Transport Committee slams “too modest” government’s railway plans

The House of Common’s Transport Select Committee, a group of MPs including ex-leader of Manchester City Council Graham Stringer, has issued a critical review of the government’s “Delivering a Sustainable Railway”  strategy for the railways

Whilst welcoming the government’s willingness to plan for the long-term future (“we congratulate Ministers on the development of the first structured plan to develop our railways in many decades”) the committee concluded the government’s vision was far too modest when factors such as rising passenger numbers, oil prices, and environment concerns are taken into account.

The committee regrets that the government refused to commit to building high-speed railways to offer a better alternative to domestic flights and warns that “Hesitation now will mean years of avoidable misery and overcrowding on the network.”

On electrification the committee approves of the government’s very recent change of heart after previously dismissing it “too lightly”. The committee said “We are pleased the Government appears finally to have seen sense on electrification”.

The committee expressed serious concerns about the performance and governance of Network Rail, saying the director’s recent bonuses “added insult to injury for the long-suffering passengers who have had to struggle with the consequences of the company’s failings”. They also find the structure of Network Rail inadequate and recommends the government finds an alternate structure that provides greater accountability.

On increasing network capacity the committee says the government is again “over-cautious” and call for “significant expansion of the network sooner rather than later”.

The 1,300 new carriages that the government have pledged to order are welcomed but the committee also warns “it is clear that, due to the growth in rail patronage, the new stock is unlikely to relieve overcrowding significantly”.

In conclusion the review says that “The White Paper is very light on vision and strategic thinking, and rather represents a missed opportunity … The Government should now seek to develop a genuine 30-year strategy.”

The full review can be downloaded from the government web site here.

Station repairs large and small

As regular passengers will of course know the platform canopy at Walkden is currently receiving a long overdue paint job. You might not have noticed some smaller repairs that have also been made in the last few weeks :

* Removal of graffiti from platform name signs
* Fixing the broken pipe at the end of the booking hall
* Repainting the booking office panels to the right of the ticket window
* The broken step at the start of the second flight of stairs has been replaced
* The insides of the canopy pillars have been unblocked so that rain water drains out through them instead of onto the platform
* And finally … the football lodged in the rafters of the booking hall has been removed !

Individually these may be minor improvements - but at least it shows that maintenance of the station is on-going and - slowly but surely - Northern are improving its appearance.

Regular surveys of the station’s condition are taken by FOWS and can be found on their website by clicking here

Services hit by cable thiefs again

Passengers suffered disruption and delays along the Atherton line again yesterday after cable thieves struck for the second time in 6 weeks. Services were delayed throughout the afternoon and evening, and the Blackpool service had to be re-routed via Bolton, missing out Walkden completely.

Thanks to a speedy repair job by Network Rail services were back to normal this morning.

 

Office of Rail Regulation say Walkden platform gap only ‘medium risk’

For the past year FOWS have been campaigning for Network Rail to address the dangerously large gap between the platform edge and train doorways at Walkden. The unusually high and wide step has seen several people slip terrifyingly between platform and train over the past few years, and presents a massive barrier to elderly, disabled, or mobility impaired passengers.

Network Rail have acknowledged that the ‘stepping distance’ at Walkden is outside current safety standards, but say they don’t have to fix it as it’s an historic problem they’ve inherited.

After Network Rail’s refusal to act FOWS turned to the government’s rail watchdog -  the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). Our first letter was met with a standard reply suggesting there are many stations around the country in a similar condition. We wrote again to stress exactly how large the gaps was at Walkden (it has been measured at 17 inches) and the fact that people have fallen onto the track on several occasions.

Our second letter prompted a site visit by the local safety inspectorate who – amazingly - classified the risk as ‘low’ on one platform and ‘medium’ on the other. On the basis of this the only action is planned is painting ‘Mind the gap’ on the platform and continuing the ‘low platform’ announcements on trains. While these measures may marginally mitigate the risk of an accident, they do nothing at all to help those passengers who struggle to – or simply cannot – board or disembark from trains because of the high step.

We urge all passengers affected by this problem to write to Customer Services at Northern Rail. As tenants of Network Rail, they are in the best position to ask for improvements from Network Rail - if enough complaints are received from passengers.

Walkden to get a makeover

You may have noticed the smart repainting currently underway at Swinton. Happily the decorators are making their way along the line and Walkden will soon benefit from a repainted canopy and pillars. The pillars – which are hollow and supposed to serve as gutter downpipes – will also be cleaned out so the water can flow through them again.

Network Rail are also going to replace the leaking roof of the booking office and entrance hall, which should also help improve the appearance of the station.

Pigeon netting repaired … well, sort of …

It’s taken them over a year but Network Rail have finally made some repairs to the pigeon netting under the road bridge outside the station and on Hilton Lane.

The improvements are welcome and most areas directly above the pavement have been netted, but large gaps have been left where - as our picture shows - there’s still plenty of room for our feathered foes to nest and strut their stuff.

We can only hope that Network Rail intend to return and complete the job or else the station area will continue to attract the birds and their mess on the people and pavements below.

Platform Gap Fall at Greenfield

We were alarmed to see the story in yesterday’s Manchester Evening News about a passenger who fell between the platform edge and train at Greenfield station. Thankfully he wasn’t seriously injured but he could easily have been.

FOWS know of at least two similar incidents at Walkden in the last few years and have written to Northern, GMPTE, Network Rail and even the Office of Rail Regulation to ask for the platform to be raised. The official line seems to be that Network Rail are responsible for maintaining safe stations - but have no obligation to remedy this problem (which they acknowledge exists) until “other station improvements” are planned.

FOWS believe this is an irresponsible attitude which presents passengers with a dangerous and uncomfortable challenge when they board or alight the train.