Supporting local and rural rail lines
Community Rail is a Government-led strategy which we support. It
aims to involve local people in the development of local and rural rail
routes, services and stations. It focuses local commitment and effort
on socially necessary lines that have often been lightly used – helping
to keep rail at the heart of our communities.
Value for money
The strategy is one reason why many community rail lines have seen
growth in excess of the national average. In a report for the
Association of Community Rail Partnerships, Transport Regeneration
Limited found that "active and effective Community Rail Partnerships
should reasonably expect to increase footfall and fares by an
additional seven per cent over three years."
Community Rail Partnerships
There are 63 routes with a Community Rail Partnership. 28 of these
have been designated by the Government as Community Rail lines or
services. This allows a more flexible approach to train operation
particularly in the area of fares and timetabling. It may also give us
more flexibility to carry out our operation and maintenance, something
we will be exploring over the next few years.
Our support
In
2009/10 we contributed £25,000 to a joint grant scheme with the DfT.
This scheme provided a total of £85,000 for grants to designated
Community Rail Partnerships for innovative and measurable projects. For
example, a grant was given to create a DVD aimed at junior school
children (Key Stage 2) introducing them to rail travel and the history
of their local railway, as well as delivering important safety messages
to the young people.
The grant scheme generated matched third party funding of £114,000, for example from local authorities and county councils.