Keswick-Penrith Railway - your help needed

[Guest]

Here I post an article which is important to the people of Keswick.
If, after reading the article, you want to make your views known, please
write to:

Ian Bruce
Chief Executive
Eden District Council
Mansion House
Penrith
CA11 7YG

or e-mail: <!-- e --><a href="mailto:chief.exec@eden.gov.uk">mailto:chief.exec@eden.gov.uk</a><!-- e --> quoting Eden's Planning reference
for the Industrial Park access roads (phase 2) at Flusco is 03/0378.


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29th September 2003

KESWICK RAILWAY WAITS PLANNING DECISION

Construction of access roads within a proposed Industrial Park at
Flusco, west of Penrith, would damage the trackbed of the Keswick to
Penrith Railway, making reopening of the line much more difficult,
adding cost, time, safety hazards and operational restrictions to the
project.
Eden District Council, based at Penrith, has to decide on the Planning
Application for those roads sometime in the near future.

The developers of the Industrial Park lodged an application for Planning
Permission with Eden District Council a few months ago. CKP Railways plc
became aware of the application only through a newspaper notice, but
made representations to Eden District Council pointing out that the
Council has a policy (number RE7) in place to protect Railway trackbeds
for reopening, and that Government Planning Policy Guidance PPG 13
states that local authorities should apply such protection.
CKP Railways plc's project to reopen the line is well advanced and
significant sums of money have already been invested.

Eden District Council's policy number RE7 as originally drafted is quite
clear and unambiguous, but Members have tried to insert conditions so
that they would only apply protection where a scheme is in progress that
they believe is feasible and likely to be completed relatively soon.
Such judgement is short-sighted and could destroy several useful routes
as well as Keswick to Penrith.
The future potential of any route must be recognised - whether or not
there is a reconstruction project in hand at any given time is simply an
indication of the scarcity of the skills and resources to undertake the
work. This is exactly the sort of problem that the Government sought to
eliminate with its Planning Policy Guidance !

CKP Railways plc has already invested over £100,000 in surveys, design
and planning for the reconstruction of the line, is now tackling the
environmental issues and has begun a consultation process involving
local authorities including Eden District Council.

CKP Railways plc has to submit an application to the Secretary of State
for Transport for an Order under the Transport and Works Act to operate
a public service on the rebuilt line.
That application has to include the design and environmental packages
now being developed.
The Planning Department of Eden District Council suggested that CKP
Railways plc might submit a Planning Application to them so that the two
issues (the Railway and Industrial Park) could be viewed together.
However, to submit a Planning Application for a Railway of this length
(over 18 miles) requires all the same information as the Transport and
Works Order and therefore could not be done any sooner.

The CKP project must not be confused with preservation schemes around
the country.
This is a project to link Keswick and the North Lakes into the National
(and international) Railway network and provide all-day, everyday
passenger service across the country.
A Train Operating Company has expressed a desire to run the service.
Once CKP reinstates the track, fully professional public services can
start.
This will be a "Real Railway", not a tourist attraction or hobby
project.

CKP's environmental work will continue into 2004. Once completed, the
approval process at National Government level can be addressed. At that
stage all local authorities would be invited to comment on the full
package to the Secretary of State for his final decision.

All relevant local authorities, including Eden District Council, have
been kept advised of progress on the project since it was launched more
than 5 years ago.
To date over £250,000 has been raised by the sale of Bonds for
development work.
Prospectuses for the Bond Offer are still available from CKP Railways
plc at 1 Solway Park, Carlisle, CA2 6TH. Money has come from far and
wide, but a large part from residents and businesses in the Keswick
area- in the first round equating to £10 for every resident in the town.
More has come in since then !

To date there have been no grants from any public bodies for the Railway
reinstatement.
Millennium funding was approved but then withdrawn when over £400
million was suddenly pumped into the Millennium Dome at Greenwich.
Heritage Lottery funding was later sought but the conditions attached
were impossible to meet.
No such large-scale sources of funds now exist.
The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) simply manages Government funds for
operations on the existing National Rail Network and does not provide
funds for new lines, even though they may contribute to the Government's
target of increasing rail usage.
The CKP project continues with totally independent funding and has
become a prototype for other potential re-openings around the UK,
locally managed with community involvement.

