Dear Mr Mean,
The Gloucester Railway Triangle – the pressing need for a new station
Gloucester’s railway triangle has an area of nearly 27 acres and is located within surrounding land to give a total area of about 90 acres. Within the triangle there were once railway workshops, sidings, etc.. The regeneration of this land presents the city and its neighbours with a once in a lifetime chance of changing this brown field site for the better, so it is important to have the widest consultation in this matter and above all make the right decisions.
Two of the authors of this article have worked for a total of eighteen years in the railway industry in and around Gloucester.
We believe that the railways are a national strategic asset and should remain and be developed as such. What is required with this development is a leap of intelligent imagination on the one hand and a firm and enquiring mind on the other.
A new main line railway station is required principally because Gloucester is currently off the main Birmingham – Bristol line, which means that trains which call at Gloucester usually have to reverse. Only trains that continue on the Gloucester - Newport route do not have to reverse. This situation means that Gloucester is bypassed by most long distance trains travelling north/south. For example, even the Cheltenham – Gloucester – Paddington trains would be quicker and more convenient with a new station, since the trains entering (or leaving) Gloucester would not waste time and effort reversing direction to continue onwards.
During 2009/10 Gloucester’s railway station was used by over 1.1 million passengers compared with the figure of nearly 7.9 million for Bristol Temple Meads and over 25 million for Birmingham New Street. Cheltenham had almost 1.6 million passengers in the same period, despite having a slightly smaller population. These figures are worth keeping in mind because the recently published McNulty report identifies the potential of rail traffic to double in the UK by 2030 – now less than 20 years away.
The Gloucester Heritage and Regeneration Company (GHURC) and Gloucester city councillors have been informed by Network Rail that cost is one of the main factors in rejecting proposals for a new station construction. We believe that Gloucester city councillors, our Gloucester MP and the GHURC should have been far more robust in not taking ‘no’ for an answer from Network Rail. Our reasons are easy to find and not too far away, as a web search of Network Rail’s own and other sites reveal recent and future expenditure. For example, Reading station has an ongoing upgrade programme costing £850 million, Newport has had a £22 million revamp, with monies from Network Rail, the Welsh Assembly and Arriva Trains Wales, and Birmingham New Street Station and environs are undergoing a £600 million transformation. Even these sums pale into insignificance compared with the proposed new national high speed rail link HSR2, estimated to cost in the region of £15.8 - £17.4 billion. A new station at Gloucester costing say, £30 million, would be less than 0.2% of the proposed HSR2 link, and certainly much less than the error margins for the HSR2 proposal. These figures are given to indicate what levels of expenditures are being made elsewhere, and we do not suggest that funds are solely from Network Rail’s budget.
The Gloucester Heritage and Regeneration Company (GHURC) and Gloucester city councillors have been informed by Network Rail that cost is one of the main factors in rejecting proposals for a new station construction. We believe that Gloucester city councillors, our Gloucester MP and the GHURC should have been far more robust in not taking ‘no’ for an answer from Network Rail. Our reasons are easy to find and not too far away, as a web search of Network Rail’s own and other sites reveal recent and future expenditure. For example, Reading station has an ongoing upgrade programme costing £850 million, Newport has had a £22 million revamp, with monies from Network Rail, the Welsh Assembly and Arriva Trains Wales, and Birmingham New Street Station and environs are undergoing a £600 million transformation. Even these sums pale into insignificance compared with the proposed new national high speed rail link HSR2, estimated to cost in the region of £15.8 - £17.4 billion. A new station at Gloucester costing say, £30 million, would be less than 0.2% of the proposed HSR2 link, and certainly much less than the error margins for the HSR2 proposal. These figures are given to indicate what levels of expenditures are being made elsewhere, and we do not suggest that funds are solely from Network Rail’s budget.
As part of the city centre regeneration, the railway triangle could not only accommodate a new railway station, but also a new bus station, hotel, tourist office, café, car and coach parks, a new fire station, and last but not least, a small park with flower beds and trees to welcome visitors to Gloucester. A frequent shuttle service from the triangle to the city centre could be easily incorporated. In our view a ‘railway parkway’ solution is not a realistic option for the city’s needs.
If we as a city are to encourage tourism, business and commerce, we must first have the infrastructure in place such as transport, parking, public toilets, hotels and welcoming open areas with seating places, otherwise visitors will come once, never to return. As a yardstick, Gloucester Cathedral usually has about 300,000 visitors annually, but last year this number rose to 426,000 due to the 2010 Three Choirs Festival and the critically acclaimed Crucible (sculpture) exhibition, the latter attracting around 57,000 visitors during its 9½ week duration. It has been estimated that in 2009 Gloucester attracted about 2 million visitors bringing around £108 million into the local economy. It is therefore imperative that we have the infrastructure in place to transport and make visitors welcome.
We believe the best location of a new railway station would be within and adjacent to the north-east apex of the triangle. A triangular shaped station with four platforms could be dovetailed between existing railway tracks. Objections have been given by Network Rail that they would have to purchase land on the east side of the main north-south line in order to facilitate passengers. We disagree with this argument, and would suggest that only a width of land not much wider than a passenger platform is required on the east side of this track.
Another objection raised by Network Rail against additional trains stopping at Gloucester is the impact they would have upon the existing timetable. In one sense this argument is valid - any new station no matter where it is in the country will have an impact, but on the other hand when one recalls that most trains waiting at large stations such as Bristol Temple Meads and Birmingham New Street are standing stationary typically for ten or more minutes, a small reduction in these standing times at these stations could be re-allocated to permit trains to stop at Gloucester with little effect upon the national timetable. Some trains are timetabled to stand in Bristol and Birmingham for 30 minutes. A moment’s thought will also make one realise that any train which is late has an impact upon the timetable, no matter where the train is!
