Wednesday 20 February 2013

Kings Cross rail disruption demonstrates the abject failure of Rail privatisation

Today tens of thousands of rail passengers are facing huge delays to their journeys between Kings Cross and the north of England. Last night hundreds of fans of Leeds United were stranded for hours as trains were delayed and cancelled following damage to overhead wires on the route. Some were injured when a coach ferrying them was involved in an accident.

Whilst the overhead wire damage and the coach crash were not the result of the rail privatisation, the level of ensuing chaos is. The problem with the rail network in the UK is that it is not a joined up or well coordinated network. It is a hotch potch of rival companies running timetables to suit themselves, not their customers. Wheras under British Rail, every effort was made to ensure good connections between services, there is no incentive at all to ensure that a train run by one company connects with a train run by another company to take someone to their final destination.

In the days of British Rail, if the East Coast line was blocked, emergency services would be run on the Midland Mainline, which can also serve Leeds, York and beyond. The trains are slower, but they get you there. With the franchise system, this is not an option. By the time the agreements have been put in place, the line has been fixed. In the days of British Rail, such things could be hastily arranged as everyone worked for the same company.

Whilst the West Coast main line was being renovated, there was a shortage of train slots between London and Manchester. An interim service was introduced between St Pancras and Manchester on the Midland mainline. Destinations which had no direct trains to Manchester on the route had a new service, which for many proved popular. At the end of the works, the service was withdrawn and the customers who had grown used to this service were summarily deprived of a useful connection. All of this was done to ensure that the investment in the West Coast delivered maximum profits for the franchisee.

We see all manner of service changes, all of which are designed to increase the profits of the companies running the services rather than to ensure a good service for passengers. As a regular user of the Thameslink Service from Mill Hill for many years, I remember when British Rail first opened the service. There were eight trains and hour between Mill Hill and the city. Four were slow and four were fast and the intervals were regular. Despite the fact that the route is three times busier now and Mill Hill is awash with customers, we have 5/6 trains and hour with no regular pattern. There is no logic to the timings, other than that they suit First Capital Connect.

The government is committed to spending billions on upgrading the Midland mainline (the line which runs through Mill Hill). Whilst this is a good thing and should have been done years ago, the project echoes the stupidity of the whole disjointed approach to privatisation. Rather than using the scheme to leverage the maximum benefit for the whole network and improving resilience, there are all manner of short spurs which will not be electrified, wasting huge opportunities to improve cross country routes, freight routes and emergency backup routes.

I was reading an article yesterday about the new boss of the Crossrail project. He said that rail improvements in London were not generally about building new lines, rather they are about seeing what bits have been closed down or neglected, which could be reopened. In our neck of the woods, there are several obvious candidates. We have a new 10,000 seat rugby stadium at Barnet Copthall, next to an abandonded and largely intact tube route which connects with Mill Hill East. To reopen this would be easy and cheap and would save us the parking mayhem we suffer on match days.

Another example is the Dudden Hill rail line between Crickelewood and Acton. This line isa lightly used freight only line. The Brent Cross Light rail scheme has proposed using this for a tram style service, linking Brent Cross with Heathrow Airport. Very little new track would be needed, just a short spur to Brent Cross. It would take thousands of cars off the road and also give the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon a train service. Sadly such a no brainer of a scheme has been turned down by the people with no brains at Barnet Council, who refuse to support the scheme. As a result the Brent Cross redevelopment scheme will bring a parking meltdown to the West of the Borough.

I believe that it is ridiculous that something of such vital national interest as the rail network has no organisation which oversees it and makes sure plans give the best value for the passengers who use the service. We desperately need a new British Rail organisation to get the network back on track.





4 comments:

Richard Logue said...

Rog spot on. The current Thameslink service as provided by First Capital Connect is a poor relation of the service we enjoyed under the previous Govia franchise. The FCC franchise was due to expire this year but as part of the mess surrounding the award of the West Coast franchise to First Group this and other franchises have been extended for two years.

As I have said elsewhere Mill Hill Broadway has 12-car capability thanks to the Thameslink Programme, however First Capital Connect do not stop any 12-car trains here and indeed often run 4-car sets at peak times.

We will not see any improvements until such time as the franchise is re-let and minimum train frequencies are defined. This is the key weakness of the hotch potch that is our fragmented train system. There is no flexibility to run trains other than by strict franchise agreement lines.

I for one am rapidly coming to the conclusion we need to re-consolidate the train service back into one organisation and remove the ridiculous inefficiencies that the fragmentation of our railways enforces.

BT said...

I don't remember the golden days of British Rail in the same way you do. The cost-cutting forced on it when the ECML was electrified is at the root of today's disruption as the masts are too widely spaced at 90m. I believe the shortcomings in the overhead line design are being addressed as part of the Intercity Express Project.

Regarding using the Midland line, what rolling stock would be used for these extra services? The electric rolling stock used on the ECML would require diesel haulage with locomotives equipped with electric train heat and their HSTs may be needed elsewhere.

Also does the Midland line have the capacity for these services? Operating out of the four domestic platforms at St Pancras could be interesting. The section between Swinton and Wakefield was closed by British Rail in 1983 and many formerly four track sections were reduced to two tracks around the same time. Luckily Network Rail has recently reinstated a third bi-directional line south of Leicester, which could help.

BT said...

I don't remember the golden days of British Rail in the same way you do. The cost-cutting forced on it when the ECML was electrified is at the root of today's disruption as the masts are too widely spaced at 90m. I believe the shortcomings in the overhead line design are being addressed as part of the Intercity Express Project.

Regarding using the Midland line, what rolling stock would be used for these extra services? The electric rolling stock used on the ECML would require diesel haulage with locomotives equipped with electric train heat and their HSTs may be needed elsewhere.

Also does the Midland line have the capacity for these services? Operating out of the four domestic platforms at St Pancras could be interesting. The section between Swinton and Wakefield was closed by British Rail in 1983 and many formerly four track sections were reduced to two tracks around the same time. Luckily Network Rail has recently reinstated a third bi-directional line south of Leicester, which could help.

Rog T said...

BT,

I've used all manner of rail services over the years. In the days of BR, if there was major disruption, there was all manner of things they would do. There was slack in the service so extra trains could be added. Whilst St Pancras is horribly limited, there is scope to add a few trains off peak. They have done this in the past when the low level station is closed.

Under First Capital Connect, as soon as things go wrong, mayhem occurs. Under BR, trains would have extra stops added and would sometimes have journeys extended.

The staff also knew alternative routes. There was also none of the ticketing nonsense we suffer now.