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A monthly electronic newsletter from the Association of Community Rail Partnerships

EditorialAs this is written we await the outcome of the Northern and Trans Pennines Franchise compe-titions which we understand is imminent. Who-ever wins there are going to be some big changes for Community Rail and we will need to rise to the challenge.

The Community Rail Café continues to thrive; have you joined yet? We are about to make some changes to it, including tagging of comments, one effect of which will be to make it easier to index and therefore search. If you have any other ideas for improvements to the forum please let me know. With the end of the Citizens’ Rail project ACoRP will be taking on responsi-bility for it over the next few weeks.

The new ACoRP website will be live by the time your get this and Train on Line will be mi-grating to the website as from the next edition. You will still get it in your mail box each month as now. My thanks go to Philip Jenkinson who has typeset almost every edition since we stated ToL back in 2007.

Finally all at ACoRP would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.

Brian

New Community Rail Officer TrainingWe are intending to run a one day training session at the ACoRP office in Huddersfield on 27 January next from 10:45 to 15:30.The topics covered will be:l The Railway Industry today and where CR

fits in;l Network Rail;l The Department for Transport’s Community

Rail Strategy;l Community Rail Development;l What are the main problems/issues facingCR officers and how ACoRP can help.

If you would like to come along please contact Hazel at the office - hazel@acorp.uk.com - and shewill send you more details.

Small Grants FundThis fund is still open for applications; the form for applying for a grant can be found on the members section of the ACoRP website. Grants are limited to £250.00 for station adopters and £1000.00 for CRPs. We look forward to hearing from you and especially from first time bidders.

Department for Transport Designated Line Seminar Confirmed dates for this are 14 and 15 March 2016 in Norwich. Please keep these dates free; we should have the programme for the days shortly.

Brian

Train on Line:Editor: Brian Barnsley Sub-Editor, Design & Typesetting: Philip JenkinsonContributors:Neil Buxton, David Carlisle, Sharon Gray, Philip Jenkinson, Sam Lear, Chris Leech,Sue Mitchell, Peter Roberts, Stephen Sleight, Jayne Sumner, Jim Trotman, Richard Watts, Michael WIllmot, John Yellowlees, Friends of Dronfield Station, South West TrainsPlease send any material for inclusion in the next edition to Brian by 22 December.

Meanwhile down in Essex….

The Halloween Train on the Mayflower line is in its 5th Year!

There was lots of scary fun to be had on our Halloween Train which ran on Sunday 1 November; it’s now so popu-lar that two trains were run at 4.26pm and 5.26pm.

Great outfits and scary faces filled three of the carriag-es on each service (The fourth carriage was presumably left free for mere mortals - Ed) with each child getting an activity pack, a goodie bag. Many took part in the guess the weight of the pumpkin, name the spider and guess how many balls were in the net. There were prizes for the best dressed child on each train.  Jayne Sumner

Hallowe’en on line

Ghosts & Ghouls on the Marston Vale Line!

Creepy capers and fiendish family fun were just the ticket on the Marston Vale Line (Bedford - Bletch-ley) as the Ghost Train rolled into town! The ‘Fancy Dress Express’ was busy with a large number of children in an amazing variety of spooky costumes! A number of adults took the opportunity to get into the spirit too, including the London Midland conductor!

The train was decorated for the occasion and all children in fancy dress were given a themed goody bag packed with games and puzzles. A local face painter and balloon modeller were also hard at work to keep everyone entertained during their journey.

The special service was arranged by the Mar-ston Vale Community Rail Partnership in associa-tion with London Midland. All of the activities on the train were provided free of charge making it an ideal event for half-term!

A team of seven volunteers was on hand to assist passengers, distribute event packs (including a colouring competition – first prize a ride in the driver’s cab on the Marston Vale Line!) and sell re-freshments. Members of the team travelled from as far afield as Wellingborough and Brackley.

Many passengers took the opportunity to visit Ridgmont Station Heritage Centre during their jour-ney. The building was a hive of activity with children engrossed in special craft activities in the Meeting Room, souvenirs being sold in the Gift Shop, Marston Vale Line information being collected from the Tourist Information Point, volunteers showing visitors around the Restored Booking Office and a Spooky Menu being served in the Tea Room!

A survey distributed to passengers with their event pack generated a great deal of positive feedback. As some happy passengers put it:l ‘Our children had so much fun and we really

appreciated the effort all the staff went to.  It was a great day out and such a lovely idea!

l ‘A great afternoon thank you.’Terry Oliver, London Midland Head of West

Coast Mainline services said, “London Midland is proud to have supported this fantastic event.  It was a brilliant day and the kids really enjoyed it.  This railway really can bring the community together and the Marston Vale Communi-ty Rail Partnership works hard to achieve this. We look forward to working together again in the near future to deliver family-focused Christmas-themed services”.

