MERSEYSIDE ROUTE UTILISATION STRATEGY (RUS): CHESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL S COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT FOR CONSULTATION 1.0 INTRODUCTION Cheshire County Council welcomes the opportunity extended to stakeholders to respond to the draft of the Merseyside RUS and to provide its views on the options put forward or being recommended. The responses to the options and recommendations are provided in Section 3 of this paper. Section 2 provides further information about schemes or issues in Cheshire and how these may impact on the Merseyside RUS and the RUS process. The opportunity has been taken to include adjacent neighbouring RUS lines, particularly those covered by the Wales RUS, and which have since been referred to the Merseyside RUS for consideration. SECTION 2: CHESHIRE SCHEMES AND ISSUES 2.1 The Wirral Line: 2.1.1 The RUS states passenger trips from Chester to Liverpool are 2.8m per annum; and by comparison 0.1m per annum from Ellesmere Port to Liverpool. However, it is important to note that Ellesmere Port is expected to experience significant housing growth through the West Cheshire Growth Point Programme over the next 9 years. Large areas of land have been identified very close to the station, in Cromwell Road and East of the Town Centre, and these have some planning permission for residential-led mixed use development (approximately 700 homes). The development will include sustainable pedestrian and transport links to the bus and rail stations in Ellesmere Port. In addition, a much larger development is also proposed for Ellesmere Port Waterfront (just off the M53) which consists of a potential redevelopment of the town s docks for a scheme of around 7,000 new homes. As a result there is expected to be significant increase in demand for rail services from Ellesmere Port to Liverpool over the next 10 years; this may therefore affect the RUS baseline and demand forecasts, and possibly the options recommended. 2.1.2 Similarly, demand for rail services from Ellesmere Port to Helsby is expected to increase. Demand on this section is currently considered to be suppressed by the lack of a useable service (ie just four trains per day), whilst Helsby by comparison is at full capacity during peak hours (causing on street parking problems for residents), mainly for journeys to/from Warrington and Manchester. Improvements to the Ellesmere Port to Helsby service would also provide commuting opportunities from the new housing developments (mentioned in 2.0 above) to the industrial sites at Ince and Elton (eg currently 600 employees at Quinn Glass). Cheshire notes and supports Merseytravel s aspiration to extend the electrified network to Helsby, but appreciate that this is a long term aim. However, in the meantime a business case needs to be established for increasing the diesel services to meet the suppressed and
forecast increase in demand. 2.1.3 The business case for Ellesmere Port to Helsby would further be improved by the reopening of Halton Curve. Halton Curve reopening (currently at GRIP3) would provide improved rail links from Chester, Wirral, and parts of North Wales to Liverpool John Lennon Airport via Liverpool South Parkway. Cheshire supports the early implementation of the Halton Curve scheme. 2.1.4 At Chester (the 4 th busiest station in the Merseyside RUS network) improvement works are progressing through the Chester Gateway Project. A feasibility study is being carried out to increase car park capacity. The RUS does not make reference to this in its Planned and Proposed Schemes (RUS Section 4), and this may therefore have an impact on the RUS baseline and demand forecast. 2.1.5 Hooton car park is currently operating at around 90% capacity (and already has some on street parking problems which are receiving attention from the highways authority). Car park capacity is likely to be at 100% within the next 3 years. Areas of land in close proximity to Hooton Station have been identified for residential development and these will be brought forward through West Cheshire s growth point status. Working with Merseytravel and the rail industry, some maintenance and improvement works have already taken place at Hooton. The car park (of around 430 spaces) has been refurbished and the number of disabled spaces increased. Further improvements are planned through Access for All to install platform lifts in December 2009. These improvements will provide a fully accessible facility which no doubt will result in further growth in numbers and pressure on capacity. However, there is additional land available, in Cheshire County Council ownership, providing the opportunity to extend the car park and thereby increase capacity, subject to establishing a business case and secure funding. 2.1.6 The RUS examines road versus rail travel times. It highlights North Wales - Liverpool and Chester - Liverpool as two examples where rail currently compares poorly to road. Cheshire would welcome and support a scheme that proposes to improve the travel times on these two corridors, without significant detriment to frequency between Hooton and Liverpool (noting the Capital Utilisation Index of 80% on this section between 0600 and 0900). In particular Cheshire welcomes measures to encourage modal shift from the currently heavily congested roads which run parallel between Chester and Liverpool. These roads include the A41 to Birkenhead Tunnel, M53 to Wallasey Tunnel, M56 via Runcorn Bridge and John Lennon Airport. 2.1.7 Improving rail journey times between Chester and Liverpool will undoubtedly put greater pressure on car park capacity at Hooton and Chester, particularly when Special Events take place such as race meetings, golf tournaments, football matches and the Tall Ships. This presents further opportunities for consideration to develop other currently under-utilised station car parks as Park and Rides, for example Ellesmere Port Station on the
