Happy New Year
Thursday, 31 December 2009
Happy New Year to all our members and readers Hope to see you in 2010 at our meetings.
Rail hub would have to be in Spalding
Donington is ruled out of the racePremium Article ! Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button. Options Premium Article ! To read this article in full you must have registered and have a Premium Content Subscription with the n/a site. Subscribe Registered Article ! To read this article in full you must be registered with the site. Sign In Register  DONINGTON will definitely not be chosen as the home for the new rail freight hub, according to South Holland District Council leader Gary Porter. The village was earmarked as a possible place to build a new interchange by transport campaigners but Coun Porter revealed to the Spalding Guardian that Donington will not be chosen and that any site would have to be in Spalding to make it work.
Coun Porter said: "I can understand why people are saying Donington because there is an old rail freight hub there but this isn't going to be anything like that - it's going to be huge.
"It won't be Donington, it's got to be Spalding. It needs to be somewhere along that line between the north near Pinchbeck down to the A16."
The hub would need a large section of track for the freight to slow down and speed up coming off and on the main track and estimates for the size vary from 40 to 60 hectares.
Earlier this month we revealed that the council had team up with transport experts Intermodality to look at the scheme - and the firm's report estimated the hub could bring £200m investment and around 4,400 jobs.
The district council's cabinet gave the go ahead for officers to carry on looking at the scheme and to identify a possible location but Coun Porter wants to assure people that no decision has been made yet.
He added: "There are people saying that this is a done deal but it definitely isn't.
"We haven't even decided whether we are 100 per cent behind it or not. We have told officers to work up some options.
"It would be stupid to say we support it without looking at the consequences but we are certainly very very interested."
The scheme will be looked at by the Local Development Framework working party - who will make recommendations to cabinet.
Free to Under 17's
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Don`t forget that until Saturday January 2nd, young people aged 17 and under can travel for free all day on CallConnect bus services across Lincolnshire.
CallConnect services will be running as normal on Tuesday 29th December, Wednesday 30th December, New Years Eve and Saturday 2nd January.
For more information or to book a journey, you can call the Booking Centre in Lincoln on 0845 234 3344 or text the word `CallConnect` to 82727 and we will call you back. You can also book journeys online at www.lincsinterconnect.com which is open 24 hours a day over the festive period.
(The CallConnect Booking Centre re-opens on Tuesday 29th December at 8.30am).
Merry Christmas from everyone at CallConnect
Merry Christmas
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Merry Christmas from the forum Officers & Committee
Thumbs up for rail hub plans
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
ONLINE readers are overwhelmingly in favour of the planned rail freight hub. We have been asking visitors to this website for their views on the lucrative scheme, which could bring more than 4,000 jobs and £200m investment into the district.
Our poll showed that 80 per cent of responders think the hub is a good idea Premium Article ! Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button. Options Premium Article ! To read this article in full you must have registered and have a Premium Content Subscription with the n/a site. Subscribe Registered Article ! To read this article in full you must be registered with the site. Sign In Register 
Deadline for rail hub plan as cabinet agrees to move forward
Monday, 14 December 2009
Premium Article ! Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button. Options Premium Article ! To read this article in full you must have registered and have a Premium Content Subscription with the n/a site. Subscribe Registered Article ! To read this article in full you must be registered with the site. Sign In Register  COUNCILLORS agreed to investigate a potential freight interchange in South Holland - but now face a race against time to seize the opportunity.
South Holland District Council's cabinet agreed officers should use £5,000 planning money to continue investigations into a rail hub, reported in Tuesday's Lincolnshire Free Press.
The council had already teamed up with a transport expert which predicts the development could attract £200m investment and create up to 4,400 jobs.
The district's big food firms are keen on the idea - which would transfer their traffic from lorries to trains.
The authority hopes the venture could tie in with Network Rail plans to upgrade the Spalding line - which are already set to divert freight through the town.
If done together track works and signalling could be completed by Network Rail - but it begins planning in March and a site would need to be chosen by then.
Officers must now try to identify a suitable 40 to 60 hectare location.
At Tuesday's cabinet meeting Coun Howard Johnson, portfolio holder for economic development, said: "In terms of South Holland this is a giant project and we haven't got the resources to manage it.
"This money will allow, as and when required, temporary consultants to be brought in to lead on certain aspects.
"It is so big and important so it is necessary that we have a handle on this."
Coun Roger Gambba-Jones said the project would be challenging, particularly from a planning perspective.
He said: "People will be concerned about locations and implications. We have got to do the work and consult with the public very early on and keep them informed.
"This is a significant project for South Holland. It is a very important opportunity for us and a very limited window of opportunity to make it work."
Rail transport hub idea proposed
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
A multi million-pound food distribution railway hub could be built in Lincolnshire.
South Holland District Council wants to create the Spalding International Food Park to help move produce from farms in the county more efficiently.
Its aim is to move 10% of the existing 2,000 lorry journeys each day in the county to rail by creating the hub.
The authority expects road and rail infrastructure required for the project will cost about £20m.
'Huge opportunities'
The council's cabinet is meeting to discuss whether to identify a site for the hub and investigate the plan further.