Stephen Sleight

News from Partnership Lines

A special bench has been unveiled at Ridgmont Sta-tion Heritage Centre in memory of Harry Maughan, one of the dedicated members of the Friends of Ridg-mont Station. The bench is an exact reproduction of a 1900s London North Western Railway bench that was in the same location on the platform until the 1980s, and contains some of the original ironwork.

Harry’s Bench was designed and manufactured by Steelway; eight members of staff were involved. It was installed by London Midland. The cost has been met by a grant from the Railway Heritage Trust and donations from visitors to Ridgmont Station Herit-age Centre.

The bench was unveiled by Harry’s son, Gra-ham Maughan, and his partner, Heather Hing. Members of the Friends of Ridgmont Station, staff at

“Harry’s Bench” Unveiled at Ridgmontthe Heritage Centre and Harry’s friends joined them at the unveiling ceremony.

Harry Maughan was an enthusiastic and extremely committed member of the Friends of Ridgmont Station, welcoming trains arriving at Ridgmont, serving in the Heritage Centre Gift Shop and conducting guided tours of the restored book-ing office. He would frequently be found in and around the Heritage Centre at other times cleaning windows, tending the station garden, and clearing litter & weeds around the car park. Visitors enjoyed his guided tours of the Heritage Centre. He was also Chairman of the Bedfordshire Rural Transport Part-nership Forum and was well known to rail passen-gers and London Midland staff alike.

Stephen Sleight

‘Disconnected’‘Disconnected! Broken Links in Britain's Rail Policy’ is the follow-up to Chris Austin and Richard Faulkner’s previous book ‘Holding The Line’. Covering lines that closed and reopened, or where reopening is planned or proposed, it includes previously unpublished material about the dark days of the 1960s and 1970s, together with many unpublished photographs. Like ‘Holding The Line’, it makes fascinating reading, exposing much of the chicanery and dubious policy surrounding the infa-mous closures of the Beeching era.

It’s easy to look back on the pre-Beeching period through rose-tinted glasses but many closures were justified. Many lines however should – and could – have been kept open and would now be providing the much-needed capacity the present railway is crying out for.

Chris Austin and Richard Faulkner reveal the real stories behind some of the most controversial closures and draw some important conclusions for today's transport planners and politicians. They also pay tribute to some of the whistleblowers of earlier years, without whose in-tervention, the railway would be much smaller than it is today. Essential reading for anyone wanting to know more about the local rail network and why some parts closed whilst others survived.

ISBN-13: 9780860936640 . Publisher: Oxford Publishing Co.Neil

“Billy’s” Bench Too!Another station bench waswecently dedicated to a valued contributor to the Community Rail cause.

William (‘Billy’) Bolt, former Penistone Line Conductor and more recently Station Supervisor at Huddersfield, was a long-time supporter of the Penistone Line and the Partnership and will be sadly missed for his passion for conservation and wildlife. He loved the gardens PLP did at Stocksmoor, where he lived at the top of the station drive, and sub-sequently created the small station garden on the site of the former platform 7 at Huddersfield station, where in more recent years he was an active supporter of the Friends of Huddersfield Station.

The bench has been placed in front of the garden on plat-form 4 and was dedicated in the presence of station staff, station friends and his widow Valerie.

Phil

News from the Deep South

An exhibition of artwork by year 4 pupils at Harbour Primary, Newhaven, was officially unveiled on Thursday 22nd October in the waiting shelter on Ne-whaven Town Station. The official speeches and ribbon cutting were done by eleven pupils from the school to a crowd of local councillors, parents, Southern railway staff, members of Sustrans and the Sussex Community Rail Partnership. The artwork is the culmination of a joint project which saw the children study all aspects of Sustainable Travel before creating six inspiring artworks to adorn the shelter at the station.

In opening the art exhibition students Holly and Joe said: “We learnt that trains and buses are more sustainable than cars ….. it took team work to make this project happen … and now we officially declare this artwork open!”

Southern’s Station Manager Andy Gardner said: “We are delighted to work with local schools and are pleased that the children will have learnt so much about sustainable travel The splash of colour will, I am sure be appreciated by our passengers. This kind of work which the Sussex Community Rail Partnership facilitate is always of great value.”

Southern and East Sussex County Council are also working with the Seaford to Brighton line of the Sussex Community Rail Partnership and the South Downs National Park to reconnect the community to its railway, en-courage rail travel and to contribute to reduced emission targets. The projects, supported by the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, have included organised events and community projects at stations within the National Park.

The first phase of a project to bring some community involvement to Redhill Station commenced in Novem-ber. Organised by Zahra Dhaimish, Redhill YMCA and Sharon Gray, Sussex Community Rail Partnership, Redhill station was invaded by a group of young people and adult helpers on a very wet Friday morning. How-ever the group was determined to have some fun and give the station a splash of colour. Four large, wooden planters have been installed at the ends of the platforms

Art Exhibition in Newhaven Shelter

Redhill Station gets the Community Rail Treatmentand filled with a riot of colourful plants. Despite the weather everyone worked tirelessly throughout the day and many were caked in mud by the time they finished. A great effort that brought many members of the local community together.

