Category: Press Releases

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 25 October 2001.

The Strategic Rail Authority today published a notice containing the draft of an enforcement order, as well as details of a proposed penalty, to be made against Arriva Trains Northern Limited (ATN). This follows extensive service disruption in recent months on the wide ranging North of England operation. Around 1000 trains a week have regularly been cancelled over the May to September period this year.

The SRA will consider any representations which are made during the 26 day consultation period, which starts today, on the proposed enforcement order and penalty. The SRA proposes to levy a penalty of £2 million in relation to ATN’s cancelled trains in respect of the period from May to August and to make the proposed order in respect of train cancellations during September / October so as to ensure that ATN recruits and trains sufficient drivers to enable it to provide its timetabled services. In the event that the order, when made, is breached, ATN will be required to pay an amount of £5,000 per driver per calendar month below the agreed target. The SRA expects that the penalty and the enforcement order will be imposed on ATN in late November.

SRA Chief Executive Mike Grant said,

“Passengers on this intensive regional network have suffered an unacceptable level of cancellations in recent months. ATN has until 19 November to convince me that it is operating, and will continue to operate, a proper service. If performance does not improve, the company faces the possibility of further serious sanctions including, ultimately, franchise termination”.

ATN and other interested parties can make representations to the SRA about the proposed enforcement order and penalty, by 19 November 2001. The SRA will require Arriva Trains Northern to display copies of the order at every station that it serves.

Separate from today’s enforcement order, the SRA and PTEs have agreed a service mitigation plan with the company. This permits ATN to remove temporarily an average of 1000 services per week (Mon-Sat) with effect from 29 October 2001 to 24 February 2002. During these 4 months, ATN will be required to operate and publicise details of substitute bus services in the areas of the network affected.

In return for this permission, Arriva Trains Northern must fund passenger benefits to the value of £250,000 per four week Period for the duration of the plan. The service reduction has been permitted for this limited period to provide passengers with greater certainty about which services will be operating, and to enable focus on recruitment and training of drivers.

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 26 November 2001.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) and BAA plc have today agreed to commission feasibility work aimed at upgrading the West Anglia railway link from Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport and Cambridge to accommodate expected future airport and domestic passenger growth.

The work, which BAA is supporting to the tune of £500,000 will initially consider infrastructure requirements beyond the signal renewal work already underway in light of potential demand for the Stansted Express and commuter services and the impact of the development of Stratford and the Channel Tunnel rail link.

Mike Grant, the SRA’s Chief Executive, welcomed today’s announcement:

“Rail Links to airports form an important part of the SRA’s future strategy for the railways.

“The Stansted Express has been successful, with an increase in services in recent years to cope with a marked modal shift from road to rail.

“BAA’s involvement in developing the West Anglia line is most welcome. We have a common aim to further improve services for all users of this route, whose success is closely linked to that of Stansted Airport where ambitious extension plans are being pursued. There is still a long way to go to identify the right enhancement and secure funding but this is a useful first step.”

BAA Stansted Managing Director, John Stent, said:

“BAA is delighted to be working with the SRA on this important study. We have lodged a planning application to grow Stansted to about twenty five million passengers a year. The study sees how we can improve service standards for everyone in the coming years and also looks longer term to ensure that capacity will be in place should the full potential of Stansted’s existing runway ever be realised.

This may be a one off opportunity to enhance the capacity of the line because Railtrack are undertaking substantial maintenance work on it, and it should not be missed. We are playing our part in supporting the SRA. We have earmarked a further £1.5 million toward the completion of the future design if we find there is a viable enhancement scheme. We have also indicated our willingness to fund, on a commercial basis, airport related elements including a second tunnel if and when that proves necessary.”

Notes to Editors

1. The West Anglia route is heavily congested, and demand for services is expected to increase still further in the future, with projected increases coming from both airport and commuting services. The SRA’s West Anglia Route Modernisation Enhancements (WARM(E), project is designed to provide significant capacity and other performance improvements on this route.

2. The SRA has contracted £1 million with Railtrack for initial design and costing on certain options for WARM(E), and for provision to be made for possible enhancement as renewals are carried out. The work programme covers a number of enhancement options, including:

• Additional tracks between Tottenham Hale – Brimsdown
• Additional platforms at Liverpool Street
• Additional capacity at Cambridge Station
• Line speed and other performance improvements
• Development of services to Stratford

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 28 November 2001.

Sir Alastair Morton announced today that he will relinquish the chair of the Strategic Rail Authority this Friday, 30 November to enable Richard Bowker to succeed him on 1 December.

He said:

“I want to facilitate Richard’s arrival now he is available. I am pleased he is succeeding me and I wish him every success in a task that will not be easy. He knows the industry and has the talent and energy the situation demands. He will need, however, to get ministers and officials to back off and let the SRA raise its game and do its job.

