Communities to start shaping transport of tomorrow
Towns and cities throughout England can start planning the major transport schemes of the future following an announcement by Transport Minister Norman Baker. The Department for Transport is devolving decision making on major local transport schemes, giving local areas control over how their share of funding will be spent.
The DfT has now published indicative funding levels for the Local Transport Bodies taking these decisions and confirmed the geographical areas these bodies will cover. From 2015, each Local Transport Body
will be allocated funding according to the number of people living within its boundaries. This is a change from previous arrangements, where local areas bid for a share of a central funding pot, putting forward specific schemes for consideration. Norman Baker said: ‘The devolution of major transport schemes will give real power to communities to make locally-accountable decisions about what will work best for them. ‘The figures we have published provide the clarity local areas need to plan for the future, and armed with these figures, local decision makers can start looking at the kinds of infrastructure projects that will deliver the greatest benefits for local people. ‘Many transport schemes deliver benefits far beyond their immediate surrounds and I would encourage local authorities to talk to their neighbours where join schemes might be appropriate.’ Using the published figures, Local
Transport Bodies will be expected to develop provisional scheme programmes by July this year. The indicative funding levels are based on the overall funding for local major schemes from the 2010 Spending Review, distributed between local bodies on the basis of population. The actual allocations will not be determined until future spending rounds and the DfT is therefore advising local bodies to make contingency provision in their programmes for actual budget levels to be one third higher or lower than their indicative figure.
iRail inspires the next generation of engineers
Innovation Rail will return for the fourth time on 12th March to the
Roundhouse in Derby, with the mission of helping regional students discover career options in rail engineering through engagement with industry figureheads. The day will begin with a networking event which will see rail professionals team up with academia and industry bodies to support students from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in a Dragon’s Den-style engineering challenge. More than 50 students will work on
the challenge before giving a presentation to the panel of judges.
Then, as in previous years, the students will take a tour of Bombardier Transportation and Network Rail’s East
Midlands Control centre to experience the career options that can come from a qualification in rail engineering. Peter Dearman, head of energy at
Network Rail, will close by talking about the challenges around the rolling programme of electrification and the ‘Electric Spine’ which includes freight and passenger routes through the East Midlands. Dave Saunders, chair of iRail, said:
‘We need to avoid complacency and work to attract fresh skills into the rail sector. Being based in Derby, iRail also highlights the continued importance of this sector to the region and the on-going place of companies such as Bombardier as an employer and major contributor to the local and national economies.’
Woodlands School took home the iRail 2012 title after pitching their ideas for improved safety at rail crossings
A team of students present their ideas to the panel at iRail 2012 March 2013 Page 7
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