We hope that the passengers at Redhill station appreciate this hard work and that the plants bring some cheer whilst waiting for their trains.

As with most of these projects a lot of forward planning was involved and none of it could have happened without help,from the station staff who helped by shifting (the extremely heavy) planters and marshalling the children, to the Southern train crew mess room staff who found a place for the children to have their lunch and made the adults cups of tea. (A planned picnic in the local park had to be cancelled due to the weather). The staff from KPS who delivered the free compost and were then roped into transfer-ring it to the platforms. And of course to Southern and ACoRP for generously funding the project.

Phase two, a photo art project for the underpass will follow shortly – watch this space!

Sharon Gray

Lakes Line MapsThree more maps showing the railway route into the Lake District, and the surrounding attractions, were unveiled at Staveley, Burneside and Kendal stations during November. In attendance were Emma Moody form the Lake District National park, Tracey Chaplin from Cumbria Tourism, Paul Marriot from Cumbria County Council and Jim Trotman, Community Rail Partnership Officer.

The new maps are larger than the one installed at Windermere station in November, 2012, but are to the same design. The production of the maps was funded through the ‘See More’ programme and organised through the Lakes line Community Rail Partnership.

The aim of the ‘See More Cumbria’ and the Lake District programme is to maximise the economic benefit of travel in the county by focussing on the quality of visitor travel to Cum-bria’s international destinations, particularly the Lake District. Over the last year, more than 1.1 million passengers have used the Oxenholme – Windermere trains and it is still planned to have the line electri-fied by the end of 2017. Once electrification has been completed, it will again be possible to operate direct trains between Windermere and Manchester Inter-national Airport.

Jim Trotman

News from Partnership Lines

South West Trains has launched London’s first ever Community Rail Partnership, in Hounslow. The train operator has joined forces with the London Borough of Hounslow to create a Community Rail Partnership that will build a bridge between the railway and local communities. 

Plans are in place to introduce groups to each of the seven stations along the Hounslow Loop, be-tween Hounslow and Barnes Bridge.

South West Trains’ Head of Business Excel-lence, Dave Morris said:

“We are delighted to be introducing a Community Rail Partnership in the Hounslow area. The work of these groups and of station adopters is vital in mak-ing our stations feel part of the communities they serve. We’re pleased that, working with the London Borough of Hounslow, we are able to announce funding of this group. It’s great to see that work is already underway with the introduction of new planter tubs at Hounslow station.”

South West Trains supports four other CRPs in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Investment in these groups increased over the summer to over £65,000 and 11 Station Adoption Groups have also received increased funding through various projects.

To get things started, two planters have been placed at Hounslow station to help brighten up the station and encourage the involvement of local resi-dents and community groups. Notice boards will also be placed at all seven the stations allowing communi-ties to share information easily.

Community Rail Partnership Officer Susan Rocke who is local to the area said,

“Our main aim is to bring the railway and the community together.  We hope to make each station a focus for the local community providing a central location and venue for activities and events. We would love to hear from local residents, commuters and community members who want to be a part of one of these groups and make a difference to their local station and in their local community.”

Susan can be contacted at crphounslowline@gmail.com

BB/SWT

London’s first Community Rail Partnership

A Platform for Station Friends

Mytholmroyd was in its favoured mode at the beginning of the month; Mytholmroyd Monsoon mood especially to welcome Martin Yallop for his first visit to the village. Nevertheless the welcome was warm. And a help-ful getting-to-know-you meeting followed.

Our large and largely derelict building was under discussion with the six would-be trustees; we would like to acquire it for community use from Net-work Rail, but negotiations have ground to a halt, once again. This is frustrating for all, including those Network Rail officers we have met, but still that building continues to deteriorate as no decisions are made.

Something very new, never before attempted, never before seen, was our Chairman Geoff as Father Christmas at Manchester Piccadilly Station. As he mutters ‘never again…’ we enjoyed it as did the travellers whose ‘free shopping bags’ were soon filled with crafts and goodies. It was a great day – and thanks are in order to Sally Buttifant and Paul Salveson for organising the Christmas Community Fair at the station in such a short space of time; a mere four weeks for negotiations, and all the staff on duty – they (and Santa, of course) were very helpful and patient.

The Samaritan’s Seminar on ‘Managing Suicidal Contacts’, arranged for Northern Rail’s staff – and extended to include volun-tary groups like us - was recently held in Blackpool.

What an excellent course it proved to be: run by Steve Toll-erton, Training Officer, the day went by in a flash; suicide is not a subject often publicly talked about but recent research shows that although, nationally, suicide rates are going down, not so on the railways. On average there is, according to the Samaritans, an attempted or completed suicide on the rail network every 24 hours.

The Course is designed to provide us with the necessary skills to initially recognise and help a potentially suicidal person, and lead them to a place of safety and, subsequently, to refer those persons on to a suitable organisa-tion which can provide follow-on help and advice.

