A blue and white striped work shirt and blue socks with my suit were the only colours I sported while my fellow travellers - having waited 35 years - were a little less self-conscious.

I started watching football in the innocent days before segregation and as football hooliganism slowly took hold, I learned not to shout my  allegiance too hard outside the ground for fear of trouble.

And so I was surprised to see so few   police officers as City and Stoke fans descended on Warwick Services. The long queues outside the gents rather than the ladies were a novelty  - but the good    humour shown by both sets of supporters  was a revelation. How our national game has grown up!

We continued to mingle happily outside the stadium and only insults were hurled by the defeated  at our coach as we made our way out of North London.

UPDATE NUMBER 48                                                                              SPRING 2011

ALL CHANGE (POLITICALLY)

The elections early in May saw the departure of several familiar faces from the Local Authorities along the route – notably Keswick Town Council, Allerdale Borough and Cumbria County Council. Some of those standing down this time have been long-standing supporters of the Railway Project and have guided or “championed” the cause.

We thank them all for their efforts and hope that the future will be just as interesting for them.

There will be new faces in Town, District and County Councils.

This means that there will inevitably be new people who may have less knowledge about the Railway Project and the benefits that it will bring to the area.

Local Authorities are often frightened that any such Project could be a drain on their resources.

This is not the case with the Keswick to Penrith Railway – it is not something that the Local Authorities would be expected to develop or fund to any great extent, but their support and positive policies are essential for speedy approval and construction, bringing their areas many benefits.

Saving resources, boosting the local economy, reducing car dependency, connecting communities and allowing more mobility for everyone without causing congestion or spoiling the landscape are all ways in which the Railway will make a positive contribution to all aspects of life.

The benefits will be felt not just in Keswick and the North Lakes, but will also help west Cumbria become better connected, allow Penrith and Eden to deal with traffic, tourism and economic issues, while prompting new train service patterns which could extend across much more of the North.

Political understanding and support are essential for the next stages of the Project.

The Lake District National Park Authority has included transport and the rail link in its core strategies, protecting the route of the Railway within its boundaries.

Those supportive and forward looking policies need to be reflected and publicised by the Districts and the County Council to allow the fastest and smoothest progress possible.

Parish Councils around Keswick, in particular, can have a powerful and useful voice.

CKP Railways plc has been in touch with various Authorities to see how the new Government policies and funding systems could be best embraced.

The first round of the Regional Growth Fund apparently delivered nothing for Cumbria and very little for transport generally.

The Local Sustainable Transport Fund seems to be an appropriate channel, but requires the Local Authorities to make submissions for specific schemes.

All the Local Authorities have Policies and Plans which can support or affect the Railway Project.

What gets done, however, depends on the attitude and knowledge of those in power at the time.

We ask all our supporters, therefore – residents, local businesses, business organisations, tourism bodies, visitors, anyone interested in the future sustainability of the Lake District - to contact the new Councillors, Leaders and Chief Executives to tell them how much the Railway is needed.

Councillors are much more likely to listen to people who vote for them directly and pay Council Tax or Business Rates in their own area.  Please let us know what responses you get !

WHAT NEXT ?

Projects like this rarely move smoothly from one stage to the next, even with the huge show of public support that this one has enjoyed.

The “easy” technical stages have been completed. Now it becomes more legal and political.

Unlike a Local Authority or Government Department, which would have a budget allocated and simply have to decide how to spend it each year, an independent Project such as this has to find, earn or secure all the funding before it can embark on each stage. That makes the task several times more complicated and time consuming, but extremely interesting and satisfying.

The stages completed so far are:

• Establishing the feasibility (can it be done, likely passenger numbers, what are the challenges)
• Technical surveys – mapping the ground, condition of structures, noting the gaps to fill
• Alignment planning – route, gradients, curves, speeds, structures to provide
• Scheme description – detailed assessment of all the construction required, works planning
• Cost estimates – realistic assessment by experienced designers and construction specialists
• Environmental impact assessments – ecology, archaeology, visual impact, land and access
• Business case – assessing the ratio of benefit values to costs (from 1.1 to over 3.0 is possible)

What remains to be done

• Time sensitive environmental surveys (when ready to apply for legal powers)
• Identify funding sources for construction
• Outline contractual proposals for construction and operation (known already in principle)
• Application for a Transport and Works Order (which includes planning permission etc.)
• Form construction and operational teams / alliances
• Fulfil all legal requirements prior to construction
• Build the line and get approval to operate
• Open the line and let the trains run

The application for the Transport and Works Order (TWO) is key to the rest of the process and requires the prior stages to have been completed or have firm commitments to see them through.

