DfT appoints ‘Stations Champions’

The Department for Transport (DfT) has appointed two ‘Stations Champions’ to review passenger facilities at stations in England and to make proposals for improvements. The champions will advise on the minimum levels of customer service that should be provided at stations, based on passenger footfall. The champions will also advise the DfT on how other changes such as ‘quick wins’, better station management, future franchise agreements, Network Rail initiatives and long term investment can be used to deliver railway stations that better meet customer needs. The two ‘railway champions’ are Chris Green (a non-executive director of Network Rail and a former Chief Executive of Virgin Trains) and Sir Peter Hall (professor of Planning and Regeneration at University College, London and President of the Town and Country Planning Association).

Devon County Council enters joint venture to reopen passenger rail line

Devon County Council has agreed to take a twenty per cent stake in a limited liability partnership which has been established to attempt to re-open the railway line for passenger trains from Bere Alston to Tavistock, a distance of six kilometres – the remaining eighty per cent stake is held by Kilbride Properties. The main funding source for re-opening the railway is expected to be a levy on the sales of new homes to be built on the south side of Tavistock. Devon County Council already owns part of the trackbed and plans to use a Transport and Works Act order to acquire the remainder of the required land and the powers to restore the railway service. The joint venture also intends to construct a cycleway/footpath parallel to the railway.

Congestion reduces as traffic volumes fall

Latest statistics published by the Department for Transport (DfT) reveal that there has been a significant decrease of three and a half per cent in overall traffic volumes between the first quarters of 2008 and 2009 – car traffic fell by three per cent, light van traffic declined by two per cent while heavy goods vehicles traffic reduced by twelve per cent. The DfT reports that as a result of reduced traffic volumes, road congestion has declined significantly during the last twelve months – the average vehicle delay on the slowest ten per cent of journeys fell from 3.90 minutes to 3.42 minutes.

DfT consults on draft guidance to Statutory Traffic Commissioner

The Department for Transport (DfT) has issued, for consultation, draft guidance on how the new statutory Senior Traffic Commissioner should discharge his new responsibilities under the Local Transport Act 2008. The first statutory Senior Traffic Commissioner, Philip Brown, is a confirmed speaker for the next meeting of TravelWatch SouthWest in Taunton on Saturday 3 October 2009.

Bath plans to reduce city centre traffic

Bath and North East Somerset Council has developed plans, with the help of the consultancy, City ID, to reduce the impact of motor vehicles in Bath city centre – the council is proposing north-south and east-west pedestrian ‘spines’, widened pavements, the removal of many ‘on-street’ parking spaces and the provision of a ‘dedicated’ public transport ‘loop’ around the perimeter of the city centre ‘core zone’.

People

Chris Sane has been appointed as the new strategic head of transport and deputy director of planning, transportation and strategic environment at South Gloucestershire Council – Chris was previously assistant director of development (transportation, infrastructure and engineering) at Plymouth City Council.

And finally,

First Hampshire and Dorset reduced the Monday to Friday daytime frequency on service 1 (Portland – Weymouth) from every seven and a half minutes (eight buses per hour) to every ten minutes (six buses per hour) from 20 April 2009 – since the introduction of the revised timetable, customers have frequently suffered gaps of thirty minutes or more between buses. A First spokesperson told the local media that the company’s failure to deliver the reduced frequency was due to ‘a glitch in the timetable’!