More Musings from Mytholmroyd

‘The majority of people do not want to die forever’ so if we can intervene and interrupt the pendulum of despair that is over-whelming the person it could be possible to avert this awful event from happening.

Just a “Hello, you look upset” or, as some at-the-end-his tether person said: “What a tosser!” - not tactful, but it broke the cycle of misery for the person concerned.

The message is “Interven-tion is best – and it works!” Steve re-iterated throughout the day.

Thank you to Northern Rail, Samaritans for the oppor-tunity to attend this worthwhile course.

Sue

A somewhat atypical Santa with bag marked ‘swag’, unorthodox headgear and an apparently insatiable hunger for a burger (do they do reindeer?)

A Platform for Station Friends

Buxton Station includes a na-tionally important Grade 2 listed heritage structure in the form of a very rare cast iron radial fan-light constructed in 1863 under the supervision of world famous Architect of the Crystal Palace, Joseph Paxton.

Therefore it was with great pride that it welcomed the Roy-al Train and heir to the throne, Prince Charles on 23 October.  The prince was travelling through to a series of appointments in Derbyshire, but met a few Civic dignitaries before leaving.

David Carlisle

Schools Show Off their Art at Dronfield StationThe latest display of school art at Dronfield Station, featuring the work of pupils from three local schools, Holmesdale Infants, Stonelow Juniors, and Gors-eybrigg Primary, was opened on Wednesday 4th November by Town Mayor Councillor Liz Blanshard, who thanked the children for the high standard of their work. The exhibition has been organised by the Friends of Dronfield Station (FoDS) and is housed in the station passenger waiting shelters.

The opening was also attended by Alison Bell, Client and Stakeholder Manager for Northern Rail, who complimented the young artists on providing a very bright and colourful show.

These latest artworks from the three schools are part of a rolling exhibition designed to showcase the work of budding artists from schools in Dron-field and the surrounding villages. Since the project started in March 2013 it has also served to brighten up the station for people waiting for trains, and en-hance its attractiveness as a much valued community facility.

Buxton’s historic fanlight window in the background with 67005, the locomotive of the Royal Train

L to r - Station Manager, Julie Corke, Member of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Andrew Bingham and the Mayoress of the High Peak, Charlotte Young meet Price Charles.

Royal Visit to Buxton

DfT Passport SystemRail operators have been invited to apply for the Department for Transport’s new ‘Passport system’, which is designed to reduce the amount of money and time spent providing details for multiple franchises they may wish to bid for during this parliament.Source:http://goo.gl/47aQcC

As you can imagine the complexity of airing what in essence is a simple idea to showcase the UK Railways as a “force for good”, has been an incredibly complicated and on occasion slightly frustrating task. However I am delighted to announce that we have now gained ground whilst generating much interest from across the Indus-try. As you may recall my initial aim was based around four pillars: �Demonstrate that Stations can be utilised beyond their current design to once again become community hubs;�Publically showcase the strength of CRP’s whilst demonstrating that TOC’s can effectively collaborate with both CRP’s and external community groups along their line of route;�Demonstrate how an effective TOC can integrate into the communities it serves in order to help stimu-late social cohesion and encourage social and economic growth;�Demonstrate the broad spectrum of careers availa-ble within the sector.

Following a number of discussions I am both delighted and very proud to say that we have received interest from the following companies who wish to stage an event on their network and I am confident this list (in no particular order) will increase as the event grows closer: Northern Rail; Govia Thames Railway (GTR); Virgin East Coast; Virgin West Coast; Mersey Rail; Settle & Carlisle Railway; Arriva Trains Wales; Chiltern Railway; East Midlands Trains; Abellio Greater Anglia; First Transpennine Express.

In addition we have received a number of offers of support from companies and organisations both inside and outside of the rail sector. These include: Fujitsu; Hitachi, Alstom, Novacroft, Young Rail Professionals, National Skills Academy Railway Engineering, Wayne Hemingway, Maggie Philbin (BBC) and even The Scout Association, to name but a few. Combined, I believe we are in a positive position to support and replicate the Patron’s Lunch in 2016. http://www.thepatronslunch.com/about-2/

Internal coordination and communication

Due to the complexity of coordinating this national celebratory event, and mindful that I neither have the time nor the experience to do this programme justice, I have asked that Vicky Binley, Director at Nimble Media who are an SME, with great pedigree in supporting the

transport sector in co-ordinating similar events, take the reins in co-ordinating the next phase of delivery. I am de-lighted that they have accepted my proposal of support-ing this project on a non-for-profit agreement. However, in order to pay for their services, Nimble Media will be requesting a small donation from all the organisations to pay for co-ordinating future communications and of course creating a website which will aim to promote our efforts. The fee to participating TOCs will be £1,500.00 + VAT and to CRPs a donation of £100.00 per CRP. (CRP/Station Friends donations can be funded via the Small Grants Fund - Ed)

Nimble Media have also agreed that any surplus funds following the event, will be equally shared across three Charities: The Railway Children; The Railway Be-nevolent Fund and Alzheimer’s Research UK.

