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Harrogate Line Support
The following encouraging messages
of support have been received from local councillors and leading business
people:
Richard Flinton,
Chief Executive of North Yorkshire County Council,
"Harrogate is a major town within North Yorkshire that relies on its
connectivity to other parts of the region for tourism and wider commerce.
This initiative is important in order to help Harrogate prosper, as well as
providing residents with an alternative to travelling by car.”
Councillor Don Mackenzie, Leader of Harrogate Borough Council
"The timing of this initiative could not be more favourable, and I
have given it my full support. Brian has also given a presentation of the
proposal to the Conservative Group and my colleagues share my enthusiasm for
the scheme. Without question, the residents and businesses of the district
need improved transport connections. Our conference, exhibition and tourism
industry would receive a great boost from this fundamental improvement to
our rail infrastructure. There will be those who doubt that this scheme will
receive the necessary funding at a time of financial constraints - but that
is exactly when pilot projects, which offer great value for money and an
economic boost, are most appreciated. We are going to back this bid to the
full."
Following Meeting on 8th August 2011:
"I
believe the meeting achieved its primary purpose, which was to bring
together the various contributors to the debate about the upgrade proposals,
and to discuss their hopes and concerns. The overriding message from the
gathering is that this bid deserves our full backing, and that is exactly
what it will get."
Councillor Reg Marsh, Harrogate Borough Council’s Opposition Lib Dem Group Spokesman on Transport
“The Liberal Democrats on Harrogate
District Council fully endorse this new rail initiative, which could
definitely be the answer to rail travel within Harrogate District for the
foreseeable future. The package envisaged is relatively cheap to install and
very quick to get up and running. The ease with which the trains can stop
and start, whilst being faster than the existing set up, brings the
possibility of extra rail halts, extra passengers and less congestion on our
roads. Who knows, it could even mean the introduction of new track
revitalising different areas of the District. Hopefully the Secretary of
State will back Brian and his team by granting a trial status to the scheme
to enable everything to happen.”
Andrew Jones MP for
Harrogate & Knaresborough is now promoting the scheme
to the Government Ministers concerned, having already arranged a meeting of
the other MPs whose constituencies cover the Stations along the Harrogate
Line. “I am pleased to have played a part in bringing this proposal in
front of MPs and Ministers. It is an exciting plan and part of the ongoing
work to improve rail services to our area – a key part of my priorities
since I became a Member of Parliament. Better local services will support
investment in our area, bring people to Harrogate for visits, for
conferences and for shopping and help to underpin the local economy. I
would like to record my thanks to the Chamber of Trade and Commerce and in
particular Brian Dunsby and Mark Leving for the work they have done in
bringing this project to a point where we have a viable scheme to present to
Ministers. We would not be at this point without them.”
Gary Verity,
Chief
Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire
“Upgrading of the Harrogate Line
Train Services with modern ground level electrification will give a
massively improved level of service for all train users including leisure
and business related tourists. We are particularly keen that our visitors
are able to move around the county using a rail service that reflects this
modernity.”
“The tourism industry is hugely important to Yorkshire generating £7bn to
the economy each year - we must continue to demonstrate that the county is a
must see destination which also includes excellent transport links to and
from its key towns and cities. In addition, we have a duty to promote
sustainable transport to our visitors to reduce road congestion and to show
that travelling by train or bus to different destinations can be a very
attractive element of the trip. Harrogate is one of the jewels in the
Yorkshire crown that attracts many visitors all the year round. So for
these reasons, I am delighted to offer my full support for your bid.”
Angus Houston,
Director of the Harrogate International Centre
"Harrogate
International Centre has pioneered the development of the Conference and
Exhibition Business since the 1950's,and is a fundamental part of the
District's Business and Tourism economy. The success of an International
Venue such as HIC is fundamentally linked to logistics and transport for
clients and delegates, so this scheme clearly fits the needs for both
Harrogate and Yorkshire."
Local business leaders welcome the prospect of higher quality more frequent
connecting service to Leeds and York.
David Ritson, General Manager,
Old Swan Hotel and Chair of Destination Harrogate
"The success of
this project is critical to ensure train access to and from Harrogate is as
quick and efficient as possible for the many thousands of leisure and
business tourism visitors to the district who are so important in supporting
the local economy. The popularity of travelling by train is increasing due
to the rise in fuel costs, better availability and cheaper cost of off-peak
train tickets. This development would help Harrogate remain competitive as a
destination alongside other towns and cities."
Mark Lancaster,
Managing Director, Colour It In Ltd and past President of Harrogate Chamber
of Trade & Commerce
“I strongly support the project to enhance the
local rail service which I believe is vital to our economy. Our
local transport infrastructure has long suffered from neglect which is a
shame as it offers the only credible solution to connect Harrogate with the
pockets of potential employees in the 16 to 35 age group. This is important
as it is the sector that is missing from our District and which has been
proven to be a factor in restricting the growth of businesses in the area
especially in the hospitality sector. With the prospect of low cost housing
and road infrastructure improvements for Harrogate being many years away, a
clean, reliable, cost effective rail service is the only viable solution for
the foreseeable future.”
Alison Griffin, Head of Sales and Marketing at Harrogate International
Centre "Harrogate has it all - a world class international venue, a
vibrant destination, with some good transport links and these ambitious and
forward thinking transport plans can only push Harrogate further forward on
the national stage. We fully support the work being done by the Chamber of
Trade and Borough Council on this matter."
