R A I LT R AC K - The Railways Archive

Major stations
Last year, we reported in very general terms on our work in
preparing development control plans for each of our major
stations.These plans have now been progressed as part of
our dialogue with customers and other stakeholders. A
description of significant initiatives on a station-by-station
basis is given in the relevant route section of this document.
New stations
We continue to evaluate the possibility of constructing new
stations on the network,often in conjunction with funders.
Since 1995, we have developed and opened 24 new stations.
With the increase in rail passengers and the need to service
growing communities,this trend is set to continue. Possible
new stations include East Midlands Parkway, Edinburgh Park,
Dysart (Fife),Theale (near Reading) and a number of
parkway stations on the East Coast Main Line near
Edinburgh,the M18 and M25 motorways.
Depots
We anticipated that 1998/99 would be a significant year in
the future of development of light maintenance depots
(LMDs),with our customers beginning to address their long-
term needs in terms of both the location of and services
provided at LMDs.
This forecast has been confirmed over the past year
and we have seen evidence of changes in approach adopted
by train operators to deliver their train maintenance activity.
Certain train operators are contracting out the role of
depot facility owner, while others have established subsidiary
companies for this purpose. Coupled with the investment in
new trains and major advances in maintenance technology
such as computerised diagnostics,train maintenance is an
area of considerable change.
Undoubtedly, major investment in maintenance, be it
enhancing facilities or developing new depots,will be
required.We are in detailed discussion with our industry
partners to establish how our planned investment in LMDs
can be best used to realise this objective.
6.7
6.7 Social and environmental benefits
The benefits of upgrading the rail network are felt by
many others as well as rail passengers and freight
shippers.Railways have a significant contribution to make
to achieve Government policy and commitments on
protecting the environment.
Increasing the capacity and efficiency of the rail network
attracts passengers and freight currently using roads,and can
therefore alleviate some of the impact of future growth on
the road system.For those who live and work near roads,
the benefits mainly accrue from reduced noise and air
pollution,which affect health and the local environment.In
addition, for those who switch from road to rail,the benefits
include faster journey times as well as leading to a reduction
in the cost of congestion and accidents.Consequently,
society will benefit from our contribution towards reducing
local pollution and mitigating climate change, since a rail
transport solution offers savings in greenhouse gas emissions
and noise relative to roads.All these factors are part of the
cost–benefit equation for rail investment projects.
We are using the results of rail transport and
environment studies to assess the relief which investment
projects will bring to the environmental and social costs of
transport incurred by the public, or paid for out of the public
purse.We recognise that this is a complex task because
decisions to stimulate the use of rail travel cannot be made
in isolation from other transport policy decisions (such as
road pricing).It is important that methodologies are aligned
with those used for Government decision-making.However,
we have taken some early steps to assess the value of social
benefits that could be gained through avoiding road journeys.
Two schemes which are not viable on a commercial basis
but which we have assessed are briefly described overleaf.
Further information is available on Railtrack's website.We
welcome debate and discussion on our approach.
Railways have a
significant contribution
to make to achieve
Government policy
and commitments on
protecting the
environment
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