High Speed slowing down?

Saturday 18 June - Today, I caught up with the HS2 display at New Street station. It was just a young woman and some leaflets. She seemed quite personally sympathetic to my alternative of diverting any investment into the existing rail system, instead. I met a couple from Pelsall in the street, who just wanted their station re-opened. How much of the railway system the Victorians built is still derelict or under-used?

On to the Water Hall, behind the Council House, where a posse of officials, offered their exhibition to a trickle of the public. Someone from Lichfield told me they had 2,000 there - protestors he implied. Again, the junior (female) staff I spoke to seemed quite happy that I was questioning HS2. I got really annoyed with the men from the ministry, as they had no alternative use of £34,000 million for people to compare this with. Isn't the country desperate to pay off our huge national debt and suffering cuts to vital services? What will happen to the costs of HS2, once the system is half-built and the contractors have the government over a barrel?

The officials

• couldn't explain who would pay for HS2, as this 'has yet to be decided',
• were clearly using 'predict and provide' - stretching demand for future inter city travel ever upward,
• admitted that a lot of the 'quickie' trips to London will be new leisure ones, generated by a superfast journey time, so they were left with some 'businessmen' (who work on trains anyway) as the beneficiaries. I suggested the cost should be divided among them and they should be asked if they are willing to pay the billions required.

My conclusions were that HS2 is the wrong kind of capacity in the wrong place and the wrong answer to the wrong question. Investment is needed to make public transport a viable alternative to the car for journeys to work in every part of the country, as we have a huge backlog of local schemes awaiting funding. The officials told me I could tell the government so, in the consultation, which is online and open to all (for 40 days) at http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk/

John Newson

Birmingham Transport Summit 2010 – Len Gregory's last one!

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Transport Summit at the council house in Birmingham. Whilst it wasn't quite so full of middle-aged businessmen in suits as the High Speed Rail conference the week before, it still seemed a case of style over substance and trying to impress everyone with big flashy projects, rather than local transport improvements on the ground.

Councillor Gregory was first up and did make some of the right noises about low carbon transport, but there was an insistence that this was a “carrot not stick” approach. To me this misses the point, as he is not offering a carrot to cyclists, as there is a lack of safety for them on the roads of Birmingham, to public transport users whose buses get snarled up in the congested roads of the city without being given priority or to pedestrians for whom the pavements are often in a shocking state of repair, aren't gritted and are often expected to cross busy roads without proper crossings or enforcement of speed limits to make it safer. Even though there is a pedestrian taskforce and I have heard good things of the meetings, there is little evidence of improvements on the ground.

Also notable was that he did not once mention cycling in the time he was speaking until a question was asked by John from Pushbikes at which stage he gave an answer that they had invested over a million pounds in cycling – really? I still remain convinced that he would rather bikes were kept off the agenda as much as possible, though.

There was much talk of the Camp Hill line and re-opening the stations that we have been campaigning for, which was encouraging in terms of the fact that we are listened to when public opinion is so strongly in favour, but short on substance of how quickly it can be done. With all the fervour about HS2 and “the opportunities” this brings (when it won't open for another 16 years at least), I would really like some more urgency on getting rail sorted locally in the short term, not in another 10 years' time. Unfortunately, he'd rather focus on glamorous projects like the “Gateway” project at New St, the new coach station (Mike Whitby called this the Selfridges of coach stations!) and HS2.

On buses, Councillor Gregory suggested that “the bus network works well”, which will be news to many people who suffer unreliable services and are unable to reach anywhere but the city centre with any ease. He instead blamed Birmingham's climate and the fact that it rains here, which prevents people from walking to a bus stop apparently, for the fact that people still choose car over bus. Well, in my experience, it's the waiting times and lack of reliable information at bus stops, anti-social behaviour on buses and fact that they get snarled up in traffic (making reliable journey times impossible) that puts most people off. Many people do use the bus, so obviously it's not always that bad, but I'm not sure everyone would agree that perception matches Gregory's claim that the safety record has improved dramatically and the operation to do this has been “highly successful”.