“Most of our rail problems are structural and deep-seated. We have scarcely begun to reverse the legacy of decades of under-investment, and short-term remedies will achieve little. My vision of the future and my strategic recommendations are on Stephen Byers’ desk, not in the draft Strategic Plan awaiting Richard Bowker. That has been prepared by the SRA as Ministers wished – to fit within the resources available from the Government’s 10 Year Plan. At intervals since 7 June, but particularly since 7 October, I have advised Stephen Byers to restructure both Railtrack and the overall regulatory system, and then the public funding of a public service that can only be delivered adequately if an SRA-led government policy attracts private sector capital and management into partnership with it.

“I leave to Richard the tasks of reconciling structure to reality, resources to needs and, more immediately, of imparting direction and urgency to the restructuring and remanaging of Railtrack. That ought to be the major justification for and consequence of government pushing it into administration. Little of long-term structural significance has happened there in nearly two months since 7 October. The industry is drifting.

“I did not take this job as a career move after the successful completion of the Channel Tunnel, but to help improve an essential public service. I thank all those who have helped and advised me, particularly Mike Grant who has proved a tirelessly efficient guardian of the public interest at its interface with the private sector. There are many good people in and near the railway industry working hard to deliver what people want and need, but they are as frustrated as I am by its structure and by short-term responses to its long-term needs. No strategy will succeed unless it first deals with those fundamentals. I wish Richard Bowker luck, health and strength in addressing them.”

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 29 November 2001.

The Strategic Rail Authority today responded to Transport for London’s call for a new ‘Transit Authority. The SRA is already working closely with TfL to plan rail services in London, and has established a joint company – Cross London Rail Links Ltd – to take forward major projects.

The SRA does not believe that a Transit Authority for London, as outlined by TfL, is necessary, but does support closer integration and joint planning of the surface, Underground, light rail and bus systems. The Authority believes that rail planning for the national rail network in and around London should be undertaken strategically in the interests of passengers and freight customers as a whole, rather than being determined by political boundaries.

Speaking at a conference on Rail in London today, SRA Chief Executive, Mike Grant said:

“London is at the heart of the national rail network. London’s railways are not a Transit network, but a mixed use network for freight, local, regional, long distance and international passenger services. London’s rail routes connect Scotland, the North of England and the Midlands with the Channel Tunnel and the major ports.

“London’s ‘travel to work area’ extends well beyond the GLA boundary, which excludes key centres such as Watford, Gatwick Airport and Basildon, and the boundary itself has little relevance to passengers.

“The creation of a Transit Authority would require legislation and would involve delay and added complexity. I sense that passengers and London’s businesses want us to deliver improvements sooner rather than later – and to do more besides. I do not think they want to wait for yet more regulatory change, particularly when so much can be achieved through working together and making sensible use of the existing structure. We have to provide a better service to London’s passengers through collaborative working between SRA and TfL. We should focus on delivery, and not add to the uncertainty and risk by further changes in structure and regulation within London.”

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 3 December 2001.

Richard Bowker today takes up his post as the new Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority. He takes over from Sir Alastair Morton, who led the organisation in shadow form from April 1999, and chaired the SRA from its formal establishment in February this year.

On taking up his responsibilities, Richard Bowker said:

“I take over today against a backdrop of a railway that has lost both confidence in itself and the confidence of those who rely upon it to deliver service every day. In particular the present uncertainty over the future of Railtrack requires to be resolved as quickly as possible. My focus will therefore be two fold. First, to restore stability, as well as the confidence that we can, as an industry, deliver the basics safely and effectively, day in, day out. Second, and in parallel, design and implement a vision for the railway that we all want and deserve.

“The Strategic Plan is the starting point of this process. It is well advanced and requires just a little more work to refine it and underwrite its delivery, as well as incorporate my views and aspirations for the railway of the future. It will be published on 14th January 2002. A New Year signifying a new beginning.

“We have first to recognise that the railways of this country exist primarily to serve the needs of passengers and freight users and it is our job at the SRA to show strong leadership and direction in delivering this. It is also essential that we demonstrate an early start to the huge task ahead and I shall be announcing a number of ‘quick wins’, all designed to make the railway deliver more effectively, over the next few weeks and months.

“Tomorrow, I can announce a first step along that road, when, with the Scottish Transport Minister, Wendy Alexander, I shall be starting work on a new rail link for Edinburgh, designed to relieve traffic congestion.

“On Thursday, with the Secretary of State and the Mayor, we will be starting work on the extension of the East London Line.

We shall shortly set out how we intend to take forward the refranchising programme.

“My messages for the four key groups of railway stakeholders are:

For passengers and freight customers – your interests lie at the heart of all we do. It will take time for all the improvements to come through, but we are determined to deliver them. Where we can bring in some ‘quick wins’ to help you, we shall do so.

