From my email ... talking about the South West Regional Assembly.
> Have you heard about the WCC list of transport schemes submitted to the
> Assembly Transport Group? All roads of course - a dualling of the Chippenham
> Bypass being one.
The WCC list reffered to is that submitted to the South West Regional Assembly for inclusion in their advice to the DfT on how the Regional Funding Allocation (RFA2) should be spent over the 2008-2019 period.
It is to be hoped that the overall priority level given to rail infrastructure schemes in the SWRA advice in comparison to other transport modes does not mirror that listed for Swindon (link below.)
http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/4125797.Swindon_to_get___150m_to_improve_transport/Swindon is set to receive a massive transport boost after £150m was allocated to improve transport throughout the town and beyond.
The South West Regional Assembly (SWRA) spent much of yesterday pondering how to divide up the cash around the region – finally agreeing the money should be split between three separate improvement phases.
Phase one will consist of £22m to improve and increase the town’s capacity for roundabouts, dual carriageways and lights.
Phase two will involve £111m and would be largely spent on the town’s rapid transit system – which would attempt to improve links from the proposed eastern expansion area to the town centre.
And phase three will consist of a further £20m to develop a second railway line from Swindon to Kemble, should a £1m feasibility study agree.
It should be noted though, that just because the SWRA is currently submitting its RFA2 advice to the DfT, this doesnt mean that the RFA2 process is at an end. Quotes from DfT guidance:
Regions have already been asked to provide advice by the end of February 2009 on priorities for the period from 2008 to 2019 through RFA 2. However, in the light of Towards a Sustainable Transport System (TaSTS), DfT made clear that regions would have a second opportunity to consider proposals for the period 2014 – 19.
The legal requirement to produce a ‘high level output specification’ (HLOS) for rail in 2012 provides a convenient point on which to build our strategy development timetable. The rail and road options for national network route corridors will be developed and assessed in parallel, leading to a programme of investment for the Highways Agency alongside the HLOS for rail. The national network options will also take account of the options being developed at the city and regional level, so that (for example) proposals to increase the frequency of inter-city services in a national corridor take account of a city’s proposals to make greater use of rail for travel to work.
We expect:
- to provide guidance to cities and regions during the first half of 2009 on goals, challenges and priorities, following the Government’s response to the Committee on Climate Change;
- prioritisation and packaging of options to have taken place by 2011;
- investment decisions for the 2014–19 period to be taken by early 2012.
Therefore, it is clear that the 2009-2011 period will be crucial for those campaigning to get rail infrastructure schemes higher up the priority scale, and ultimately to get them funded and implemented.
On a related note, the budget available for the DfT to take on funding responsibility from 2014 for local authority-funded rail service trials during the the 2011-2014 period (see
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7959.msg12873#msg12873) will also be set in 2012.
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