Rail Professional opinion Katie Silvester, editor


The Nimbys who hold us all back


Practically since the first ever railway sleeper was laid, Nimbys (not in my back yard) have been a huge problem for the railways. Early railways had to take circuitous routes at certain points, because landlords would not allow tracks to be laid on their land, while generations of rail passengers have had to break their north-south


journey to trudge across London on the Tube because the capital’s Victorian officials would not allow railway lines to cross the city. Today, things are no different. The route of HS2 has been challenged by people living


along the route of the high speed line (see page 14-15), who not only don’t want it running through their village, but will often argue against having a high speed line at all. While in some ways the protests are perfectly understandable, we need to find the right balance between taking into account genuine concerns of those who will be affected by the new line and not letting Nimbyism stopping the project from progressing. Of course locals are going to be upset if they perceive that a line is going to slice through much-loved local countryside, but the route has, as far as possible, avoided the most environmentally sensitive areas. Amendments to the preferred route for HS2 have tweaked the alignment to take it away from some areas whose transgression was most keenly felt, but, of course, it’s not possible to please all of the people all of the time and for every community that is appeased, another will be inconvenienced. One of the biggest problems, with regard to HS2, is that some of those who are inconvenienced the most by the route itself will probably benefit from it the least. A non- stop high speed line is not much good to you if you live slap bang in the middle of it. It might be of some use if it eventually goes all the way to Scotland, but not while it ends at Birmingham. The same cannot be said of freight trains, though, and yet freight suffers enormously from the effects of Nimbyism. OK, so having aggregates thundering past your house at all hours of the night might not have obvious benefits, but when it comes to intermodal traffic, there are few people who do not have goods in their house that have been carried by ship, then either lorry or train. There was disappointment earlier this year when proposals to turn Radlett airfield in Hertfordshire into a rail freight terminal were turned down. But this is just one example of many. Lord Berkeley argues (see page 9) that rail freight growth is being held back by Nimbyism, particularly in the south east. The problem is that the volume of imports coming into this country is growing, but for rail to keep its share of the market it needs better facilities, otherwise all those additional boxes will have to be carried by road. The Freight Transport Association uses the saying ‘freight doesn’t vote, people vote’ to illustrate the problem. People will argue for passenger rail services and for roads that they will benefit from in a very immediate sense, but who writes to their MP to say ‘we really must have a new freight terminal in this area’, unless they work in the logistics industry? But you can bet those same people who veto rail freight facilities in their area will also complain about ‘all those lorries on the road’ – and it won’t occur to them to recognise their part in it.


l Katie Silvester is the Seahorse feature journalist of the year 2009


PAGE 4 OCTOBER 2010


News in brief


Shooter drives from China to Paris


Chiltern Railways’ chairman Adrian Shooter is driving a 1930 Ford Model A saloon car from China to Paris. He set off on 10 September and is expected to take seven weeks. Shooter is raising money for the Cambodia- based Ponheary Ly Foundation, which helps some of the poorest children in the world.


Left kiddage


SNCF has opened a creche in a railway station in the commuter town of Roanne, near Lyon. The facility, built in a former left luggage area, has nine places with priority given to parents with season tickets. It will stay open late if trains are delayed.


Conon Bridge to get station reopened


A remote Highland community has won top-level support for the reopening of its station. Conon Bridge, near Dingwall, lost its station 50 years ago. After meeting campaigners, Scottish transport minister Stewart Stevenson pledged to work with Network Rail on possible designs. He also promised to seek funding to build on £25,000 already committed by transport partnership HiTrans.


Nottingham best for public transport


Nottingham, one of the few British cities to have a tram system, is the least car dependent city in England, according to research by the Campaign for Better Transport. In second place was London, followed by Brighton and Hove.


Councillor: Cuts ‘might not be so bad’


Rail spending cuts may not be as harsh as feared, a Greater Manchester transport expert claims. Councillor Richard Knowles met last week with the coalition’s junior transport minister Norman Baker. He said: ‘He was very bullish about rail investment going forward in the next few years. I was very encouraged.’


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