Alison Hartwell, Owner, Harrogate Holidays
"After
two very busy weeks with lots of visitors to Harrogate, attending the Great
Yorkshire Show and the Home and Gift Fair, I have been asking guests booking
self catering properties through Harrogate Holidays if they have been using
the new Harrogate-London KC service. Not- surprisingly many have loved this
direct service but feel it just should be just the first step in improving
rail links in Harrogate and are disappointed that there isn’t a link from
Leeds Bradford Airport.
The
possibility of a ‘Metroline’ linking the airport with Harrogate, which would
also provide a quicker service to York and Leeds, would not only be popular
with our visitors but with residents of Harrogate too. A pioneering plan to
electrify a busy Yorkshire rail route and use former London Underground
trains, has been unveiled by Harrogate Chamber of Commerce, using trains
which will soon become redundant on the District Line in London.
Many
Harrogate businesses are looking at the ‘Visitor Experience’ in Harrogate at
the moment, let’s start with making the guests commute to Harrogate more
streamlined please, and support our local Chamber’s proposals."
Marian Farrar, Business & Community Partnerships, St Aidan's CofE High
School
"... Harrogate Trains project is very exciting and a bold leap forward. From
a St Aidan's perspective it may also be a real bonus for our students. As
you may know, the associated 6th Form is the largest school based 6th form
in the country with 1100 on roll for September 2100.
Many of our senior students join us for the 6th form from other schools in
Leeds and York - such as Leeds Grammar, Horsforth etc - and so the extra
stops at Spen Lane and Pool as well as further stops in Knaresborough and
through to York will be very beneficial.
It
would also be wonderful if a competitively priced student pass to cover all
the zones could be available - with the increased frequency of trains, this
would prove very attractive to students whose curriculum is much less rigid
than in lower school, with free periods during the day, late starts, early
finishes, later evenings for drama and sporting activities etc and
with friendship groups across the whole region. It may also encourage them
to leave their cars at home!"
Simon
Cotton, President, Harrogate Chamber of Trade & Commerce (General Manager,
Cedar Court Hotel, Harrogate)
"I
thought last night's presentation [8th August meeting] was ‘first class’ (no
pun intended!). It was highly professional, well timed and showed a team
who had obviously done their homework thoroughly. Whilst there appeared to
be a number of objectors in the room at the beginning of the night ..... I
was delighted to see by the end of the night that there was a unanimous vote
to take forward these plans to see if it is in fact feasible. This is
solely down to the work you have put in to date and one thing that was not
in question last night was how grateful everyone was of your completely
voluntary efforts to date and I thank you wholeheartedly for doing this in
the name of Harrogate Chamber, your time, commitment and sheer
professionalism is very much appreciated."
James
Bovington, Horsforth, Leeds
"The ingenious plan recently proposed by Harrogate Chamber of Commerce to
electrify the Leeds to York line via Horsforth and Harrogate should go a
long way to easing overcrowding on the local rail network which a recent
report described as being as severe as anywhere in England outside of
London.
For those who are unfamiliar with the scheme it would cost about £100
million and use a modern form of ground level live rail electrification
similar to the system on the very modern Docklands Railway in London with
the electrically powered trains being ex-Underground stock which will become
available in 2014. (London of course is getting brand new trains but the
best that we can ever hope for in the provinces is the capital's cast-offs).
With their faster acceleration new stations could be introduced without
substantial lengthening of journey times and residents of Horsforth would
benefit from vastly increased capacity and much higher daytime and evening
frequency. New stations with large car parks north of Horsforth would mean
more car parking available for Horsforth residents at our own station.
Furthermore the rolling stock being suggested is very good at dealing with
steep gradients. Modern underside electric contact systems are sheathed on
the top and sides to protect against unintentional contact and are therefore
also much safer and do not suffer from icing problems in the winter.
I
understand that the scheme is supported by management at Leeds Bradford
airport, which would gain a station north of Horsforth just two kilometres
from the airport, with feeder buses providing the link to the terminal - the
comparable Liverpool airport station is some five kilometres from John
Lennon airport.
The scheme isn't perfect - it does introduce a second type of
electrification to the local network. However, it is both innovative and
ambitious and would bring great benefits in the relatively near future to
communities the full length of the line. I for one am tired of waiting for
transport 'jam' tomorrow. Given that the project enjoys the support of all
MPs along the line let's hope that the scheme gets the go-ahead and is
financially sufficiently viable to meet the requirements of the UK Treasury,
whose sole purpose often seems to stifle innovation and ambition especially
in transport, thus depriving cities like Leeds of the quality transport
networks out twin cities of Lille and Dortmund rightly take for granted."
David Trayhorn,
Huntington, York - MIRO (Member of the Institution of Railway Operators) and
AMInstT (Associate Member of the Insitute of Transport)
"You have a pioneering spirit - and rightfully deserve success with this
venture.
The Railway Industry needs people with the vision to see through so many
obstacles and so much red tape.
For almost every challenge there is a solution, it just requires the will to
succeed and support from people with a 'can do' motivation.
You have so kindly answered all of the questions that I had posed, either
directly or in the presentation (eg a toilet and first class in D78
stock!). You have proved to me that this is achievable, and the right way to
improve the travel experience on this line for the medium and the long
term."
Derek
Spencer, Haxby, York
"Many thanks for allowing me to attend your meeting last night [8th August]
and listen to an excellent and well researched presentation by Mark [Leving]
(please pass on my appreciation for what he (and you) have achieved in a
relatively short timescale.)
I
think that the most positive aspect of the meeting ... was the impression
that I got from delegates that in general third rail was the way to go, and
that 25kv, tram-train, and diesel were all dismissed (for different reasons)
as being unsuitable for the Harrogate application."
For details see:
www.harrogateline.org
Comments welcome:
enquiries@harrogateline.org
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