Wirral line. Feasibility studies are proposed at Ellesmere Port with the Government funding that has been allocated to West Cheshire to develop its Growth Point Programme. Further, opportunites to increase capacity are also being explored at Capenhurst Station. 2.2 Wrexham to Bidston Line 2.2.1 Cheshire has commissioned Faber Maunsell to produce a Station Travel Plan for Neston Station and this is due to be complete within the next month. This Study is intended to feed into the North Wales Rail Strategy Study being carried out by Faber Maunsell, funded by TAITH. The Travel Plan is expected to produce proposals for improving integration at Neston with other public transport modes and improvements to station facilities, including safety and security. However, one of the main conclusions of the report is expected to be that one of the main deterrents to rail use is the reliability of the Arriva Trains Wales service between Wrexham and Bidston, often cancelled and/or turned around at Shotton (and therefore not always reflected in the Public Performance Measure figures). The RUS acknowledges the fact that the timetable between Wrexham and Bidston has tight turnarounds and is not robust at times of pressure. The Wrexham to Bidston electrification study is currently at GRIP 3, and it is understood that further options are currently being examined, one of which being diesel service improvements. Cheshire supports service improvements on this line and awaits the conclusions of the Study. 2.3 Chester to Wrexham 2.3.1 On the North Wales Chester Liverpool lines the RUS refers to a number of performance issues, which includes the lack of a diversionary route, and the constraints of a 10 mile single line section between Saltney Junction and Wrexham North Junction. Cheshire County Council is a core funding partner in the Chester Shrewsbury Rail Partnership, and fully endorses the detailed response provided to the Wales RUS dated 21 August 2008 (and now being considered by the Merseyside RUS). That response refers to the Scott Wilson Study undertaken in 2006/7 which examined the capacity constraints and pinch points, and identified options for re-doubling and partial re-doubling of the single track. That Study also considered the case for a new station at Lache, Saltney. SECTION 3: CHESHIRE S RESPONSE TO RUS GAP ANALYSIS, OPTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS (6.4.1) Connectivity between Chester and Liverpool: Currently a half hourly frequency weekdays and Saturdays with a journey time of about 43 minutes. Chester and Ellesmere Port Branch of the Wirral line is currently the worst performing service group on the Merseyrail network. Option: The RUS recommends the service frequency between Chester and Liverpool is increased from 2 to 4 per hour in the inter-peak, matching high peak, so a quarter-hourly service. Between Hooton and Birkenhead Central
(inclusive) there would be six trains per hour at all stations. During the interpeak every second service would not call at stations between Chester and Hooton in the directon of Liverpool, with the other two services not calling between Hooton and Chester in the direction of Chester (ie not calling at Bache or Capenhurst). This would reduce the return journey time by around 3 minutes and would provide an improved performance buffer for services. The frequency of services at Bache and Capenhurst would remain half hourly. This would also improve connections with services from North Wales to Chester. This proposal could generate 190,000 passengers per annum with only moderate investment. In addition a further scheme is recommended to increase the line speed between Bache and Hooton from 65mph to 75mph, increasing turnaround time and providing a performance buffer for peak services. Response: These proposals are broadly supported as they provide much better frequency at key stations, improve journey times and reliability, whilst also noting no worse level of service proposed at Bache or Capenhurst. It is pleased to note the intention of immediate delivery during Control Period 4. Option: In addition stakeholders are asked for their views on the option to replace the current half hourly Ellesmere Port Services with a quarter-hourly shuttle service to Hooton, allowing a 5 minute connection to the faster Chester and Liverpool Services. Response: The disadvantage of not providing a direct journey to Liverpool must be recognised, and weighed against the advantages of providing double the frequency from Ellesmere Port to Hooton, for fast onward connections to Chester and Liverpool. This presents an interesting option, which linked to improvements at Ellesmere Port Station for additional Park and Ride, presents an opportunity for development worth exploring further. (6.4.2) Connectivity between North Wales and Merseyside including Liverpool John Lennon Airport: Passengers from North Wales are required to change at Bidston, Chester or Crewe, which is time consuming and can be difficult. Option: Extending the Merseyrail third-rail electric network from Bidston to Shotton and Wrexham would allow the current diesel shuttle service to be replaced with electric trains. As costs of this option are likely to be prohibitive, there may be potential for electrification using overhead wires and dual-voltage rolling stock; or dual (diesel/electric) tram-train technology. Response: Cheshire supports the aims of this scheme by whichever option proves to be the most cost effective. This is an important scheme for Cheshire as it opens up employment opportunities in Deeside to areas in Cheshire and across the Mersey Dee where unemployment is high.
Option: Merseytravel is investigating the potential demand for new services between and Chester and Liverpool Lime Street via Halton Curve. This would provide services to Liverpool South Parkway (for the airport). Response: Cheshire County Council recognise the benefits of this scheme to Chester, Wirral and North Wales areas and fully support the aims and proposals (6.6.1) Significant Causes of Delay: One of the worst causes of reactionary delay on the Merseyrail electric network is the four-minute turnaround on the Chester service group, which results in irrecoverable lateness and cancellations. The increase in frequency (described in 6.4.1) is expected to resolve this situation, but there may be call for an improved station layout or a new platform, and this will be investigated during the consultation period. Response: Cheshire County Council support the proposals to increase frequency from Chester, and will continue to support improvements and developments at Chester Station through the Chester Gateway Steering Group. Report of: Christine Garner Principal Transportation Officer Transport Strategy Unit Cheshire County Council Backford Hall Chester