News in brief...
Northern Ireland's first sustainable low carbon station opened The cutting-edge £2.9 million Antrim Bus & Rail Centre is being showcased as an example of best practice and is attracting visits from transport experts across Europe. The project was funded by the Department for Regional Development and the EU INTERREG IVB Programme through the Sustainable Stations Project. Translink Group chief executive Catherine Mason said: 'Innovative technology and biodiversity initiatives have been combined with excellent passenger comfort and accessibility features to create a first class passenger facility.'
Night at the Station Lillian Charnock, who looks after the ticket office at Buckshaw Parkway station has been named Northern Star - Winner of the Year at Northern Rail's annual customer service awards. When severe snow hit Lancashire with little warning, Lillian helped passengers find alternative methods of transport. As the weather worsened and the last passengers had made their way home, she could no longer get her own car out of the snow and ended up spending the night at the station. Said Lillian: 'The hardest part was making it through the night without a brew as I'd run out of milk.'
Testing times Hitachi Rail Europe has signed a contract with GB Railfreight to provide train operations to facilitate the testing and commissioning of the Class 800 and Class 801 trains for the Great Western Main Line as part of the Intercity Express Programme. The contract will allow for type conformance and performance
‘High Speed rail can strengthen its case and silence the critics by extending further and faster’ said Scotland’s Transport Minister Keith Brown The Minister, speaking at a rail industry conference, emphasised why developing a further reaching network that extends north to Scotland is the only logical way forward. Brown said: ‘The UK government’s case for
high speed rail has come under recent scrutiny in terms of its value. Key commentators, such as the Public Audit Committee, predict real business case challenges ahead if the current proposal for a network stretching only as far as Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds is progressed. ‘This Scottish government has long argued the high speed network must include Scotland to bring the strongest economic benefits – that remains the case and one which can silence HS2’s current critics. I would challenge and encourage Patrick McLoughlin to use the
strongest argument for HS2 available, for its inclusion of Scotland. ‘Professor Richard Florida, renowned as one of the world’s top ten influential thinkers, sees Scotland’s central belt as having the potential to be one of the world’s 40 economic ‘mega regions’. It is only logical that the high speed rail network connects with this region to capitalise on its potential. ‘Scotland’s economic output is already higher than any area of Britain outside of
London and the South East, it simply makes sense to extend the high speed network further north, the sooner the better. By encouraging further income generation, skills, universities and creativity, we can strengthen the region as one of the great economic hubs of the UK and the world.
‘A further driver for high speed rail is the absolute necessity to increase capacity on our main railway lines, including to Scotland. There is already significant growth in cross border passenger and freight markets; we need to plan now for future demands. While the Scottish and UK governments are already working together to consider options for linking Scotland to a high speed rail network, this work must be accelerated. ‘This is a real opportunity to shake up current thinking on the way forward for HS2 and to present as robust a case as can be developed. There is a bigger and better case for high speed rail than has been made by the UK government so far. By planning now to connect Scotland to a high speed network, we can put to bed these arguments about costs and benefits.’
A summer operation to crackdown on cycle theft saw incidents at stations across north London, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire halve. British Transport Police, with support from First Capital Connect, launched Operation Velodrome in June to catch thieves in the act and deter criminal activity at bike racks at stations including St Albans City, Elstree and Borehamwood, Bedford, Luton, Hitchin, Royston and Huntingdon. The operation saw a high police presence at stations alongside FCC- funded cycle wardens. During the course of Velodrome, 18 people were arrested for a number of cycle-related offences at the stations.
BTP officers engaged with local Page 6 October 2013
businesses close to each station, advising employees on how to correctly lock cycles, and encouraging them to attend cycle surgeries, which were also a chance for passengers to have their bike security marked and registered on the national crime-fighting database.
The initiative was so successful that officers saw reported cycle crime at the FCC stations involved go down from 39 in July to just 15 in August. Of the seven key stations targeted by BTP, only four reported offences took place throughout August.
Chief Inspector Matt Allingham, who led the operation said: ‘Bikes can range in prices, but some passengers don’t use enough security to leave their £1,000 bike at a station for long periods of time.’
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