The Chair of The CPCA’s Transport & Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Anna Smith (Labour – Coleridge) confirmed in a response to my public question on 22 July 2024. Plus I got stuck in an internet wormhole on East West Rail and regional rail improvements
You can view the video clip here – and the following PQ from Rail Future East which covers the March-Wisbech rail link which remains stuck somewhere.
Did you know we had a regional bus strategy?
In a way I should have done given the event at the Guildhall last November (2023) which I wrote about here. But as there were no bus strategy documents, I was none-the-wiser.
Above – the Sub-National transport organisation’s bus strategy from 2022
***Hang on – I thought the CPCA were being the regional body?!?***
Ah…that…
Above – what is the region? The Combined Authority Area? Or the EEH area?
Above – England’s Economic Heartland – which is part of the Department for Transport. and a creation from the previous government which is a very different region to the East of England Region that became prominent in the 2000s Labour Government.
This is going to confuse people even more
Yes but… …at some stage the Government will have to undertake some difficult restructuring and re-organising if only to make service delivery more efficient and democratic accountability much more meaningful. But that won’t be in the near future. Stability is the watch-word from the Prime Minister, and a major overhaul is a hard ask when the government appears to be fire-fighting a host of problems left behind by the Conservatives. Because I can’t really call it a government!
It remains to be seen what comes of their work – in an ideal world an electrified East-West-Rail on a sensible route that extends eastwards beyond Cambridge and westwards beyond Oxford would be nice. I wrote about it here.
Above – Cambridge to Brizzle anyone? Such a route (inevitably via Oxford) would take a fair amount of traffic and passengers off of London roads and over-crowded train services, and open up new journeys as well. The thick dark blue lines are the high economic value routes that might be worth investing in. Eg Cambridge-Norwich, currently a diesel chugmobile service. The lighter blue thinner lines are the medium value ones. Eg Cambridge-St Albans.
What the private commuter bus study might show
Apart from quantifying where we are – and possibly identifying the costs of putting on such services (financial and pollution/environmental), it will also show whether new public services could become viable if firms/employment site owners can be compelled to subsidise them under possible new powers the Mayor could seek from the Transport Secretary Lou Haigh and the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.
Furthermore, some routes may indicate that a higher form of public transport is needed to cope with passenger numbers – i.e. trams or light rail. Ones that additional carriages can easily be added without needing an extra driver or extra staff.
Back to the regional bus strategy
I was reminded about the governance board of the EEH in a random tweet – only to discover that they had their latest meeting over a week ago.
Above – “I didn’t know we had a regional bus network concept”
It’s all tucked away in the Strategic Transport Leadership Board’s pages where you have to click on a drop-down to find the documents.
Above – “there is a better way to do this, isn’t there?”
Probably. But the minutes and actions show they are lobbying for public transport that sits between buses and suburban rail.
The papers also mention East-West-Rail coming up with their own ‘door-to-door’ strategy.
Above…I can’t find it in their document library here – but do have a browse.
Turns out they have a local representatives group (mainly councillors)
Above – you can see the various meeting papers and documents here – the latest being from February 2024. It’ll be interesting to see what the new government proposes for the project. (Other areas along the route can be found here)
And this all matters because Cambridgeshire County Council’s Highways and Transport Committee will be discussing EWR in…eight hours time. You can view the meeting papers here.
“Why is it 1am?”
Because owls are nocturnal. Even town ones.
The meeting slides also mention mobility hub.
“WtF is a Mobility Hub?”
Exactly. I had to do a bit of searching to find out what the EEH’s definition of one was.
Above – on Mobility Hubs -> Click, scroll to the foot, click on the guidance link
“There are 59 slides to wade through!”
Welcome to my world.
Above – basically it’s what Cambridge Station should have been designed as but wasn’t.
Above. Seems to make sense – actually, it’s a really interesting document if you want better public transport.
Not least because you can take a case study and apply it to an existing settlement – such as a village railway station of which we have a few round here.
Above – Slide 11 of Mobility Hubs Guidance
Talking of hubs, other EEH studies picked up on them too – and Cambridge is going to be a big one.
This was the final agenda item from the EEH meeting on 12 July 2024 – citing The EEH Main Line Priorities Study
Above – what sort of ‘hub’ is being proposed?
Well the St Neots residents may be interested to see what’s planned for Tempsford.
The paper at Item 7 states their research has: “Identified the importance of developing key rail hubs across the EEH region, including improving interchange and door-to-door connectivity.”
But that means finding The EEH Main Line Priorities Study
“Oh joy…”
A reminder of where the EEH sits in the Department for Transport’s map of England
Above – from the Rail Strategic Objectives consultant’s report Oct 2023 – which is the report below
And this is what they want from passenger services in the next 5 years.
Above – RaiL Strategic Objectives Oct 2023 Appendix A
Turns out it was the Phase 2 passenger report I was looking for. – because this makes the economic assessments on improved rail links.
The ‘type of change’ indicates the infrastructure improvements needed. 1 =. minor, 3 = major & cannot be done incrementally. 2. That bit in between (big but can be done incrementally)
Above – the Cambridge-Peterborough one surprises me.
It’s now 1.45am
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The Cambridge Town Owl 