In its ten year Transport Plan launched in 2000, the Government set a
target of an increase in usage of rail of 50%, measured in terms of
passenger-kilometres, by 2010.
The initial estimates for usage of the Keswick to Penrith line would
account for nearly 1% of the Government target. The Government allocated
£60 billion for rail in that plan, 1% equals £600 million - enough to
reopen a dozen or more similar lines !
With Millennium funding the line could have been re-opened in 2001.
The likely date now is in 2006, well within the ten year plan.
Unfortunately these funds are not available to independent projects as
they are channelled only through the SRA, which has even cut back
existing grant schemes for rail facilities.

The eventual construction of the Railway between Keswick and Penrith is
expected to be undertaken using a financial package involving
Engineering Contractors and a Bank.
Final agreements can only be made once the Transport and Works Order is
received.
Costs are modest because most of the earthworks and structures are still
in existence and serviceable. Relaying track is only a small proportion
of the total cost of building a railway.

Officers and Councillors at Eden District Council have voiced concerns
that the Railway project progresses slowly. There is an established
procedure to follow, which takes several years from concept to
construction. All work must be done thoroughly and professionally.
Also, unlike a local authority, CKP Railways plc is not simply handed a
sum of money to spend each year, it has to raise the money as well !
Many sources of funding are competitive and absorb a great deal of time
and effort.
The idea to reopen the line was indeed first promoted in the early
1990s, when it was felt that the Local Authorities should take a lead.
That did not happen, so CKP Railways plc was formed in 1998 to undertake
the task. Ten years to develop and build a major Railway is not unusual
!

The Railway will eventually involve a great number of organisations from
landowners through to contractors, Train Operators, Local Authorities
and other representative bodies.
The principles have been established, the benefits to Keswick, the Lake
District and west Cumbria identified, and work is in hand to bring it
all to life.
There will also be benefits to Penrith and Eden, raising the status of
Penrith's station on the National Network and improving public transport
links across Cumbria and the north of England, providing through trains
to new destinations.

CKP Railways plc believes that the Industrial Park and its roads could
be arranged in a way which does not damage the Railway trackbed, and has
attempted to demonstrate this to the developers and the Council. The two
projects would also be complementary if, for example, a road-rail
freight interchange was needed in the area served by the A66 (at present
there are no regular rail freight services serving Penrith and no
facilities which meet modern requirements).

Many supporters of the Railway project have voiced their concerns to
Eden District Council.
The Keswick Area Partnership, formed under the Market Towns Initiative,
supports the project, and the problem has attracted attention from
various levels of Government.

After receiving some representations, Eden District Council delayed a
decision on the roads at Flusco. In August, Eden's Planning Department
requested written answers to specific points but refused offers of a
presentation. CKP Railways plc provided a package of information, but
has received no comment from the Council on its contents.
The Council is now apparently seeking "expert opinion" (from an
undisclosed source) on the material provided by CKP Railways plc, but
the Application could apparently go to its Planning Committee as early
as the 16th of October 2003.

The principle of the Industrial Park is not a problem. Outline Planning
Permission was given in 1996, renewed in 2001, and activity only started
on site in 2002 - six years on.
The Railway project is not slow by comparison, given its relative size
and complexity !
It is the detail of layout, such as the roads and siting of buildings,
in the Industrial Park which can cause problems - which is why the
detailed stage for Planning Permission exists.
Eden District Council must look carefully at all consequences and apply
all relevant policies.
Picking and choosing is not an answer, as it creates confusion for all
concerned and devalues the Council's policy statements.

Decision day could be the 16th of October.
Cedric Martindale
Managing Director
CKP Railways plc

[donnajunkie]

just a question here,
why is there a need for a train from penrith to keswick when there is a perfectly good bus service(x4/x5)? train fares are usually really expensive compared to buses also.

[Guest]

The railway will be quicker (not subject to road works on the A66) and much more comfortable. I used the line (in the late 60s early 70s) to travel to work in Penrith every day until the line closed. The bus added nearly an hour to my travelling time. Now I have a car.

[donnajunkie]

yeah it would be quicker. i guess if there is a demand for it then there should be one. i am not sure how viable it would be though. i wont ever use it. why? because i can pay £8 for unlimited travel on a bus.

[nigelwright7557]

The Penrith-Keswick railway will never reopen.

The reason for this is there is no demand for a railway.

The last high season bus I took from Keswick to Penrith had 3 passengers on it.
So, just how will they fill one train every hour ?

The Keswick railway is very low down on the list of priorities for a railway.
There are many much more deserving railway projects first.

There is perfectly good road, buses and taxis between Keswick and Penrith.

Anyone who thinks this line wil lreopen is not from this planet.