The next meeting of SHRUG will take place at the Uppermill Civic Hall, Court Street, Uppermill (OL3 6AE) on Wednesday 11th January 2012 at 7.15pm.
Mark Barker, the Client & Stakeholder Manager West for Northern Rail has accepted our invitation to attend, along with Stephen Green who is the manager for the line.
Mark Barker and Stephen Green are planning to do a “meet the manager” event at Greenfield station from 4.30 to 5.30, before the meeting at 7.15.
Railway cable theft is a huge problem and causes massive disruption to passengers – and sadly it’s been a particular problem in the great cities of the north.
You are probably aware that nationally we have seen a huge increase in cable theft this year of railway infrastructure and on other significant national infrastructures. This activity, as well as causing disruption to passengers, is also damaging the economy as the impact can mean that passengers are unable to get to work on time or get to their business meetings.
The rail industry has attempted to diminish the level of cable theft through the implementation of covert CCTV, burying cables, the invisible marking of cables, gluing cables in place and the use of trembler alarms. The industry has also worked with the British Transport Police and high profile media campaigns such as Crimewatch to educate people about cable theft. However, these actions are still not enough to eradicate cable theft entirely, which is why all national railway companies are supporting the initiative presented to Parliament in the week beginning 14th November to reform the outdated Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964.
The significant impact of metal theft is also damaging national infrastructure such as energy, telecommunications and transport networks. It is destroying our heritage and communities through attacks on churches, public art and even war memorials.
What can you do to help?
There is a Bill before Parliament to amend the law introduced by Graham Jones MP. The Government must support this Bill. It will provide for a robust licensing regime with requirements on dealers to establish the origin of materials, greater police and Magistrate powers to close and prevent the re-opening of scrap metal dealers who do not conform to licence conditions and a cashless system for payments with requirement for proof of identity of seller and receiver.
To register your support to this Bill, simply click on the link below to access the petition and show your support.
The Department for Transport has announced its Access for All funding allocations and Kirklees Council’s bid for a ramp installation at Marsden station was not successful. No bids supported by Northern Rail were successful. The only successful bid in Yorkshire was for lifts at Wakefield Westgate. Although the total monies allocated were doubled, much of it was allocated to stations in London, the South East, the South West and in Wales.
Kirklees Council will continue to look for ways to fund this scheme with the proposed platform lengthening, the re-franchising process, and the North Trans-Pennine electrification offering opportunities.
It looks as if recorded passenger numbers may have influenced decisions as only one of the chosen sites had less patronage (in 2009/10) than Marsden.
Another reason why it’s important that Northern Rail should try to ensure that everyone travelling to and from Marsden and Slaithwaite should be able to buy a ticket – we believe that recorded passenger numbers do not fully reflect the number of people using the stations, and that this under-reporting can weaken the case for investment.
From the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 7th December 2011
MORE carriages are to be introduced on train services through Huddersfield – in a bid to end overcrowding.
And the move, due to be implemented next Monday, has been welcomed by an MP.
Colne Valley’s Jason McCartney had first-hand experience of the problems on the busy transPennine line.
He said: “I had been to Glasgow and travelled back via Manchester.
On the last part of the journey, I had to stand all the way and that was at 8pm on a Friday evening, which is hardly rush-hour.
“I get many complaints and concerns about the line and in particular the overcrowding.
“This is a step in the right direction but more needs to be done.
“Northern Rail are talking about a big increase in the number of passengers using the line and we need to cater for them.”
The extra carriages will be brought into use by Northern Rail.
A spokesman said: “The Department for Transport recently announced that as part of its rolling stock programme, Northern will receive 60 additional carriages to help ease overcrowding on our busiest services.
“Ten of these carriages are already in service on our network and the remaining 50 will come into use on Monday, December 12.
“On the Leeds to Manchester Victoria route through Huddersfield, we are increasing the number of seats on a total of 10 peak time services (six in the morning and four in the afternoon/early evening).
“This will result in a total of 1,100 extra seats on this route every week day.
“Since we took over the franchise in December 2004, passenger numbers have increased by 38% and as a result of this success, overcrowding is one of the biggest challenges we have faced.
“We recognise that these additional carriages will not completely eradicate overcrowding on our services. However, they will deliver significantly improved journeys for many of our customers.”
