SENRUG’s next public meeting will be on Thursday 21st April, 19.30 at Morpeth Town Hall. The guest speaker is Neal Smith, Head of Communications, East Coast Trains.
East Coast is significantly increasing the number of services to and from Morpeth from the 22nd May timetable change. It will now be possible to get to London from Morpeth by 09:40 each weekday, and to return at 18:30. I guess it'll be important to use these new services if we want to keep them.
Times of local trains are changing slightly as well and there will now be an hourly pattern throughout the day, with the long gap in southbound services between 09.32 and 10.50 eliminated. But the morning peak hour train at 08.32 from Morpeth moves to 08.49, though there will additionally be a retimed CrossCountry service at 08.14. So still only a 35 minute gap. There'll also be a better distribution of morning services to Newcastle rather than the current situation where the 07.49 (NT) and 08.02 (XC) arrive at Newcastle at virtually the same time. From 22nd May Morpeth will have services to Newcastle at 06.35, 07.07, 07.54, 08.13, and 08.49.
Showing posts with label SENRUG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SENRUG. Show all posts
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Piece for SENRUG
Although I didn't get an invite to the SENRUG hustings - I have been asked to supply a piece for their 'elections newsletter' - along with the Red, Yellow and Blue candidates. This is what I've sent them - note it was written before the Yellows made their policy announcement about funding the railways. I think it just points up my last paragraph about parties 'stealing' our policies, though as usual they don't have the nerve to do it properly....
We need major investment in public transport – and in rail even more than buses – to encourage people to switch from using cars. Apart from the carbon emissions argument, good quality rail travel is healthier, less stressful and more sociable than car travel. The Green Party proposes to reallocate the £30bn earmarked for road building over the next 10 years to investment in public transport, which incidentally will create considerably more jobs. At the very least, transport budgets ringfenced by mode makes no sense if you are trying to develop an integrated transport network.
Locally, this re-allocation of investment would allow:
• opening of the ABT line to passengers including links to Morpeth and Woodhorn
• opening up of the Leemside line
• and various other loops to increase the capacity of the ECML
Increased capacity would enable improvements both in local and long distances services, and in also intermediate services such as direct links to Durham and Hexham. I am also keen to see a new semifast service between Newcastle and Edinburgh stopping at all the principal stations. There would also be investment in rolling stock to make best use of the capacity of the existing network.
We also need considerably increased capacity if there is to be any significant shift of road freight back to rail. Again, rail freight and railhead freight depots will create more local jobs than road freight does.
Public transport overall needs to be more coherent, with simpler, more transparent – and integrated – fares. It may be that the only way to do this effectively is to follow Green Party policy to re-regulate bus services and return the railways, both track and operations, to public ownership. At any rate, successive governments’ use of fare increases to manage demand must end.
I realise that I am rather unlikely to be elected as MP for Wansbeck, but the other parties have been stealing policies from the Greens since we were first formed. A strong Green vote would encourage them to steal these policies too.
We need major investment in public transport – and in rail even more than buses – to encourage people to switch from using cars. Apart from the carbon emissions argument, good quality rail travel is healthier, less stressful and more sociable than car travel. The Green Party proposes to reallocate the £30bn earmarked for road building over the next 10 years to investment in public transport, which incidentally will create considerably more jobs. At the very least, transport budgets ringfenced by mode makes no sense if you are trying to develop an integrated transport network.
Locally, this re-allocation of investment would allow:
• opening of the ABT line to passengers including links to Morpeth and Woodhorn
• opening up of the Leemside line
• and various other loops to increase the capacity of the ECML
Increased capacity would enable improvements both in local and long distances services, and in also intermediate services such as direct links to Durham and Hexham. I am also keen to see a new semifast service between Newcastle and Edinburgh stopping at all the principal stations. There would also be investment in rolling stock to make best use of the capacity of the existing network.
We also need considerably increased capacity if there is to be any significant shift of road freight back to rail. Again, rail freight and railhead freight depots will create more local jobs than road freight does.
Public transport overall needs to be more coherent, with simpler, more transparent – and integrated – fares. It may be that the only way to do this effectively is to follow Green Party policy to re-regulate bus services and return the railways, both track and operations, to public ownership. At any rate, successive governments’ use of fare increases to manage demand must end.
I realise that I am rather unlikely to be elected as MP for Wansbeck, but the other parties have been stealing policies from the Greens since we were first formed. A strong Green vote would encourage them to steal these policies too.