Now let us turn to what advantages from the rail commuter’s view a mainline station in Gloucester would have. The table below shows the number of trains from Gloucester and Cheltenham respectively with direct links to the stations listed. (Monday 25 July 2011 was chosen as a typical weekday). Note that Cheltenham station is on the main north-south line, unlike Gloucester’s current station.
Number of direct trains from (on Monday 25/07/2011) | ||
To | Cheltenham | Gloucester |
Birmingham New Street | 47 | 18 |
Bristol Temple Meads | 41 | 19 |
Cardiff Central | 29 | 28 |
Derby | 27 | 13 |
Exeter St David’s | 19 | 0 |
Edinburgh | 11 | 0 |
Glasgow Central | 5 | 0 |
Leeds | 14 | 0 |
Liverpool Lime Street | 0 | 0 |
London Paddington | 9 | 9 |
Manchester Piccadilly | 13 | 0 |
Newcastle | 11 | 0 |
Sheffield | 14 | 0 |
Worcester Shrub Hill | 10 | 10 |
Source: National Rail Enquiries | ||
It is seen that Gloucester has far fewer direct trains than Cheltenham to Manchester, Leeds, Derby and Exeter. This represents a huge inconvenience for travellers from Gloucester: it also means that there will be far fewer tourist and commercial business travellers than there could be coming into our county. The loss of this potential business will grow as UK rail traffic, economic growth and populations rise.
In conclusion, we urge that our elected representatives take the request to build a new railway station within the railway triangle back to Network Rail and simultaneously ask the Department of Transport if they would consider contributing to the funding of this project which we believe would be of great benefit to all of the south west of England.
Yours sincerely
Ray Armishaw
Horton Cameron Ex Railway Worker
Brian Cowell, C.Eng.; M.I.Mech.E.; M.A.Cost E.
Gordon Doyle
Nick Edwards MSc, PhD, M Inst. P.
Marion Pingriff
Ken Pingriff Ex Railway Worker
Copies to:-
Councillor Paul James, Leader, Gloucester City Council, Herbert Warehouse, The Docks, Gloucester GL1 2EQ
Councillor Mark Damian Hawthorne, Leader, Gloucestershire County Council, Shire Hall, Westgate Street, Gloucester GL1 2TG
Mr Chris Oldershaw, Chief Executive, Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company Ltd., 15 Ladybellegate Street, Gloucester GL1 2HN
The Right Reverend Michael Perham, Bishop of Gloucester, The Chapter Office,
2 College Green, Gloucester GL1 2LR
2 College Green, Gloucester GL1 2LR
The Very Reverend Stephen Lake, Dean of Gloucester, Gloucester Cathedral, The Chapter Office,
2 College Green, Gloucester GL1 2LR
2 College Green, Gloucester GL1 2LR
Mr Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP (Cotswolds), House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
Mr Richard Graham, MP (Gloucester), House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
Mr Martin Horwood, MP (Cheltenham), House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
Mr Mark Harper, MP, (Forest of Dean), House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
Mr Laurence Robertson, MP, (Tewkesbury), House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
Mr Neil Carmichael, MP (Stroud), House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP, Minister of State (Rail and Aviation), House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, Secretary of State for Transport, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
The Managing Director, LXB Retail Properties Plc, 2nd Floor, Grafton House, 2-3 Golden Square, London W1F 9HR
Mr Mark Hopwood, Managing Director, First Great Western, Milford House, 1 Milford Street, Swindon SN1 1HL
Mr Andy Cooper, Managing Director, CrossCountry, Cannon House, 18 The Priory, Queensway, Birmingham B4 6BS
Mr Tim Bell, Managing Director, Arriva Trains Wales, St Mary's House, 47 Penarth Road, Cardiff CF10 5DJ
Mr Mike Hodson, Managing Director, London Midland, 102 New Street, Birmingham B2 4JB
The Association of Train Operating Companies Ltd., 3rd Floor, 40 Bernard Street, London WC1N 1BY
Passenger Focus, FREEPOST (RRRE-ETTC-LEET), PO BOX 4257, Manchester, M60 3AR
The Office of Rail Regulation, One Kemble Street, London WC2B 4AN
BBC Radio Gloucestershire, London Road, Gloucester GL1 1SW
References
[1] HRS2 cost estimates http://www.thelee.org.uk/HSR2%20home.html
[2] Reading station costs “ . . . for Network Rail’s £850 million project to upgrade the railway throughout the Reading Station area by 2016.”
Birmingham New Street http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/content/detail.aspx?ReleaseID=4587&NewsAreaID=2&SearchCategoryID=6
Jo Kaye, Network Rail's route director, said: "It's an exciting time for the millions of users of New Street station as the £600m transformation of the station begins to move from a vision to a reality.”
Newport (Wales) station http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/6384.aspx
“As part of the regeneration of Newport, the station has undergone a £22m development funded by Network Rail and the Welsh Assembly Government with support from Arriva Trains Wales.”
HRS2 Cost estimates http://www.thelee.org.uk/HSR2%20home.html
“Total infrastructure cost is estimated at £15.8 to £17.4bn.”
Gloucester Cathedral visitor numbers : Gloucester Cathedral Annual Report, July 2011.
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