I hope you all agree that although it would have been simpler to have sourced large amounts from a small selection of corporates, this request for small donations lays testament to the fact that the rail industry should not need to seek headline sponsors to promote our sector during this day of national celebration. We are an indus-try that prides itself in delivering our services through genuine collaboration, and this event is no different to any other day. Therefore encouraging small donations of sponsorship allows equal inclusion across the industry.

External Communication

I am delighted to announce that Rail Media have kindly agreed to support all external communications both prior to and after the event. This alone has a value of over £26,000.

Steering Group

In order to ensure a strategic plan is delivered in time for the big day I am suggesting that we convene a Steering Group with representatives from all interested parties, to be held on 16 January in London.

In view of the fact that we are limited to capac-ity, please could I suggest that through ACoRP you agree who attends to represent CRPs from across the UK. (So far I have three volunteers for this - Ed)

I look forward to working with you all; in the near future and once again please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information.

Chris Leech MBE chris.leech@bitc.org.uk brian@acorp.uk.com

Station to Station - the celebration of the Queens 90th Birthday - is taking shape. If you have registered an interest then you will have received the information below; if you have not told us you would like to take part please let us know. Contact details are at the bottom of this article.

Lease of Life for Tain station Tain railway station in Easter Ross received a new lease of life on 11 November as a new restaurant opened in its disused building thanks to the Station Community Regeneration Fund.

The ‘Platform 1864’ restaurant was funded jointly by grants from Transport Scotland’s Station Community Regeneration Fund and the Railway Heritage Trust. The Station Community Regener-ation Fund breathes new life into old and disused railway station premises by funding local community groups to transform them into facilities to benefit local people.

Local chef Graham Rooney sought funding to restore the old station building and turn it into a gastro-pub and family restaurant and was successful in securing £210,000 from the SCRF, and £105,000 from the Railway Heritage Trust, which he was able to match to fund restoration work and equipment.

Graham contracted local architects and build-ers to do the work and even ran a competition for pupils from Craighill Primary School to name the restaurant. Emily Vass, a primary 6 student, came up with the name of ‘Platform 1864’, honouring the year the station was built. In recognition of her effort she will have a dish named after her on the menu. Graham is also donating 50p each time this dish is sold towards providing out-of-course activities for local people. He is currently seeking volunteers to act as Trustees for this body.

Tain station was built and opened by the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway in 1864, but this company almost immediately merged with another to form the Highland Railway. In its heyday it employed up to 30 staff, but its fortunes gradually declined as the railway changed and modernised, and the building eventually closed to passengers in June 1991. The building is Listed at Grade B, so it has

sat empty since then, weather tight but with no use. Minister for Transport and Islands Derek

Mackay said: “I would like to congratulate Graham and everyone involved in the construction of Platform 1864 for their huge efforts in giving this building a whole new lease of life; I hope it serves the community well for many years to come. “Scotland’s railway stations should be at the heart of the community and, through the re-launch of the Station Community Regeneration Fund under the Abellio franchise, I look forward to seeing more disused stations buildings put back into use in the future.”

Andy Savage, Executive Director of the Railway Heritage Trust, said

‘Tain is a wonderful example of how the local com-munity can use a listed railway station in new and imaginative ways. We are delighted to have been able to help fund Graham Rooney’s imaginative pro-posals, and wish them every success in the future.’

Pollokshaws West tooStephen Hardwick’s social enterprise café opened a few weeks ago at Pollokshaws West in the Glasgow- bound waiting room. Pollokshaws West is also the home of South West Community Cycles and the station for Pollok Park and the Burrell Collection.

John Yellowlees

Marshlink MeetingThe Marshlink CRP had a very good and well attend-ed Annual Stakeholder meeting last week. Amber Rudd M.P. attended and praised the work of the CRP and the great work its doing towards service improvements on the Ashford to Brighton line and indeed getting High Speed Services extended to Rye.

Tim Sparrow

While in Sussex ...

Element Traditionally provided by1 Animateur / Leader Community Rail Partnership Officer2 Funding TOC / local authorities3 Community support Station volunteers4 Rail industry co-operation TOC / Network Rail* Community benefit See section below

The pattern for community rail partnerships and station friends traditionally requires four ele-ments as summarised in the table on the right.

My definition of innovation in community rail is when at least one of these elements is provided by non-traditional means. Innova-tion here is not to be confused with novelty – that’s when some new and imaginative activity is under-taken by traditional providers.

Any community rail activ-ity has one or more objectives: enhancing station appearance; improving facilities or security for passengers; developing transport integration; boosting publicity; or launching a special event to promote and publicise the service. Let us call these activities collec-tively Community Rail Enhance-ment and Development Items, abbreviated to CREDITs.