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Riding on the 'Ashington Future'
SENRUG ran a charter train - the 'Ashington Future' - around the route of the proposed passenger service on the Ashington-Blyth-Tyne line on Saturday (7th June).
The two 'public' services were sold out within days on being announced - but I'm still sufficiently important to get a seat on the VIP service. This was stuffed full on MPs, MEPs, unitary authority councillors and council transport officers - as you'll have seen from quotes and photos in the press. I was a bit disappointed that apart from someone from SENNTRI - there were few or no regeneration or economic development people there.
I liked the choice of an ordinary two-carriage unit - which would be the normal train used on a local service, and I gather that the £6 return fare is about what the actual cost would be on a normal service.
I think the ease and convenience of the route surprised a lot of VIPs - and the whole exercise (sponsored by Wansbeck DC) was an excellent demostration of the potential of the passenger service.
Incidentally - SENUG petition calling for the re-opening of the Ashington-Blyth-Tyne Line to passenger services received 1292 signatures in total and has elicited a response from Government which includes the paragraph:
“Where, as with the Blyth and Tyne line, local and regional authorities are prepared to take the lead in drawing up a proper business case for reopening a particular line or stations and identifying funding, the Government will carefully consider the case.”
“Where, as with the Blyth and Tyne line, local and regional authorities are prepared to take the lead in drawing up a proper business case for reopening a particular line or stations and identifying funding, the Government will carefully consider the case.”
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Charter Train on Ashington-Blyth-Tyne Line
SENRUG announce that on Saturday 7th. June - a charter train will do three circuits of the Ashington-Blyth-Tyne Line - demonstrating how suitable the route is for passenger rail services.
Each train takes 2 hours to do the circuit from Morpeth to Newcastle, via Benton to Ashington and then back via Choppington to Morpeth.
The first train leaves Morpeth at 8.55 and will carry "public figures" (that'll be me then) and "press". The other two trains will leave Morpeth at 10.57 and 14.27. Tickets are £6 for adults, £4 children, under 5s to go free but there will be no seats for the latter. There are no other concessions. You can get on at Cramlington, but tickets are Morpeth to Morpeth, so we are afraid that if you want to get off at Cramlington there will probably not be a seat for you for the short distance back.
Contact Colin Patmore at 11, Campion Way, Ashington NE63 8JG for tickets
Each train takes 2 hours to do the circuit from Morpeth to Newcastle, via Benton to Ashington and then back via Choppington to Morpeth.
The first train leaves Morpeth at 8.55 and will carry "public figures" (that'll be me then) and "press". The other two trains will leave Morpeth at 10.57 and 14.27. Tickets are £6 for adults, £4 children, under 5s to go free but there will be no seats for the latter. There are no other concessions. You can get on at Cramlington, but tickets are Morpeth to Morpeth, so we are afraid that if you want to get off at Cramlington there will probably not be a seat for you for the short distance back.
Contact Colin Patmore at 11, Campion Way, Ashington NE63 8JG for tickets
Sunday, 27 January 2008
Ashington-Blyth-Tyne Rail - Petition to No 10 Update
Monday, 23 April 2007
Interactive Leaflet 4 - Rail Services
Both Ron and Nic are strong supporters of the SE Northumberland Rail User Group (in fact Nic was involved in setting it up) and we’re very impressed by what it has achieved. Again, if elected we’ll work to make sure that both Town and Borough Councils actively support SENRUG in its campaigns and projects.
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
Ashington-Blyth-Tyne line - petition to no. 10
SENRUG (South East Northumberland Rail User Group) has set up an online petition to 10 Downing Street through the 10 Downing St website, to campaign for the re-opening of the Ashington Blyth & Tyne Railway Line.
They reckon they need 200 signatures to be taken seriously, and perhaps 1,000 for government departments to really take note of what we are doing. The petition is open for a year until April 2008, but it would be good to exceed the above numbers quickly.
SENRUG also have information that there are now two studies going on into different aspects of the ABT re-opening:
They reckon they need 200 signatures to be taken seriously, and perhaps 1,000 for government departments to really take note of what we are doing. The petition is open for a year until April 2008, but it would be good to exceed the above numbers quickly.
SENRUG also have information that there are now two studies going on into different aspects of the ABT re-opening:
- A study into re-opening the Morpeth - Choppington - Bedlington Station section to passenger services, led by the North East Assembly and Wansbeck District Council. This should report back in May 2007 and SENRUG are involved as a non-funding partner in the study.
- A study into re-opening the Ashington - Bedlington - Northumberland Park section led by NEXUS and using the same consultants.
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