Questions unanswered The private sector lobby group Rail Partners will close its doors in a week from now, and has published a final paper which looks at devolution, entitled Great Local Railways. The DfT has launched a consultation about Great British Railways which runs until April, and Rail Partners chief executive Andy Bagnall said: ‘The consultation seeks to address some of the questions about the future of the sector, but there remain some challenging questions about how the railway will be organised. For example, it does not explain how the Department for Transport Operator, and later Great British Railways, will deliver essential growth, to secure the railway’s financial future.’

Open access Research from Virgin Group claims that most consumers welcome competition on the railways and think there are benefits from having nationalised and private operators working alongside each other. In a survey of 2,000 passengers, 70 per cent agreed that people travelling by train should have a choice of operators, while 67 per cent think that passengers would benefit from such a choice. A third of those questioned favoured complete nationalisation. Virgin has applied for track access rights for several routes from London Euston, but the Department for Transport has declined to support the proposal, pointing to congestion on the West Coast Main Line.

Midlands survey Nearly three quarters of people surveyed in Kings Norton believe Midlands Rail Hub will help fulfil the Government’s policy of encouraging growth. Polling carried out in Redditch and Kings Norton by Censuswide for Midlands Connect, showed 58 per cent of respondents agree the 5.8 million extra seats are required, and 46 per cent believe the proposed upgrades at Kings Norton station are ‘necessary’. When asked, 50 per cent of those taking part also welcomed the extra trains.

Fuel trials ScotRail has revealed that it has been using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil as an alternative to diesel fuel in one of its Class 156 units. The trial, at Corkerhill depot, began on 19 February and will run for 12 weeks, with the co-operation of the unit’s owner Angel Trains and Crown Oil. If the trial is successful, HVO could offer a step towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions on railways in Scotland by acting as a ‘transition fuel’ while carbon-neutral fuels such green hydrogen become more available.

Bats and birds Dozens of bird and bat boxes have been installed at nine TransPennine Express stations to provide additional habitats for native wildlife. A total of 50 boxes have been installed on buildings, walls and trees at stations for bats and birds at Yarm, Northallerton, Thirsk, Hull, Cleethorpes, Grimsby Town, Barnetby, Scunthorpe and Stalybridge. Different types of boxes have been used to encourage various species, including a variety of bats as well as birds such as robins, blackbirds, wrens, wagtails, swallows and swifts.

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