It is a significant procedure which requires a mountain of information to be provided, with support from technical and legal specialists.  It may require attendance at various hearings, presentations, negotiations with Government bodies and so on.

It would be unwise to start on this stage until there were adequate funds in place to be confident that even the most complicated course could be completed.

Approximately £400,000 has been spent on the technical and environmental stages, much of it funded by Bonds, also the Capital supplied by the Directors of CKP Railways plc (several tens of thousands) and helped by supportive work done by other bodies such as the Northwest Regional Development Agency who coordinated and funded the production of the Business Case.

The legal stages could cost almost as much again – which may seem daunting, but they will be the springboard to the final, commercial, stages of the Project.

The construction costs and the future income from Train Operators paying to use the line can be linked to cover much of the physical cost after the legal stages.

This is the stage, therefore, where the Project needs some serious funding to be in place to move on.

Bondholders have been incredibly generous (for example the equivalent of £10 for each resident of Keswick), while many have waived their rights to interest - but we cannot expect people to keep digging into personal pockets.

CKP Railways plc welcomes any proposals for partnership, commercial sponsorship or underwriting of the costs of the forthcoming legal stages.  The aim is to involve as many local organisations as possible in construction and operation, to benefit from all aspects of the Project.

WHEN WILL IT OPEN ?

The sooner – the better !

All the benefits that the Railway can provide will become more and more valuable as time goes on, but so will the cost of securing them.  Allowing development along the route would add further to thpse costs.  That is why potentially damaging planning applications are vigourously contested.

Just like planning a train journey, the best way is to work backwards from the eventual goal – opening the line for trains to run.

• Laying the track and bringing it up to condition for trains to run would take only about 40 days, according to advice from an experienced Engineer in Corus who used modern techniques for railway renewals and reconstruction in other parts of the UK.

• Prior to that, all the earthworks would have to be complete – some embankment and cutting rebuilt (less than 10% by length) and bridges refurbished to create a continuous trackbed.

• Physical construction would probably take about two years. The longest and most intense tasks would be new bridges, for example over the A66 west of Penruddock (at Beckses). The tunnel under the A66 east of Keswick is complete but needs opening out, drying and refurbishing.

• Clearing the trackbed and reinstating drainage, fencing and so on could take six months, but would probably fit in with early stages of construction.

• The procedure to apply for a Transport and Works Order is laid out, but the timescale can vary from six months to several years, depending on the complexity of the task and the level of detail required at enquiries or presentations.

• Before embarking on that task, we need to be sure that sufficient funds are in place, or available. That is what we are working on at the moment. The change of Government, the ongoing changes to the roles of Local Authorities and other bodies in the planning process create some uncertainties but do not change the nature or aims of the Railway Project.

So the opening could be between three and five years after the next block of funding is all in place.

Some critics of the Project remarked that a possible opening date of 2001 was once quoted.

That date was quoted after the Millennium Commission had advised that the Project was eligible for funding, with an application for £12.5 Million having been considered (half of the construction cost of the basic version of the route at the time).

A further letter was then received stating that funding was no longer available – issued in the week that hundreds of millions of pounds were re-allocated to the Millennium Dome in London.

After that the Heritage Lottery Fund advised that in principle the Project was eligible for funding but refused on grounds which seemed rather obscure and not obvious from the published conditions.

Since then there have been no sources of large scale grants for this type of work.

Nobody gives us an annual budget to spend, so we have had to be more imaginative and turn to the people who would use the Railway and want to see the benefits – hence the issue of Bonds. Prospectuses are still available and Bonds currently run to June 2015.

We are looking for other ways to bring different types of funding in.

All suggestions and offers welcome. We are happy to acknowledge help and partnership.

This will be a Railway for everyone – we are just the people who have taken on the challenge to bring it to life. We also want it to be an example for people elsewhere in the UK to show how they can get the sustainable transport they need and deserve, organised locally to meet a local need.