Bruce Wakeling, the council's economic development manager, said: "We've been working through the summer with businesses to look at whether the suggestion is viable and realistic and it appears that it is.
"All the produce that is made here and comes from here could be taken to the facility, dropped on to a train and sent off to the main retail distribution points across the country - with huge benefits to us all.
"It would create huge opportunities for our existing businesses and new ones - that's why we're treating it so seriously."
He said the council had been talking to the government and the private sector to attract funding for the hub, which could take 70,000 journeys a year off the roads.
End of reserved booking fees in sight
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
We have learned that the reserved seat booking fees on East Coast trains will be scrapped in the next couple of weeks.
EAST MIDLANDS TRAINS CRACKDOWN ON FARES CHEATS
Friday, 4 December 2009
Stations covered by the East Midlands Trains penalty fares scheme are: Alfreton, Attenborough, Barrow upon Soar, Bedford, Beeston, Belper, Chesterfield, Corby, Derby, Dronfield, Duffield, East Midlands Parkway, Kettering, Leicester, London St Pancras International, Long Eaton, Loughborough, Luton, Luton Airport Parkway, Market Harborough, Nottingham, Sheffield, Sileby, Spondon, Syston, Wellingborough. - New penalty fares system introduced from 7 December
- Fare evasion costs UK rail passengers millions of pounds a year
- “Pay before you board” advice to all rail customers
- Extra ticket machines and new website make buying ticket even easier
Rail fare cheats face a new crackdown from next month when East Midlands Trains introduces a new penalty fares system.
The new system is designed to act as a deterrent to fare dodgers whose actions suck millions of pounds of potential investment out of the UK rail network every year.
Individuals travelling without a valid ticket for their journey face a penalty fare of £20 or twice the full single fare - whichever is the greater amount - to the next station at which the train stops. They will then need to purchase a full single fare from the next station to their destination.
East Midlands Trains has launched a customer communication campaign, extra ticket machines at stations and a new internet sales site in advance of the new system going live on 7 December 2009.
The new system is being introduced with the backing of the Department for Transport following stakeholder consultation. Similar arrangements have already been put in place by many other rail operators across the country.
Every East Midlands Trains station covered by the scheme (see list in Notes to Editors) will have a facility to buy tickets in advance of travel and the company repeated its “pay before you board” advice to passengers.
Tim Shoveller, Managing Director of East Midlands Trains, said: “One of the things that passengers tell us consistently is that they are fed up with fare evaders.
“Regular fare cheats who try to dodge paying should know we are serious about tracking them down. We are on the side of honest fare-paying passengers who end up paying for those who think the rules don’t apply to them.
“Our advice to customers is simple – please make sure you leave enough time to buy a ticket before you board the train. It’s no different to ensuring you buy a parking ticket when you park your car. If you don’t, you run the risk of a financial penalty.”
Tim Shoveller added: "Millions of pounds are lost every year through fare dodging – this is money that should be going back into improving trains and stations to make sure that passengers get the service they expect and deserve.”
Examples of when a Penalty Fare may be charged include:
- Travelling without a valid ticket
- Not being able to produce an appropriate Railcard for a discounted ticket
- Travelling in First Class accommodation with a Standard ticket
- Individuals aged 16 or over travelling on a child rate ticket
- Travelling beyond the destination on your ticket
Xmas gift from LCC -Free Buses for 17 and under.
Officials at Lincolnshire County Council's award-winning bus network unwrapped a seasonal surprise this week when they announced plans to Scrap fares for passengers aged 17 and under on all Call Connect buses through-out the Christmas and New Year period. That means young people using the Call Connect bus service between Monday December 21, and Saturday January 2, will be able to travel completely Free!
East Coast fares could be reduced
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Rail fares on the East Coast Mainline could be reduced after figures showed thousands of seats are left unsold every day, the government has said.
Transport secretary Lord Adonis has asked managers "to look at how fares can be made more attractive".
He is also considering simplifying the complex fare structure on the London to Edinburgh route.
East Coast was brought back under state control after National Express said it could not afford to run it any more.
After the move in November, Lord Adonis ordered a review of how the service is run, including ticket prices.
'Simpler' fares
The review found first-class carriages on East Coast trains were less than a third full on average, while standard-class carriages were less than two-thirds full.
A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesman said: "The secretary of state has asked the east coast company to look at how fares can be made more attractive with a view to cutting some fares and getting more passengers on the service.
"East Coast will be looking at the prices and the complexity of the existing fares."
The DfT has been impressed by the simpler fare structure offered by Grand Central, which operates trains between London and York.
However, the department spokesman said any decision on fares would have to take into account the fact that "profitability has to be sustained".
He added there was no timetable for reaching a decision on fares.
|
Committee
Chair
George Scott
Deputy Chair
Louise McGuinness
Secetary
Vacant
Treasurer
Lyn Capes
Committee
David Hurdle, Liz Williams,
Stuart Hurst, Rodney Sadd
Ron Meredith and Kevin Mothers
Recent Posts
Archives
|
