Future service proposals in the UK
The open access operator occupies a valuable position in the promotion of new services that may, in some circumstances, require new or restored railway infrastructure.
The Reshaping of British Railways Report of 1963 (commonly referred to as the ‘Beeching Report’) caused decisions to be made about the future provision of UK rail services on the basis of the demand that existed then and with the benefit of hindsight can be seen to have failed to anticipate the effect that rising incomes and industrial productivity would have on the affordability of car ownership. 33 million cars are now licensed for use on the roads and this is rising by some 0.5 million vehicles annually.
The result is that urban centres are now heavily congested and this is creating the opportunity to restore rail links that offer substantial economic benefit as well as reducing harmful emissions.
A further change to the status quo is the Government house building programme to meet expected changes in the demography of the population in East Anglia and the South East particularly, as well as airport development.
Renaissance Trains has been a source of advice to many promoters with ideas to operate new rail services both on existing and new infrastructure. These have included:
Earlslink
A proposal for a new parkway station in central Lancashire, which would revive the proposition to run international services to and from the North West using the Channel Tunnel.
The Stansted Corridor
This is an area the Government has identified for significant house building broadly paralleling the railway route from Peterborough, Ely and Cambridge to London. Here Renaissance is working with a number of promoters who have identified the desirability of re-instating rail lines from Holme to Ramsey, and from Stansted Airport to Braintree.
The Old Dalby test track
A local promoter has identified opportunities for using the link to relieve infrastructure congestion in the East Midlands and provide new through services. As this is privately owned infrastructure different access conditions will apply.
Robin Hood Airport (formerly known as Finningley Airport)
Robin Hood Airport is located adjacent to the Doncaster – Gainsborough rail line and as airport traffic builds Renaissance will offer sponsors options for providing future rail services.
Better use of cross London links
The success of Thameslink and the business case that supports the Crossrail link show the benefit of providing through services in the London area rather than requiring passengers to change stations using other public transport links such as the underground, bus services, or taxis.
Renaissance believes there are many opportunities to focus on through trains that would provide significant economic benefit by attracting greater use as many user groups are disinclined to use services that involve a change. There is also benefit to operators in more efficient resource utilisation.
We have previously advised a promoter in the evaluation of a proposed service between Luton and Southend running via Gospel Oak and Barking. BR operated trains between these population centres before the Reshaping Report rationalisation.
Providing a different product
The monopolistic nature of the franchises means that it is unlikely all segments of the market will find the product suitable. For example the perceived need to maximise the number of passengers using individual train services excludes those who want the level of comfort they would expect in using their car, and expectations about catering services over longer distances are often not met.
Technology is on the side of the open access operator as before long the railway product will be priced on the basis of using any individual service as a result of recording journeys made using smart call technology. This will enable the actual choice passengers make in the service they use to be identified and this offers considerable opportunity to support the business model open access operators are using.
Providing a second operator
A range of stakeholders sponsor rail services in the UK including national and devolved government and passenger transport executives. Our experience is that these sponsors are not always satisfied with the performance of franchised and concession operators and value the availability of an alternative operator as either a remedy for poor performance or as an alternative choice of operator where new routes are proposed. This essentially introduces competition as a spur to better performance.
Efficiency
Open access operators do not receive subsidy. As a result they plan the level of capacity provided to meet demand and use an up to date approach to sales channels that ensures most capacity is sold in advance. Our experience demonstrates that utilisation will be over 80% of the seats provided on a given point to point service.
