: potentially 20,000 to 30,000 new jobs Increase freight capacity: allowing twice as many freight trains to operate to Trafford Park rail freight terminal Increase speed: enabling us to run two new fast trains per hour between Manchester Victoria and Liverpool and two new fast trains an hour between Leeds and Manchester reducing journey times by up to 10 minutes Provide new direct services to Manchester Airport Provide quicker journeys: to Sheffield and the East Midlands, Bradford, Halifax, Hull, Newcastle and the north-east, Liverpool and Blackpool. 08 BetterRailway.co.uk

Above: Manchester Victoria Left: Electric trains will improve services across the north west 10mins Journey times being reduced by 10 minutes between Leeds and Manchester 4.00 Return to the economy for every pound spent 44m more passenger journeys will be delivered each year across the north by 2019 BetterRailway.co.uk 09

Other CP5 enhancements We are delivering a number of other projects across the London North Western route to improve capacity, electrify the railway and deliver more trains and a better service for passengers. East West Rail East West Rail will restore the rail link between Oxford and Bedford, with the longer term aim to re-establish the link into Cambridge. It will deliver significant economic, social and environmental benefits to Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and beyond. The western section will be completed by 2019, by upgrading and re-constructing underused and disused sections of the former railway between Bedford and Oxford, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury. Working with Chiltern Railways, the first phase of the western section involves upgrading the line between Oxford and Bicester and connecting the railway at Bicester to the Chiltern Main Line by construction of 1km of new railway. The second phase will reconstruct and double disused track between Claydon Junction and Bletchley, upgrade and double track between Bicester and Claydon Junction and Aylesbury and Claydon Junction and build a new station at Winslow. The East West Rail link will: Create an estimated 12,000 new jobs: boosting annual regional GDP by up to 38m per annum and support planned economic and housing growth Create more journey possibilities: with reduced journey times and better connections to mainline services (avoiding the need to travel via London) Provide better connections: between major centres of economic activity and growth including Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Bicester, Oxford, Reading and Science Vale UK Create capacity: responding to growth in rail travel which has doubled in 20 years Take traffic off the roads: helping to reduce traffic congestion and CO 2 emissions Enhance employment: giving local businesses and employers access to a wider base of labour, talent and skills and giving individuals improved access to employment Boost the region: making it more attractive, boosting business growth and attracting new business and inward investment. Stafford Area Improvements Programme Our 250m Stafford Area Improvements Programme will remove a major bottleneck, enabling the introduction of a new timetable in 2017, creating additional capacity and improving reliability. It s a three-phase programme involving linespeed improvements between Crewe and Norton Bridge, major resignalling through Stafford and finally, the construction of six miles of new 100mph railway at Norton Bridge, including a new flyover, 10 new bridge structures and two bridge enhancements, all combining to help remove a major constraint to capacity. The result will be: More capacity: with three extra trains per hour in each direction through Stafford More freight: with one extra freight train per hour in each direction through Stafford. 10 BetterRailway.co.uk Right: Electrifying the railway in the north west

Right: Increasing capacity at New Alvechurch station 12,000 Potential new jobs as a result of the East West Rail link 100mph Line improvements between Crewe and Norton Bridge will result in a faster linespeed Bromsgrove and North Worcestershire improvements We re investing 100m to improve rail services in North Worcestershire through a series of upgrades at Bromsgrove and Redditch. Double tracking the railway at Alvechurch, delivering a new station at Bromsgrove, electrification between Barnt Green and Bromsgrove and linespeed improvements will all add capacity, enhance access and improve reliability. Chase Line electrification We re delivering a project to electrify 15 miles of railway between Walsall, Cannock and Rugeley Trent Valley in Staffordshire providing a cleaner, greener, modern service for passengers using the route. A better train service along this important route will help grow the local economy and provide a better service for passengers. Electrification is better for the environment, cuts costs, is more reliable and provides more seats. All of which is good news for passengers. Better for the environment: Electric trains emit around 20-35 per cent less carbon per passenger than diesel trains There are zero emissions at the point of use, helping improve air quality in pollution hot spots such as city centres and main line stations The trains are also quieter when waiting at stations. Cutting costs, electric trains: Electric trains are cheaper to operate than diesel trains They require less maintenance and have lower energy costs They cause less damage to the track, reducing closures for maintenance. More seats and improved reliability: Electric trains can contain up to 20 per cent more seats than diesel trains They can accelerate more quickly and have better braking systems, making journeys quicker, especially in urban areas where there are frequent station stops. BetterRailway.co.uk 11

All our futures By 2019 the Northern Hub and electrification will have transformed the railway across the north of England. They will deliver modern electric trains and faster, more frequent services, supporting economic growth across the region. Birmingham will have a railway station it can be proud of and equipped to handle future passenger growth. The redevelopment will also play a major role in the regeneration of Birmingham city centre and create hundreds of new jobs. The western section of East West Rail will be complete, opening up new journey and economic opportunities for Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and beyond. The WCML will be approaching capacity, with a few remaining pinch points along the route. Some relief will be provided by the project at Norton Bridge and Stafford, and there is also some potential to further lengthen trains. By the mid 2020s the line will be full. HS2 will transform services on existing lines by boosting commuter capacity, providing more space for freight and creating huge opportunities for connectivity and growth. It also has significant benefits, especially in its second phase, by improving connectivity between several major cities in the UK. A study undertaken for the Department for Transport estimated an increase in economic output of 8bn to 15bn per year. There are limited alternatives to HS2. Any incremental work to provide enhancement in capacity would be highly disruptive as the WCML is already Europe s busiest mixed use railway. Experience tells us that disruption would be significant, with impacts not only on the railway, but also to the economies of the West Midlands and the north west. The timetable for services using HS2 and WCML post 2026 will be determined much closer to the time but now is the time for detailed consultation and study of a range of options and possible solutions for train services post 2026. Above: Northern Hub Ordsall Chord Right: New atrium at Birmingham New Street under construction 12 BetterRailway.co.uk

For further information and other CP5 regional and route plans visit www.betterrailway.co.uk

Network Rail The Mailbox 100 Wharfside Street Birmingham B1 1RT Please check the website for updates throughout CP5 #BetterRailway www.betterrailway.co.uk