Monday 13 April 2020

Undoing Beeching could wipe out heritage operations.

Back in the 1960s, when British Railways were closing "unremunerative" branch lines left, right and centre, plucky bands of volunteers stepped in to save scenic branch lines and the steam trains that ran on them up and down the country. Over the subsequent decades, the heritage railway sector has become a massive part of Britain's tourist industry, as well as saving some pretty important historical trains, stations and other infrastructure. Volunteers have spent decades carefully curating their railways to present an idealised image of a bygone era. There's only one problem. Now the government want to rebuild some of the lines that previous generations closed and these steam railways are standing in the way. The Rossendale to Manchester route for instance could be a strategic commuter route for local residents. however, the East Lancashire Railway is currently occupying the trackbed. Likewise the Spa Valley Railway stands in the way of Brighton Main Line 2 and a potential reopening of the Matlock to Buxton Line would result in Peak Rail being shunted into the sidings. So what is to be done? local commuters need these reopenings to relieve congestion and cut down on CO2 emissions, but closing the heritage railways would hurt the local tourist trade. The simplest answer would of course be to simply shut up shop, sell or donate rolling stock to other nearby heritage railways and let Network Rail move in. Peak Rail, for instance, is practically next door to the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway. Does the area really need two heritage lines, or could the two railways co-locate? This solution wouldn't work so well for the ELR as there are no other heritage lines close to Manchester. Another solution would be to allow heritage trains to operate over Network Rail lines or vice-versa. This would be a legal and managerial nightmare, but not entirely impossible as the NYMR Whitby trains (operating over the NR line from Grosmont to Whitby) demonstrate. You could potentially have National Rail trains running Monday to Friday and have the heritage operation running weekends-only. A third option might be to simply convert the heritage loco sheds to static museums with no operating trains. This would not go down well with the volunteers or visiting public, who want to actually ride on the trains.
So which is more important? A museum (or more derogatorily "toy") railway for tourists and enthusiasts to enjoy of a weekend, or a modern, functioning mass transit system to move people and goods?

Saturday 7 March 2020

Is there a future for domestic air travel?

The recent collapse of flybe has made headlines, but many in the industry have seen this coming for some time. The short-haul airline was operating on a flawed business plan and had been in financial trouble for some time before the sudden drop-off in passenger numbers caused by the COVID-19 outbreak tipped it over the edge.
But with the climate crisis and the rise of the flygskam movement, can short-haul flights continue to be justified? To avert the climate crisis, there will need to be fewer planes in the sky. However, this will inevitably hit the profit margins of the airlines. Can short-haul airlines remain viable businesses?
Within mainland Britain and Europe, rail (and high-speed rail in particular) is the main competitor for short-haul air travel. However in the UK, rail is very highly priced compared to budget airlines. If you can get where you're going faster for less, why bother taking the train? For the sake of the environment, higher air passenger duty could be used to subsidise rail fares, encouraging more people to take the train.
Air travel starts to look much more appealing when you get out into the islands. The Hebrides and the Orkney and Shetland islands are a long ferry ride away from the mainland. Air travel is much, much faster for foot passengers and mail. But out here, passenger numbers are far less, meaning airlines need to use much smaller aircraft to make routes economical. But with the speed advantage, airlines should be able to charge a premium over the ferry operators for foot passengers.
Can the airline industry be saved? Should it be allowed to fail?
Long-haul airlines will probably be alright, as air travel has such an advantage over sea travel. Short-haul airlines are inevitably going to lose out as people turn from air to rail travel to save the planet. I suspect the era of the budget airline may soon come to an end and we may return to the days when air travel was a premium service for the well-to-do.