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Community Rail = Big Society Neil Buxton General Manager

Community Rail = Big Society Neil Buxton General Manager. Community Rail = Big Society? What does Community Rail deliver? Involves local communities in the running and development of local & rural railway routes

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Community Rail = Big Society Neil Buxton General Manager

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  1. Community Rail = Big Society Neil Buxton General Manager

  2. Community Rail = Big Society? What does Community Rail deliver? Involves local communities in the running and development of local & rural railway routes Helps to develop new & innovative ideas for supporting and developing local railways Stimulates economic and social regeneration; supports Social Enterprise; delivers many other non-transport outputs Develops active community involvement in the management of CRPs; Community Stations Initiative; works with schools and other organisations Engages and enables local volunteers to care for their local stations

  3. Community Rail Partnerships • ‘Grass-roots’ organisations • A bridge between the railway & local community • Positive development - (“We Are Where We Are!”) • Bringing together a wide range of interests along the rail corridor… ... Railway industry + Other transport providers + Local authorities + Community groups + Schools & colleges + Local businesses + Tourism agencies +British Transport Police + “Rail” + “Partnership” = “Community”

  4. How They Are Funded……for now! Self-generated + Parish Councils + Town Councils + Charitable Funds + Businesses + Bus operators + FOCs County Councils + District Councils + TOCs + Universities + National Parks + PTEs OTHER FUNDERS usually one-off project costs infrequently core costs MAIN FUNDERS usually core costs COMMUNITY RAIL PARTNERSHIP Usually 1 Partnership Officer (full or part-time)

  5. Community Rail Involving Local Communities

  6. CRP Membership Stakeholder Meetings Annual General Meeting Executive Committee or Steering Group Stakeholders Principal Funders Local Authorities Train Operator Other transport operators Individuals Parish Councils Volunteers Other interested parties

  7. Community Rail Delivering Innovative Ideas

  8. Some of Community Rail’s Successes

  9. Harrington ‘hump’ Reducing Costs • Predominantly Network Rail’s responsibility, although work with CRPs can highlight areas of particular benefit to both parties • The recent success with Workington North is a good example of community co-operation

  10. Community Rail Stimulating Economic & Social Regeneration

  11. Access To Work & Education • Community rail lines often provide the low cost local transport for people who would otherwise struggle to get to work, education or other facilities. • Tamar Valley Line: 44% travelling to work + a further 12% travelling to school or college • Bittern Line: 12% of Sunday passengers travelling for or to work

  12. Supporting the Economy In some parts of the country the tourist economy is vital but local rail also gets many people to work (e.g: Sellafield, St Albans or Tamar Valley) • Community Rail can also provide real congestion relief in some areas (e.g: St Ives)

  13. Community Rail Supporting Social Enterprise

  14. Skipton Station Café

  15. Community Rail Delivering Non-Rail Outputs

  16. Community Rail is about… • Active engagement between the community and the railway for mutual benefit • Getting value for the whole community from local and rural railways, not only in terms of transport but in other areas too.

  17. Community Rail & Community Value

  18. Community Rail & CO2 Reduction • When a train is lightly loaded it is not good in terms of CO2 – so Community Rail is about filling empty seats and encouraging modal shift. • Community Rail often provides feeders to other, more CO2-efficient trains e.g. the South West Branch Lines or the Sheringham – Norwich service – if the feeder isn’t there, the temptation would be to drive all the way

  19. Community Rail Active Community Involvement

  20. The Community Rail Community Community involvement brings £27m of added value to the rail industry!

  21. Community Rail & Stations • Station adopters look after their local station… • Making it welcoming to passengers • Making it a gateway from the railway into the community and vice versa • Drawing the railway and the community more closely together • Largely TOC-based but Network Rail also run their Community Volunteers Scheme

  22. ACoRP’s Station Adoption Toolkit

  23. Community Rail Community Stations

  24. The Community Stations Initiative • Makes better use of station property that is not needed and has little commercial value • Involves the community and the rail industry • Regenerates the property using money that the industry can’t always access • Makes the station a more welcoming place for passengers

  25. Community Rail Engaging & Enabling Volunteers

  26. Volunteering • Community Rail Partnerships are especially good at engaging with communities and accessing non railway money • Volunteers take pride in their station, benefitting the railway and community alike

  27. Social Action Reducing trespass and vandalism • Northwich • Joint project with railway, education and regeneration agencies • Training facility and cyber-cafe • Vandalism reduced by 75% • Now perceived as safer place • 2008/09 footfall up by 9% on 2007/08

  28. The Value of Community Rail Partnerships …. • This ACoRP report highlighted the immense value CRPs can bring to the wider community • CRPs are actually pretty cheap, so to achieve a good benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR) they only need modest returns. • In proportion to their cost however, they achieve much better than modest returns. • A well-organised CRP can return a BCR of 4.6:1!

  29. The Value of Community Rail Volunteering… ACoRP’s second study underlined the huge value that volunteers can bring to the railway: • Over 4,000 volunteers • A contribution worth £27m to the rail industry • A benefit to communities and rail passengers alike • Also delivers many Government outputs in terms of social cohesion and community well-being

  30. Community Rail & the Railway Consistent passenger increases across all the CR lines

  31. Community Rail= Big Society? CR: Involving local communities in the running and development of local & rural railway routes BS: Empowering communities CR: Helping to develop new & innovative ideas for supporting and developing local railways BS: Encouraging the development of new and innovative ways of delivering public services CR: Stimulating economic and social regeneration; supporting Social Enterprise; delivering other non-transport outputs BS: Enabling other organisations to deliver public services CR: Developing active community involvement in the management of CRPs; Community Stations Initiative; working with schools and other organisations BS: Promoting social action CR: Engaging and enabling local volunteers to care for their local stations BS: Encouraging people to be more involved in their communities and to volunteer Oh yes…..CR also helps the rail industry increase revenue and reduce costs….!

  32. Community Rail IS the Big Society! “New life for local lines”

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