Helmsdale Station CIC was set up to restore a derelict listed station building and to develop a number of CREDITs in a part of the country where the population is sparse and local volunteers hard to find and where there was no established Community Rail Part-nership. Some of the ideas below were part of our solution and all are responses to the question ‘How can we do community rail development differently?’ A full account of the CREDITs devel-oped for Helmsdale station is at http://1drv.ms/1WQwXyR and a video clip summary at https://vimeo.com/140201325 . However every situation is different and a ‘personalised’ community rail

ACoRP has announced that it is reviewing what might be included in the ‘Innovation in Community Rail’ category for the 2016 Awards. This year’s Award Winner in this category was Helmsdale Station CIC and

here, the MD, Michael Willmot, reflects on what he sees as innovation.

enhancement strategy needs to be developed for each context.

Let’s consider the elements listed above in turn.1 AnimateurSome English dictionaries do not acknowledge the French derived word ‘animateur’, and yet, where volunteers are involved it is a vital role: ‘A person who enlivens or encourages’.

Volunteers are not paid and their reward is a combination of gratifying work, and of being appreciated. Without a voice of appreciation and encouragement, then very often the volunteer workforce is not sustained. The voice is usually that of a CRPO (Community Rail Partnership Officer) but it doesn’t have to be. It might be a community devel-opment officer, a youth leader, a county wildlife trust officer or (stretching the concept of vol-unteering a little!) a community payback supervisor.2 FundingAny CREDIT requires either funding or volunteers and usually both. It is far easier to find capital / ‘pump priming’ funding to set up an income generating activity rather than securing recurring revenue funding. This means establishing an enterprise with a business plan to provide an

income to sustain the operation. Alternatively funding might be achieved from a neighbourhood business in return for some sort of advertising or sponsorship on the station, or from a busi-ness which is enjoying use of a redundant station building at peppercorn rent but contributes CREDITs in return for this ‘grace and favour’ privilege.

If funding is involved then a corporate structure such as a charity or community interest company must be established. This has the advantage that the instigator(s) is/are protected financially, their exposure limited by the directors / trustees liability limit – often just £1. If no CRPO, then at least one director or trus-tee must take on the animateur role if volunteers are involved. 3 Community Support If local volunteers are hard to find then there is the wider volunteer movement to call on. We are in a golden age for ‘baby boomer’ volunteers: that age group now entering retirement, often still physically healthy and looking for meaningful activity. This group can offer a wealth of working life experience and expertise. At Helmsdale, engineers, phys-icists, seamstresses, carpenters, a conservation architect, lawyer,

Michael Willmott continued from previous page

electrician, environmentalist and accountant are some of the areas of expertise of volunteers who have assisted with the project. Several working weeks have been staged. Free accommodation in Station House + day time food is provided in return for half time voluntary work. Living together for a working week instils a sense of community among people of different trades & backgrounds (George MacLeod pioneered this in the restoration of Iona Abbey). This project’s initiator has worked with Service Civil International [http://www.sciint.org/] – promoting harmony among those with different backgrounds through working together with common purpose.4 Rail industry co-operationLittle to add here. Clearly any community rail initi-ative requires TOC support at least. At present the wind is blowing in the right direction; new franchises are putting increased emphasis on promoting com-munity rail initiatives. The importance of observing appropriate health & safety requirements, approved by the TOC, when working in an operational railway area can never be too strongly emphasised.* Community BenefitThe usual phrase is ‘Community Rail Partnership’. Yet often Community Rail Assistance is what is happening – activities in which volunteer members of the community work to assist and promote the railway. Clearly one community benefit in return is rail travel. But if this is a true partnership then benefits might be expected to flow equally both ways. If a CREDIT (a Community Rail Enhancement or Development Item) can benefit the community, then community commitment to the CRP cause is strengthened. Examples of such benefits are a station contributing to a local Britain in Bloom entry, or growing herbs for local use; or volunteers publishing

a combined rail & bus timetable if this does not exist. If there is an enterprise component to the project then this might provide a service for the community (at Helmsdale it was a photographic darkroom!), and if it is a not-for-profit enterprise, any trading surplus from the station might be donated to local commu-nity causes.

There is a less tangible aspect of community benefit to which contribution might be made in rural areas: pubs, post offices, and church congre-gations are in decline and this means there are fewer focal points for community development. The local station might be considered a community asset. Is there a role it can play in developing local communi-ty cohesion?How can ACoRP assist in Community Rail Innovation?Enterprise, with an ability to generate funding, can valuably contribute to community rail innovation. This might require advice and information on topics such as Setting up a Charity or CIC, How to write a Business Plan, Managing Accounts, Working with the Rail Industry to improve the Station Environ-ment etc. If there were a wider range of individuals and organisations contributing to the community rail movement then there could be a role for ACoRP in providing a wider range of briefing and training opportunities, and putting people and organisations with different offers in touch with each other.