What he seemed to be most proud of was the PFI for the highway network, which he claims will bring in huge amounts of investment into this infrastructure, sort out all the problems with pavements and potholes. Generally, PFIs fall well short of what is promised, so we'll have to wait and see on this one and I don't see any point in commenting further at this stage.

There was also mention of a freight hub for distribution of good throughout the city and using canals for freight with waste carried along them too, as facilities are next to them. Promising projects, but there was not enough detail on those for BfoE to comment at this stage.

Len Gregory admitted that he would not be missed by many when he leaves his post during this speech and I for one will be looking for much more ambition from the next cabinet member for transport, to take Birmingham towards a low carbon transport future.

The Moseley Swap Shop

One man's trash is another man's treasure!

At The Moseley Swap Shop

Have u got anything you don't want? Or do you just fancy some new stuff for FREE? Then the Moseley Swap Shop is the place for you! Brought to Moseley by FOEcycle and REUSED. Don't miss first Swap Shop February the 27^th, at the Prince of Wales. It'll open at 12pm and finish around 5pm and will be appearing at The Prince of Wales every 4^th Saturday of the month!

Come along maybe after a visit to the Moseley Farmers Market, pop in to The Prince of Wales to get out of the cold and there you will find books, clothes, kitchen stuff, DVDs, Computer games, Ornaments, and anything you bring along to add! All for FREE This stall is entirely dependant on you getting involved, so come down and participate! Based on the online yahoo group Freecycle (now Freegle). www.IloveFreegle.org which allows you to place ads to get rid of things you don't need and respond to ads to get things you do, without money getting involved, well worth a look. The Moseley Swap Shop is your local alternative!

We all know about the 3R's, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, this is a great way to achieve all 3 of them on a Saturday afternoon in the pub and leave with some nice stuff! The stall will also be taking donations for Birmingham Friends Of The Earth and have promotional information available about the activities of BFOE in Birmingham, and other information about what Green alternative stuff is going on in Birmingham and how you can get involved if you're interested.

So don't miss out on the 27th of Feb because you won't be disappointed!

If you have any inquires please email me at fisher_woman@live.co.uk

Moseley Folk Festival

Giant chickens arrived at Moseley folk festival after it being overwhelming landslide victory after asking on Facebook and twitter that Mary Horesh, Birmingham Friends of the Earth campaigner should wear it at the festival and was even caught on camera. Also, we had bunting and a fabric cow blowing in the wind to give the stall a real country fair feel.

Birmingham Friends of the Earth were lucky enough to have a stall at Moseley Folk Festival and had an enjoyable time, listening to the music but also getting the public to get involved in our campaigns. One festival goer came congratulated the team and thanked us, encouraging us to keep up the good work.

Over the weekend we collected around 250 postcards for the fix the food chain campaign and around 200 for the reopening Moseley and Kings Heath station.

How to respond to the rail consultation to re-open stations

The time is now for people to use their opportunity to ask for a new passenger service at Moseley, Balsall Heath, Kings Heath and Stirchley (closed 1941). 10,000 people probably live along this line, today.

As I may have mentioned a few times recently, Centro has a draft 'Rail Development Plan' and this is open to public consultation until 11th September 2009. It includes a passenger service along the existing ‘Camp Hill line’ calling at these stations and using a new curve, to be built to connect the line into Moor Street station.

Centro is asking if this scheme should be a priority for funding. The danger is that if people don't reply, it may move down the priority list, and further into the future. Currently, a service is at least 9 years away.

