The Weekend Read: How do you recreate a "new" - old - station like Gilsland?

Dr. Beeching did for Gilsland Station 50 years ago, but the infrastructure remains and the Gilsland Railway Station Campaign was front page of the Hexham Courant last week, and rightly so. The full story is below but I am acutely aware that the local campaigners have gone to huge lengths to ensure the campaign has full support from both Rory Stewart MP and myself, the local councillors, Network Rail, The Tyne Valley Rail Users Group, the local community and businesses, and most importantly, the 2 County Councils. The strength of the case made is without question:
- it would revitalise a local community on a multitude of levels
- it would help Hadrians Wall and Pennine Way Tourism
- it would aid business investment in the cross border area
- and promote greater use of the trains, which is something we all want

The Campaign to Open Gilsland Station (COGS) was set up last year; I have held a series of meetings with many of the people involved not least Northern Rail, Rory Stewart MP and Network Rail; the COGS study, as helped by Councillor Alan Sharp, has revealed that the project could take five years, and cost up to £2.5million. This is no small sum, but it is genuinely doable. This is not a pipe dream project. It does tick the boxes, albeit we still have plenty to prove. If Gilsland station re-opens, it will be a remarkable victory for a community which lost the facility almost half a century ago.


But then we come to an understanding of what is called the GRIP Process. This may sound like some medieval judo hold and, to a degree, it is ... but I will try and explain it and outline the plan of action:
GRIP stands for the Governance for Railway Investment Projects: this is how such projects have been approached for a long time by Network Rail; it has 8 specific stages. Some might see these as bureacratic, but there is a degree of logic to the process, and as public money is going to be used in the process - then, in particular, in these tricky times- a need to ensure the money is well spent is required.


This from the Network Rail site:
"Governance for Railway Investment Projects (GRIP) describes how we manage and control projects that enhance or renew the national rail network.


GRIP divides a project into eight distinct stages.

1.Output definition
2.Feasibility
3.Option selection
4.Single option development
5.Detailed design
6.Construction test and commission
7.Scheme hand back
8.Project close out"

The Gilsland project is already well through the early stages, with the feasibility study yielding positive results, and the 2 Councils are looking at ways to take the project forward. The 5 year estimate is realistic - this is not going to happen overnight. But the planets are aligned and we have a formidable team of supporters. Money will always be the problem, but if we take this GRIP process stage by stage I genuinely believe this will happen.

Fuller details on the story here:
http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk/news/gilsland-it-s-full-steam-ahead-for-2-5m-rail-dream-1.1131325

Our local Tyne Valley Trains really matter

My latest blogpost, and the announcement of a pilot project to provide full time cover for the two key late trains from Newcastle to Carlisle, has upset some of the train guards / staff apparently. You can read the post and the indignant and upset comment of the guard here: http://guyopperman.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/campaign-for-increased-public.html
I have to say I could not disagree more with the individual guard, or the sentiments.
I would make 2 points, and a couple of comments:
- I have had repeated complaints about these late trains at public meetings, surgeries in Haltwhistle in particular, and in letters. Sadly for the staff member who wrote in saying there is not a problem the evidence is against him and he should look to his own colleagues - as one of the people who complained was a train guard with Northern. There has definitely been a problem. It has not gone away. But I hope it will now.
- secondly the company Northern Rail, and the British Transport Police agree. The past prosecutions do not lie, and they have agreed to change the rota to address the problem. They are not spending their cash without a reason. In my view they should be applauded for listening.
- this train line really matters. Many people have gone to great lengths to improve the trains, the stations, the businesses that operate en route, and so much more. It is a line that is integral to our commuters, tourists and occasional users like myself and many others.

Going forward I am pushing hard to support the many people involved with the Gilsland Station Project, talking to Network rail about upgrades regarding train crossings, attempting to get an Oyster card system to operate on both the trains and buses, and trying to help those who want everything from better disabled access to station improvements.
I could say more but would finish on one point. To argue that I am doing this to get extra votes is laughable. As an MP there are only so many battles that you, and your very few staff, can fight, and I could do other campaigns that are way more populist, and would affect more people. But, the truth is I like trains, and I think this is a vital line that needs supporting if Tynedale has a future. And it does need work, as episodes like Torchgate, the franchise issues and other problems with the carriages have shown. Also, the old adage is very simple, and the staff should really grasp this: either we persuade people to use a service - or we will lose or lessen it. All I am doing is representing the constituents who write in, complain as users, and am trying to improve a crucial extra artery down the Tyne Valley. If any staff want to write in and ask for other changes I will help them too. To finish I would thank the Tyne Valley Rail Users Group for their support.   

2013 Year in Review: January and February

January got off to a snowy start which saw us campaigning ankle deep in the snow for the coming Local Elections. It was also the month I raised the prospect of us having to have Border Controls if Scotland goes independent and our support for the opening of Gilsland station came another step closer to reality. January was also when I lost a great friend and inspiration in Dr Alan Reece. It also saw myself and hundreds of locals pack into Snods Edge Village Hall to discuss the Whittonstall Opencast proposals, an issue that will rumble on into next year. Reform to Constituency boundaries was defeated 334 - 292. Labour's scare stories on University admission were undermined when it was revealed UCAS applications from those from disadvantaged backgrounds has also risen to the highest ever on record at 19.5%.

Picture: Campaigning all year round - in all weathers in Hexham!!

February:
We started off February with a visit from Skills Minister Mathew Hancock to our Apprenticeship Summit, which I organised at Kirkley Hall. February was also the month I voted for the Same Sex Marriage Bill. On the 8th February Anne Marie Trevellyan was selected as the Conservative candidate for Berwick upon Tweed at the 2015 General Election; since then the incumbent Sir Alan Beith has announced his retirement. February, as well as seeing the "Horse Meat Scandal", saw me raise the prospect of new form of local governance for Tynedale. We brought Tyneside Blonde (a beer) to Westminster, brewed by our very own Martin and the team at the Hadrian Brewery.  I was also part of the campaign to protect greenbelt land just off Piper Road in Ovingham, an issue which would come to dominate the year locally. I made one of my many visits to Albermarle Barracks; at the same time the Guardian urged it's readers to move to Hexham, describing it as "cute as a puppy's nose and handsome as Clark Gable." The Lib Dem's held Eastleigh and I ended the month holding a public meeting for residents facing difficulties with their housing provider in Haydon Bridge.
The picture below is of the Skills summit at Kirkley Hall - with the Minister, one of our winners, and her boss!