The Directors, CKP Railways plc.

YOU CAN SUBSCRIBE NOW FOR ALL UPDATES in 2011

Subscription for a full year is still only £10 (despite rises in VAT and postage costs !)

If you have access to e-mail, we can send Updates electronically - saving all resources.

… but please, please, do tell us if you change your e-mail address !!!

Cheques payable to “Iceni Enterprises Ltd”, please, and send to the address below.

Order forms are distributed with printed Updates and can be downloaded from the website.

Next Updates planned for September and January – plus e-mail or website alerts for hot news.

Iceni Enterprises Ltd. does not sell or give mailing list details to anybody else !

TRAVEL BY TRAIN – HELP RE-OPEN THE KESWICK RAILWAY

Phone and book your rail tickets through "Chester-le-Track" for any journey on the

National Rail Network, including Railrovers and discounts for Railcard holders.

Phone Chester-le-Track on 0191-387-1387, quote "CKP Offer" and they will pay

3% of the total sale as commission to CKP Railways plc.

The total sale must be at least £25, paid for by credit card.  Online sales do not qualify for this offer.

WHAT TO BUY TO SUPPORT THE RAILWAY PROJECT

25% of the price of each item goes directly to the Keswick to Penrith Railway Project.

The BBC found that only 8% of the price of charity Christmas Cards goes to the named causes.

1.         The report "Return to Keswick - the case for a New Railway" is available at £20 per copy direct from us (post free), or order through bookshops by quoting ISBN 978-1-902543-02-4.

2.                  "Trains to Keswick" is a professionally produced film featuring people along the line.        The DVD version with additional information is now available at £14 per copy.

3.                  Fine Art prints and greetings cards featuring a stunning winter view of the steam hauled "Lakes Express" near Bassenthwaite Lake station, painted by Eric Bottomley of the Guild of Railway Artists.  Prints (24" x 16") are £18 each, cards (6" x 8") with envelopes -  £1.40 each.

N.B. All the prices above include postage to addresses in the UK, but please add £2.50 per order

for posting to addresses outside the UK (Posting packages to overseas destinations is not cheap !).

Cheques payable to Iceni Enterprises Ltd for any of the items above, please.

Order forms are distributed with printed Updates and can be downloaded from the website.

BUY BONDS – INVEST IN THE RAILWAY PROJECT !

CKP Railways plc Bonds, in multiples of £100, pay interest at 4% per annum gross.

About £400,000 raised and invested so far in design and development.

These funds are used only for the Railway reconstruction project. No unnecessary overheads !

Bonds have been bought by organisations and individual holders.

Can be bought for children, grandchildren, friends or relatives.

Fully coloured and signed Certificates are issued - designed to appeal to collectors.

Please write or e-mail with your postal address for a free copy of the Prospectus.

  Cedric A. Martindale.   BSc.Hons, AUS, CEng., MIMechE, CMILT.  -   Director                                           No. 48.  May 2011.

Published by Iceni Enterprises Ltd.,  1 Solway Park,  Carlisle,  Cumbria,  CA2 6TH,  United Kingdom.

email: ckp@martindale.force9.co.uk               website: www.keswickrailway.com

He raised the pulses of the Mancunians in the room when he added: “I can tell you today that we are in discussion with the DfT to bring forward some of the developments of the hub, particularly the Ordsall Chord (which would provide a long-awaited link between Manchester Victoria and Piccadilly stations), because we can see how it can contribute much earlier benefits."

Ellis's press office minder played it down afterwards. A week later I went to the DfT in London to interview Hammond and was cut short before I had the chance to ask him about the Ordsall Chord.

Don't worry, the press office said. Just email us with anything you didn't get chance to ask.

The following day, I sent this email: Paul,

As our interview was cut a little short yesterday, there was one question I didn’t get to ask. Richard Ellis of Network Rail says there are discussions between them and the DfT on bringing forward some aspects of the Northern Hub, particularly the Ordsall Chord. Is this true?

Alan

I have not had a reply but today, Chancellor George Osborne announced in the budget the go ahead for the Ordsall Chord - "£85 million of investment which will link Manchester Victoria and Manchester Piccadilly stations, supporting significant reductions in journey times between Leeds and Liverpool". 

Ever felt stitched up?