Public consultation is open already and ends on September 11th. Please;

· Use this opportunity to register your concern, by sending an email to David Ride at Centro (rdpfeedback@centro.org.uk)

Feel free to use the draft email below, and do add your own comments

· If you represent an organisation and can write a letter on their behalf, this will carry even more weight

· Pass this email on to others

If you want a map of the route see http://www.mappa-mercia.org/

To see pictures of your former stations click on map at http://www.railaroundbirmingham.co.uk/regional_map.php

For Centro’s draft Rail Development Plan see http://www.centro.org.uk/consultation/rail_development_plan.asp

Summary (Table 1.4 & 1.5 pp13-15)

email; rdpfeedback@centro.org.uk

To David Ride

Centro, 16 Summer Lane

Birmingham B19 3SD

From Name;

Postal Address;

RE; Draft West Midlands Rail Development Plan - Public Consultation

I am writing to you to support the re-opening of the stations on the 'Camp Hill' rail line across South Birmingham.

A frequent local passenger service is urgently needed to relieve traffic congestion and parking problems, by offering an alternative to cars and buses in South Birmingham

A curve at Bordesley to take trains into Moor Street should be built to add rail capacity, preferably before the rebuilding of New Street station begins.

Therefore, the South Birmingham ‘Camp Hill’ rail line and its stations should be a high priority for funding in the West Midlands Rail Development Plan, and the dates in the draft plan 2014 for funding, 2018 for re-opening should be brought forward, by any means possible.

I would appreciate a reply, and would like to be kept informed of the progress of the above project.

Yours faithfully

E-petitions R Us

The council now has a site with e-petitions where we can ask them to do things that are within their power. I had a bit of trouble getting them to accept the wording of mine about train stations, but generally I think this has to be a good way of promoting campaigns in the digital age.
Anyway, we have three big transport campaigns at the moment and each one now has its own e-petition. Please sign them if you want Birmingham city council to do something about giving us a better transport system.

Firstly for our 20's plenty campaign to make the roads safer for everyone and encourage greener forms of transport, such as cycling and walking go here:

http://epetition.birmingham.public-i.tv/petition.php?id=51

Secondly, for our Better Buses for Birmingham campaign, this is the link:

http://epetition.birmingham.public-i.tv/petition.php?id=60

Thirdly, for the campaign to get railway stations re-opened in Birmingham: http://epetition.birmingham.public-i.tv/petition.php?id=67

I hope that we can get a lot of support behind these campaigns, but at the moment the old fashioned ways have got us far more signatures for each one than the electronic forms. Let's promote them wherever possible and show that we can mobilise support through the net.

Rail stations meeting news

Last Wednesday a public meeting was held about the progress (or lack of it) in the campaign to re-open stations in Balsall Heath, Moseley and Kings Heath. The meeting was jointly hosted by Moseley and Kings Heath forums and included speakers councillor Martin Mullaney and John Newson from Birmingham Friends of the Earth.

Councillor Mullaney spoke first and answered questions from the audience for over an hour. The main points from what he said (disregarding the irrelevant parts about High Speed Rail and the new station at New Street) were:

A feasibility study was done for the stations in 2007. The full report is on his website www.martinmullaney.co.uk
This showed there would be passenger demand to justify £40m to build a curve into Moor Street and the stations at Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell..

There may be a case to include a station at Balsall Heath to bring in visitors and allow residents to access jobs, e.g. at Longbridge.

City planners will protect the entrances to Moseley station. A lift for disabled access can be included in station design.

The Business case is for a Moor Street to Kings Norton service only, but train operators may be interested in running trains form cross country trains from Cardiff via Bromsgrove, and/or a through service via Snow Hill and Handsworth to Walsall.

Electrification of the line may be possible by lowering the track under the Moseley tunnel.

An updated business case is now being prepared, to include a 2nd curve bringing in the line from Fort Dunlop & Sutton to Walsall. More passengers helps the business case. This is for inclusion in the West Midlands Rail Development plan 2014-2019 rail programme – hoping to open in 2018.

This is part of relieving capacity at New Street station, which is full, using the renovated Moor Street station that has under-used capacity.

After this other points were made by transport experts in the room, such as Tony Woodward of rail future, who said the rebuilding of New Street station has funding agreed. It will cause disruption and loss of capacity during the construction phase, so they should bring forward the building of the new curves to allow more trains to be diverted to Moor Street as soon as possible, rather than doing this years down the line.