At present ACoRP membership is forced into categories of Community Rail Partnerships, Station Friends and Associate Members ( = any organisa-tion which doesn’t fit into the first two categories). Should there be a wider membership scope so that any individual or organisation delivering CRED-ITs can feel they are a full participating member of the community rail movement. Some examples of

Michael Willmott continued from previous page

organisations/individuals that might be valuable members or associates (and so contribute more to community rail innovatory activity)l Businesses enjoying peppercorn rent of sta-

tion buildings (as cited above)l Music groups willing to ‘donate’ performanc-

es on music trains as a way of supporting the cause

l Individuals who could provide website design, advice on keeping accounts, setting up a CIC, writing a business plan etc – peo-ple wanting to do something in support of local rail – ACoRP acknowledges Railfuture on its membership page but should there be stronger links?

l Artists happy to contribute to or advise on station art at less than fully commercial rates

l Businesses willing to sponsor their local station

In the introductory paragraph of the mem-bership section on the ACoRP website relating to who can join ‘railway development companies’ and ‘promotional groups’ are mentioned but these are not defined further.

ConclusionImagination and inventiveness are the only limits to innovation in community rail. This is just one per-son’s reflection on what constitutes innovation and how this could broaden the movement. Readers may well have other ideas. But my underlying message is that community rail should not be restricted to CRPs

Above Right and Below: Some of the Helmsdale station resident volunteers

Win Win Win on Poacher LineEMT staff from all parts gathered in Nottingham on Friday 27th November for the East Midlands Trains Great Service Awards. Now in their fourth year, the awards recognise staff who ‘go the extra mile’ and really make a difference to customers and improve the service on offer.

The main award of the night was the ‘Outstand-ing Individual’. It was hotly contested and received more than 900 nominations. The clear winner was Kim Cinavas from Sleaford station on the Poacher Line. Kim received more than 100 nominations from customers and colleagues, including supporting feedback such as: “Outstanding service” and "Knowl-edgeable, friendly, deserves this and much more.”.

Kim was also named the Ticket Office staff member of the year, the first time one person has won two awards on the same night. Staying on the Poacher Line a third award was won by Rachel Coulbeck, supervisor at Skegness station. Well done ladies!

and Station Friends Any Community Rail Enhance-ment and Development Item (CREDIT) should be valued provided it contributes to supporting both local rail and the local community; and the person or organisation supplying it should be welcomed into the ACoRP family.

Michael Willmot mwillmot@talktalk.net

Richard Watts, ACoRP Board Member and on various Rail North working groups, reports

It is not often you listen to a forthright and straight- talking civil servant but that was what happened at the recent gathering of the National Community Rail Steering Group. Pete Wilkinson stated in very clear terms his commitment to supporting Community Rail and set out a very clear case for why the ‘North-ern Powerhouse’ was an essential element of plans to rebalance the economy. To cap it all he then asked what more the DfT could do to help Community Rail. Now there is a challenge worth thinking about.

For Northern CRPs there will be the addition-al funds mandated in the new Northern franchise. £500,000 to be divided between 19 CRPs or about £26k per CRP. This is certainly considerably better than the current funding received by CRPs from Northern Rail and is guaranteed for the length of the franchise so will not be subject to a surgeon’s knife if times get tough for the new TOC. Clearly the ITT set out the minimum specification with every ex-hortation to bidders to do better. So it will be really interesting to see what the winning bids for Northern and Trans Pennine offer that will really transform the railways of the north. The details will be known very soon – and certainly by Christmas.

So with all this good news for CRPs how is it possible to respond to Pete Wilkinson’s offer of what more can the DfT do? Well I will leave you all to think carefully about that but I am sure there are many good ideas out there.

We are all aware that Community Rail will need an injection of new blood over the next few years as some of us (me included) will look to retire from the front line. So the funding received by ACoRP from the DfT to develop an apprenticeship scheme is a real shot in the arm for the community rail sector. This is not about a bolt-on to existing TOC apprenticeship schemes but is all about developing a scheme that is focused on the requirements of the community rail sector. The apprenticeship will lead to a BTEC Level 3 qualification and will help to establish a career structure within community rail. It is planned to launch the apprenticeship scheme at a high profile event in April 2016 with the first ‘intake ‘ in Septem-ber. The course will have an impact on ACoRP but it is a challenge that we are very much up for. So looking ahead who out there would be interested in taking on an apprentice?

So what are your thoughts on community business units? This was the main topic discussed at the recent National Community Rail Steering Group. As I wrote this piece (late as ever – sorry Brian!) the Bentham Line CRP is meeting the Set-tle-Carlisle Development Company to discuss this very issue. I know that some northern CRPs have expressed reservations about this - maybe because it is not fully understood? My view is that it is a way of properly embedding designation in the thinking of the TOC, Network Rail and the CRP. Looked at one way a business unit might take on a bigger role in managing ‘their’ line, e.g. timetabling, marketing, fares, rolling stock deployment, stations etc. Anoth-er approach might be to engage local businesses in providing supporting services to the railway such as catering or to be partners in developing stations as community hubs. Neither is mutually exclusive and each CRP will develop these ideas in their own way to fit their local needs and specialisms. So here in Lancashire we may do more educational outreach work using our base in Accrington whereas on the Settle & Carlisle there could be a greater focus on tourism and links with local tourist businesses.