For local, regional and national government – we are determined to deliver what we have promised – a bigger, better, safer railway capable of playing a larger role in meeting local, regional, national and international transport needs. Our commitment is to the whole of Great Britain, although our responsibility is to say where the priorities should be at any one time.

For the rail industry – the opportunities are huge, and after so many setbacks, this may be our last chance to seize them. We want industry partners with the vision and the willingness to be long term players, and we recognise the need for investors and risk takers to be appropriately rewarded.

For rail staff – I really respect the resilience and dedication of so many who have worked to provide services under difficult conditions. Your role in delivering the new railway is essential, and investment in people has got to go along with investment in new infrastructure or equipment.

“I have taken this job because I passionately believe in the role the railway can and must play in delivering an effective national transport infrastructure. I believe we can rise to the challenge but the atmosphere of division, argument and blame which has characterised relationships in the railway in recent times must be consigned to the history books. Leadership and partnership are the keys. The SRA will take up the leadership challenge, all of us involved in the railways must focus on working to the same common objective. It can be done and I believe we are up to the challenge. The journey back begins in earnest today”.

Notes to Editors:

Biographical Details

Richard Bowker is 35. He joined London Underground Ltd as a graduate finance trainee in 1989. He qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant in 1993.

He moved to financial consultant Babcock and Brown Ltd in 1996 and was seconded to Virgin Rail Group in 1997. In 1999 he helped set up Quasar Associated Ltd, a small asset and project finance advisory business specialising in rail industry commercial and financing work.

Since September 2000 Mr Bowker has been Commercial Director for the Virgin Group of Companies, with specific responsibility for the transport sector of the Group, notably Virgin Rail Group, of which he was Co-Chairman.

Terms of Appointment

Mr Bowker’s appointment as SRA Chairman will be for 5 years. It will be a full time appointment. His basic salary has been agreed as £250,000 per annum with pension and potential for a performance bonus of up to £50,000.

Strategic Rail Authority

The Strategic Rail Authority is a non-departmental public body, established under the Transport Act 2000. It is responsible for:

• Promoting the use of the railway network for the carriage of passengers and goods;
• Securing the development of the railway network; and
• Contributing to the development of an integrated system of transport for passengers and goods.

The press release issued by the Strategic Rail Authority on 5 December 2001.

Rail Project will be major boost for transport and jobs in the capital

Secretary of State for Transport Stephen Byers, Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London and Richard Bowker, new Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) today welcomed the start of work on the northern extension of the East London Line (ELL).

This phase of work will see the ELL extended from Whitechapel, via new stations at Bishopsgate, Hoxton, Haggerston and Dalston, to link with national rail network lines towards Highbury & Islington and Finsbury Park. Powers have also recently been granted by the Secretary of State to extend the East London southwards in two directions running towards Wimbledon, Crystal Palace and West Croydon. Work on all lines is scheduled for completion by 2006.

Stephen Byers, Ken Livingstone, and Richard Bowker attended a start-of-construction ceremony at the site of the new station in Dalston. They were welcomed by Paul Godier, new Managing Director of London Underground Limited (LUL).

Speaking at the ceremony, Stephen Byers said:

“This is the first step towards this new line which will not only bring much needed investment to the capital but will also help to ease congestion on existing Tube and rail lines.

“The northern extension will mean people from Hackney and Dalston will no longer have to use a combination of buses and the Victoria line to travel to the centre of the capital.”

Welcoming the start of work, Ken Livingstone said:

“Today heralds the start of a long overdue new phase of rail construction, the like of which has not been seen since Victorian times. This northern extension of the ELL will play a crucial role in bringing new jobs and prosperity to north-east London.

“It will be followed by other major projects including CrossRail and, in the longer term, the Hackney-South West tube line. My aim is to increase London’s rail capacity by 40 per cent over the next ten years.”

Richard Bowker, Chairman of the SRA, said:

“I am delighted, in my first week as Chairman of the SRA, to be marking the start of works on the East London Line extension – a key project to ease congestion and boost regeneration in the Capital. One of my key aims in the short term is to bring the various stakeholders in the railway industry more closely together, and the East London Line partnership between the SRA, London Underground and Transport for London is a great example to build on.”

Commenting, LUL’s Paul Godier said:

“The commencement of this project is excellent news for London and its regeneration. It will serve areas of the capital which at present are poorly served by public transport, and will be closely integrated with the Tube network.

“The project will bring many opportunities to commuters, businesses and tourists. It will help ease congestion on a number of routes around north-east London, with significantly quicker journeys to central London and the City.”

London’s Transport Commissioner, Bob Kiley, welcomed the integrated approach taken by Transport for London (TfL), the SRA, the Government and LUL to get this work underway.

Mr Kiley said:

“Effective, properly-planned transport links are vital for London. This ELL has a key part to play in creating an ‘Orbirail’ system for London, providing Metro-style services around central London. It is refreshing to see such a concrete example of the results of co-operation.”