Kevin Chapman from Campaign for Better Transport added that the Camp Hill line should complement the local bus service as part of an integrated public transport network. It needs to be part of a wider strategy both for the West Midlands rail network and for the Alcester Road corridor. In order for a viable local service to be provided (i.e. more than three trains an hour) freight trains will need to be diverted to the Walsall - Stourbridge line.

Tony Woodward responded that freight trains weigh 2,000 tonnes, so moving them to the Stourbridge line, and bringing in more passenger trains could reduce the noise and vibration for trackside properties.

Residents need to have a simple demand. Just ask for your local passenger stations and services as a high priority - do not complicate or mix with other issues.

Kevin Chapman also emphasised that other areas (including Manchester and the South East) are pushing for improvements to their local rail network, but the DfT budget has been frozen due to the state of the public finances and all parties are committed to the High Speed 2 line. It is likely that some projects will be cut and if we do not make the case for the Camp Hill line it is likely that DfT may choose it as one to cut.

John Newson spoke last and spoke passionately about the need for rail stations in these areas. He said that these are railway suburbs, built so that thousands of people could walk to the stations. Also, journey time will be much faster than by bus or car, especially in peak periods. He also said that we have to provide low carbon alternatives to the private car.

Centro is asking which schemes should be prioritised in its West Midlands Rail Development Plan.

If people in the area don’t reply, the scheme could be pushed into the future. Non response could be understood as lack of support for it, and plans could be decided that exclude our local stations. Public consultation is open already and ends 11^th September. Therefore, everyone who cares about this should respond here

Public meeting about Rail stations for Kings Heath and Moseley

Kings Heath Forum & Moseley Forum Public Meeting

One issue that Birmingham FoE has campaigned on a lot over the last few years is local rail and particularly the Camp Hill line, which would allow stations to be re-opened in King Heath, Moseley and Balsall Heath, thereby relieving a lot of congestion travelling into the city centre from that side of the city. Unfortunately, although there is public and political will for this to happen, progress on it is very slow. Come along to this meeting and find out what the current situation is.

Future Rail Stations for Moseley and Kings Heath

Wednesday, 15th July, 2009

7:30 p.m. at Queensbridge School in Fox Hollies School Hall

Councillor Martin Mullaney will lead a public discussion on the re-opening of the Camp Hill Rail Line

Light refreshments will be provided and all are welcome.

Phone Jimmy on 07778 636 910 or Joss on 07941 516 744 for details and directions

or check www.moseleyforum.org.uk

Railway plans not sustainable

Railway track owner ‘Network Rail’ (NR) has published, with the train operators club ATOC, a new document called ‘Planning Ahead’. The slim volume, available on the Network Rail website (networkrail.co.uk) at http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/imagelibrary/detail.asp?MediaDetailsID=2285, claims to be a vision of the next thirty years for rail.

Why NR is spending money on strategy documents (when that role is a Government one), is a puzzle. The bonus-paying ‘company’ not only does not have transport planning expertise, but it is also struggling for funding. NR’s track record in the West Midlands is patchy as lack of capacity on the Wolverhampton to Coventry route means the local trains run on the skippy principle (missing some stops) that is also proposed for other routes.

A possible funding source for Black Country Rail improvements, the RSS, was soured by a statement that ‘Network Rail’s view is that rail is to move people to and from large cities quickly’. That statement is hardly in tune with a local rail network and local stations as part of economic revival.

Piling on the grief, NR have sneaked a paragraph into the internet version of their West Midlands Route Plan advocating that Longbridge’s freight branch railway be grubbed out (having cooperated in moves to deny Frankley a passenger train service). Unhelpfully too, despite strong support and a report backing up its feasibility, NR are not programming-in the Kings Heath local stations plan.

To be charitable, perhaps different parts of NR have different agendas. For the West Midlands, NR’s agenda is not sustainability focussed.

John Hall