Exciting times! - and by the time you read this I hope the franchise awards for Northern and Trans Pennine will be known. Have a very happy Christ-mas and New Year.

If you have any comments on the above please send them to info@communityraillancashire.co.uk (FAO Richard Watts). The above views are those of the au-thor and are not those of Lancashire County Council, Rail North or ACoRP. © Richard Watts 02 12 2015

Former ACoRP Secretary Philip Jenkinson takes a sideways look at the public transport media. Views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect ACoRP policy

Modern Railways (Dec); Rail 787 (11 Nov), 788 (25 Nov); Local Transport Today 685 (13 Nov); Today’s Railways UK (Dec);Passenger Transport 121 (6 Nov), 122 (20 Nov); Railstaff (Nov).

I don’t suppose our readers in the South West or Wales will thank me for observing that it seems that we’re all holding our breath waiting for the Northern franchise awards - not least they have much the same railway problems as the north but don’t (unlike East Anglia) seem to gain the same degree of attention in the railway press at large. Be that as it may, Novem-ber’s transport publications seem to have the same feeling of the railways being ‘on hold’ where they aren’t literally on ‘delay’.

The latter certainly applies in some cases; Mod-ern Railways tells us that double-tracking of Chester - Wrexham has been delayed again, whilst TRUK reports the same about the Soham doubling. And NR has now come out and admitted that the wires won’t reach Blackpool until 2018, two years later than the original estimate, while LTT reports that ‘West-East’ looks like being seven years behind previous estimates.

The same flavour emanates from the reports in all the publications of Nicola Shaw’s initial scoping report into the future shape and financing of Net-work Rail, one of three broadly similar enquiries currently under way. With this and the DfT accept-ing a 30% cut in spending over the next four years in the latest Spending Review, no wonder the whole industry seems to be holding its breath. At least the Ordsall Chord seems to have cleared its final hurdle and NR now hopes to complete it by the end of 2017. All the foregoing are well-covered in Modern Railways, which also carries an interesting article on how ToCs are taking to Twitter and assesses how well or badly various organisations are using social media.

Rail 787 sees Nigel Harris again getting hyster-ical about the Wootton Bassett ‘near miss’ fiasco, de-spite having little to report that hasn’t been reported already. The related question of old rolling stock on the modern railway is also raised by Alan Williams in Modern Railways; both writers seem preoccupied with the risk of train fires, despite the fact that these have been a rarity since the elimination of gas-lit stock almost 100 years ago. Whether MkI stock should still be tearing around the main-line network, whatever the motive power, at 70 mph plus is, of course, a separate and more valid debate.

Rail 787 otherwise carries a photo-feature on some of the delightful anachronisms of the Wherry Lines and another tiresome journalistic piece by Paul Clifton, this time comparing British railways unfa-vourably with Dutch; his examples are not, even in my limited experience, either universal or indeed desir-able. In 788 he meets the poor dears in Camberley bewailing their slow train service to London. They all ought to move to Millom or Jarrow and smell the coffee!

Mind you, everything oop north will be hunky-dory well before 2020 if you believe Alex Hynes’ (Northern Rail) hype as reported from Rail’s conference in this issue. It seems to me that there are people who believe that all Northern needs to do to establish itself as a paragon of railway perfection is to scrap its Pacers, with or without replacement. Elsewhere in the same issue Steve Beaumont mus-es that the difficulties foreseen by Network Rail in re-opening the Middlewich line are all too typical of its ‘no can do’ attitude, whilst glory be! Rail has tracked the first tram-train down to the factory where it is (unlike its infrastructure) all but complete.

TRUK reports more Network Rail intransigence in a stand-off with the villagers of Plumpton over the local level crossing. It also carries a detailed feature on the Manchester - Crewe line. We also learn from pteg that electric units have 80% of the commuter market into Leeds from Keighley and 77% from Ilkley, whilst diesels from Harrogate and Pontefract have market shares of 37% and 36% respectively. Someone should tell Claire Perry, who claims in Pas-senger Transport 122 that “many people, including myself, won’t comprehend whether we’re on a diesel or electric train”. Perhaps we have the wrong kind of Rail Minister? The same issue sees Nick Richardson asking “What’s the future for the Island Line?”

The preceding issue (121) reports that Trans-port Focus has reiterated in a piece of research called Train Punctuality: The Passenger Perspective that there is a wide difference on what is considered a late running train between passengers and the indus-try. What always baffles me is the wide difference between people’s expectancy of punctuality on the railways and identical journeys by car.