Questions
unanswered


The
private
sector
lobby
group
Rail
Partners
will
close
its
doors
in
a
week
from
now,
and
has
published
a
final
paper
which
looks
at
devolution,
entitled
Great
Local
Railways.
The
DfT
has
launched
a
consultation
about
Great
British
Railways
which
runs
until
April,
and
Rail
Partners
chief
executive
Andy
Bagnall
said:
‘The
consultation
seeks
to
address
some
of
the
questions
about
the
future
of
the
sector,
but
there
remain
some
challenging
questions
about
how
the
railway
will
be
organised.
For
example,
it
does
not
explain
how
the
Department
for
Transport
Operator,
and
later
Great
British
Railways,
will
deliver
essential
growth,
to
secure
the
railway’s
financial
future.’

Open
access


Research
from
Virgin
Group
claims
that
most
consumers
welcome
competition
on
the
railways
and
think
there
are
benefits
from
having
nationalised
and
private
operators
working
alongside
each
other.
In
a
survey
of
2,000
passengers,
70
per
cent
agreed
that
people
travelling
by
train
should
have
a
choice
of
operators,
while
67
per
cent
think
that
passengers
would
benefit
from
such
a
choice.
A
third
of
those
questioned
favoured
complete
nationalisation.
Virgin
has
applied
for
track
access
rights
for
several
routes
from
London
Euston,
but
the
Department
for
Transport
has
declined
to
support
the
proposal,
pointing
to
congestion
on
the
West
Coast
Main
Line.

Midlands
survey


Nearly
three
quarters
of
people
surveyed
in
Kings
Norton
believe
Midlands
Rail
Hub
will
help
fulfil
the
Government’s
policy
of
encouraging
growth.
Polling
carried
out
in
Redditch
and
Kings
Norton
by
Censuswide
for
Midlands
Connect,
showed
58
per
cent
of
respondents
agree
the
5.8
million
extra
seats
are
required,
and
46
per
cent
believe
the
proposed
upgrades
at
Kings
Norton
station
are
‘necessary’.
When
asked,
50
per
cent
of
those
taking
part
also
welcomed
the
extra
trains.

Fuel
trials


ScotRail
has
revealed
that
it
has
been
using
Hydrotreated
Vegetable
Oil
as
an
alternative
to
diesel
fuel
in
one
of
its
Class
156
units.
The
trial,
at
Corkerhill
depot,
began
on
19
February
and
will
run
for
12
weeks,
with
the
co-operation
of
the
unit’s
owner
Angel
Trains
and
Crown
Oil.
If
the
trial
is
successful,
HVO
could
offer
a
step
towards
reducing
greenhouse
gas
emissions
on
railways
in
Scotland
by
acting
as
a
‘transition
fuel’
while
carbon-neutral
fuels
such
green
hydrogen
become
more
available.

Bats
and
birds


Dozens
of
bird
and
bat
boxes
have
been
installed
at
nine
TransPennine
Express
stations
to
provide
additional
habitats
for
native
wildlife.
A
total
of
50
boxes
have
been
installed
on
buildings,
walls
and
trees
at
stations
for
bats
and
birds
at
Yarm,
Northallerton,
Thirsk,
Hull,
Cleethorpes,
Grimsby
Town,
Barnetby,
Scunthorpe
and
Stalybridge.
Different
types
of
boxes
have
been
used
to
encourage
various
species,
including
a
variety
of
bats
as
well
as
birds
such
as
robins,
blackbirds,
wrens,
wagtails,
swallows
and
swifts.

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