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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 29 June 2009 |
ATOC - The Association of Train Operating Companies supports plans to re-open the route to Fleetwood. | 
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On the 15th June 2009 ATOC published a report entitled "Connecting Communities" which cites a strong business cases for the re-building of 7 new Stations and the re-instatement of 35 former railway routes. All opportunities were evaluated, showing the business case in terms of an indicative benefit to cost ratio (BCR). Evaluation included the social costs and benefits of each scheme as well as earnings from fares, comparing them to the cost of operating the service, together with the capital cost of the reinstatement.
ATOC have reviewed the former route to Fleetwood and marked it on par with the East Lancashire Railway, however, the project would be significantly cheaper with a Capex amount of £14m. The BCR of 1.8 makes it stand out as number 4 in the list of 35. What does this mean for the PWRS? Chairman, John Goy, interviewed for the Evening Gazette and Live on BBC Radio Lancashire said “This is great news, the report goes a long way to reinforce what we have been saying for some time now, the route to Fleetwood must be re-instated. This report validates our objectives and makes our voice louder” Dennis Bleakley, PWRT Trustee said “We are excited about the findings of this report and to ensure all parties concerned are on message we have requested a meeting with ATOC so that our plans to operate the route firstly as a Commuter Railway and secondly a Tourist Railway can be presented and discussed” More information: - - For interview sound-bites and information see the BBC’s website by clicking here.
- The ATOC website can be loaded by clicking here.
- The ATOC report can be downloaded by clicking here.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 29 June 2009 )
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