Today, Wednesday 24th July, we met once again with Network Rail and local stakeholders including local Councillors and local MP, Richard Fuller. You can read my previous update from our last meeting in May, which announced a further delay here: http://julianvaughan.blog/2024/05/09/lifts-at-biggleswade-delayed-until-summer-2025/
At the last meeting, we were told that a new quote from the contractor would be submitted on 17th May and an Eastern Regional Network Rail ‘funding panel’ would meet on 15th July to decide on whether funding be released. Below is an update on what has happened since the last meeting and my thoughts on the meeting itself.
Email sent to Andrew Haines, CEO of Network Rail on 3rd May, reply received on 20th May, the email and the reply can be read here: http://julianvaughan.blog/2024/05/03/an-open-letter-to-network-rail-ceo-andrew-haines/
I emailed Network Rail on 21st June asking for an update on the new quote for Biggleswade station from the contractor.
However, as a result of the General Election being called, Network Rail as a public body could not issue any updates of a political nature until after the General Election on 4th July
I emailed Network Rail again on 8th July, again asking for a further update, from this a meeting was arranged on 24th July.
The 24th July meeting
We were taken through a timeline of the reasons for the delays to the project (covered in previous updates, please see further reading below) as well as the latest delays to the project. The quote from the contractors has been obtained. We were not given a precise figure, but it is over £10 million, up from approximately £6 million. We do not know precise figures due to ‘commercial confidentiality’. However, the funding decisions have been pushed back to the East Coast funding panel meeting on 31st July (originally 2nd July) and an Eastern Regional funding panel meeting on 12th August (originally 15th July). I asked if there was a possibility of a doomsday scenario whereby they withhold the funding. We were told that while we couldn’t be given a cast-iron guarantee, they are aware that this is a high profile project and that they have senior managers keeping a close eye on the scheme. My personal view is that cancelling the scheme is unlikely as it would be an absolute public relations disaster and blow a hole in any genuine commitment to providing an accessible railway, but they didn’t entirely rule it out.
I also asked if there had been any reduction in the scope of the project, what they term as ‘value engineering’, to enable a reduction in the budget via removing aspects of the scheme or changing the specifications. They confirmed that no reduction in scope had taken place.
Network Rail stated that the supplier had now learned lessons about the difficulties of access and construction around island platforms. We found it incredible that there was so little knowledge of problems that should have been obvious from day one, and bearing in mind that the ‘Access for All’ scheme to install lifts at UK railway stations has been running since 2006. Network Rail will now be using cranes to bring material onto the platform work sites to save time.
I then asked when work would resume on-site and was told it was likely to be late August/early September. They did advise us that they have agreed the Station Change proposals with GTR (who manage the station) regarding the safe operation of the station during the works. We were also supplied with several dates where extended work could take place at the station due to engineering works closing the line. These are subject to change and budgetary allowances, but currently are as follows: September 2024, December 2024 and the end of January 2025.
Unfortunately, due to the significant delay to this project (at one stage it was hoped to be completed by Summer 2022) the works at Biggleswade now have to compete with the huge East Coast Mainline digital signalling upgrade which has removed potential slots for work to take place at the station. We asked, bearing in mind that this is also a Network Rail managed project, what would happen if the £1 billion signalling upgrade was delayed – and which project would be given priority. I do not think anyone in the meeting had confidence in their assurances that Biggleswade was a high-priority compared to the signalling upgrade, but the Bedfordshire Rail Access Network team certainly has raised the profile of the project.
I can assure you that we made it very clear to the Network Rail team that the delays to this project were completely unacceptable, their project management was not good enough and pointed out that it is always accessibility that is given a lower priority.
We also raised the issue of the turnover of staff among the Network Rail team as we seem to be dealing with different people at each meeting. At the last count, we are on the fifth project lead since funding for the lifts was announced in 2019. It seems clear that Network Rail has a staff retention problem and this is bound to impact the delivery of the projects that Network Rail manages.
As it stands at the moment, Biggleswade station is set to be step-free by August/September 2025. I have to say that currently, our confidence in this timescale being achieved is low.
We also asked that Network Rail issue a press release re the scheme at Biggleswade and that this includes an apology to disabled people, people with restricted mobility and parents with young children who are unable to use the station. As we have said before, Biggleswade station is a ‘no-go’ area for disabled people and the incompetence of Network Rail is having a detrimental impact on many people’s lives. We also asked them to be honest in the information provided in this press release and to drop the PR spin. They have agreed to issue a press release re Biggleswade, let’s see what it contains.
We also had a brief discussion about the ‘Access for All’ scheme at a wider UK level. We were told that a comprehensive review is taking place of how ‘Access for All’ schemes are managed, led by the Network Rail CEO Andrew Haines, who has devolved responsibility for this task to a ‘Rail Investment Centre of Excellence’ team. As I made clear in a previous blog, http://julianvaughan.blog/2024/04/30/actions-not-words-needed-on-rail-accessibility/ I am not confident in Network Rail’s leadership to successfully manage accessibility across the UK rail network – and they admit that they have failed disabled people. We have had a welcome change of government, but I do not believe we will see significant change to accessibility on the rail network unless we have a change of culture. We are one hundred and fifty years on from the overused ‘Victorian infrastructure’ excuse. It is time for actions not words.
Apologies this is such a downbeat update, but there was little to cheer in the meeting. The next meeting is in the diary for Wednesday 4th September and we will be given an update from the funding meetings in late July/August on the following days.
Thanks as always to my amazing Bedfordshire Rail Access Network (BRAN) team who provide such valuable insight.
If you want to get in touch with us, email us at: bedsrailaccessnetwork@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/bedsrailaccessnow
Fiona, Paul and Julian of the Bedfordshire Rail Access Network
Julian Vaughan
24th July 2024
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