13 February 2012
New trains for ScotRail franchise should be Scottish-owned
Transform Scotland response to Scottish Government 'Rail 2014' consultation
Transform Scotland [1], the sustainable transport alliance, has today (Monday 13 Feb) called, as part of its response to the 'Rail 2014' consultation, for any new trains serving the Scottish network to be Scottish owned.
Transform Scotland rail campaigner Paul Tetlaw said:
"One of the failures of rail privatisation was the decision to hand over ownership of the nation's trains to the private leasing companies rather than retain the trains in public ownership. We believe that there is a good case for any new trains to be procured by the Scottish Government to be owned by the state rather than be leased from Rolling Stock Operating Companies (ROSCOs) under the failed model pursued in the 1990s."In Edinburgh, the city council is now the proud owner of its own set of rail vehicles. Whatever the problems that have beset the infrastructure works for the Edinburgh tram scheme, Edinburgh Council was able to acquire a fleet of light rail vehicles in a relatively trouble-free fashion. As such, we see no reason why the Scottish Government shouldn't own the nation's trains rather than see them be leased from a profit-seeking private entity."Transform Scotland have also highlighted the need for detailed consultation with passengers, both on new trains and on timetable changes. Paul Tetlaw said:
"The provision of appropriate rolling stock is a crucial area upon which further consultation is required. Neither this consultation or the parallel EGIP process allow stakeholders sufficient opportunity to engage in this important area. We believe that a specific consultation exercise should be carried out to collect views on both rolling stock provision and new timetables — given the major changes to both areas that will be necessary in the coming years."Some other highlights of our response are available below. [2] Transform Scotland's full response to the consultation is available at <
http://www.transformscotland.org.uk/GetFile.aspx?ItemId=522>.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
[1] Transform Scotland is the national sustainable transport alliance, bringing together rail, bus and shipping operators, local authorities, national environment and conservation groups, businesses and local transport groups - see <http://www.transformscotland.org.uk/members.aspx> for details.
[2] In its response, Transform Scotland, amongst other things:
* Opposes the further use of demand management on the railway through increased fares until such time as the Scottish Government is prepared to introduce demand management measures on the road network. The railway competes directly with the private car and the consultation document raises the issue of fares and their role in demand management on the railway. Rail fares are already used to manage demand with peak time fares being set at a significantly higher level. There is no similar mechanism on the road network where most cars carry just one occupant at peak times. Furthermore, rail fares have increased above inflation while the overall cost of motoring has fallen -- between 1997 and 2009 the overall cost of motoring fell by 13% while rail fares rose by 7% above inflation.
* Calls for the use of the extra track capacity provided by the EGIP programme to provide extra half hourly services from Edinburgh to Falkirk Grahamston and on to Queen Street High Level via Cumbernauld (using the slots of the existing Glasgow-Cumbernauld service). This could be accomplished by retaining the Edinburgh-Glasgow rail service at its current quarter-hourly service, with trip times cut to around 40 minutes, rather the planned six trains per hour.
* Challenges Transport Scotland to take the lead and emulate the work carried out by DfT in England and Wales on promoting rural routes. Core funding should be provided to support the Partnerships and Friends Groups on rural lines and a process should be established to enable appropriate rural routes to be classified for greater community involvement. We suggest that this should commence with the Ayr to Stranraer Line.
* Calls for planned infrastructure improvements and new services to be clearly specified within the new ScotRail franchise. There are a number of already identified infrastructure upgrades that need to be progressed during the period of the new franchise. It is essential that this is a clear element of the new franchise and the improvements progress in conjunction with the franchise operator. Specifically these works would include infill electrification schemes, upgrades to the Highland Main Line and Aberdeen-Inverness route and doubling the single track at Usan.
END OF NEWS RELEASE