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Funding mountain to climb set out for East Cleveland rail link
STARK funding hurdles in the way of a passenger rail service returning to East Cleveland villages have been laid out by a travel chief after a cash…
Funding mountain to climb set out for East Cleveland rail link
22nd June 2022
By Alex Metcalfe
A train between Carlin How and Brotton carrying 900,000 tonnnes of product from ICL Fertilisers Boulby Mine, formerly Cleveland Potash to Tees Dock
STARK funding hurdles in the way of a passenger rail service returning to East Cleveland villages have been laid out by a travel chief after a cash bid failed.
Studies into reopening the Boulby freight line between Saltburn and the village have been carried out in the past two years. But efforts to get cash for the idea via the government’s Reverse Beeching Fund – now known as the “Restoring your Railway fund” – failed.
Modelling has gauged how the Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway could link up Boulby with one passenger train every hour through the day – with five stops between Saltburn and Easington. The idea at the time was to offer better links for villagers as well as a chance for tourists to get along the coast to boost regeneration efforts.
However, any such idea would likely have to see a rail operator want to run the route once the infrastructure was sorted out. A bid for £46m was lodged to get the East Cleveland idea going – but the request hit the buffers.
Cllr Cliff Foggo, Redcar and Cleveland cabinet member for highways and transport, sought combined authority support at the latest transport committee. He told the Tees Valley panel how they still wanted to go ahead with the bid – and its own concept, rather than the design commissioned by the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA).
Cllr Foggo said: “The line is actually there – there are just bits which need adjustments. As far as we’re concerned in Redcar and Cleveland, we think there are other funding routes available to us rather than (via) the TVCA.
“But the support of the TVCA to our bid would be beneficial.” He added: “We’re not asking the TVCA for money.
“We’re just asking for their support in trying to get this over the line to get us transport for passengers in East Cleveland – which has a dearth of every type of transport at the moment.”
The TransPennine Express route from Manchester to Redcar was extended to Saltburn last month. But concerns about links to East Cleveland and the jobs promised at the Teesworks site have been aired repeatedly – with worries workers would struggle to get to shifts on public transport at the moment.
When it came to an East Cleveland link, Tom Bryant, from the TVCA, offered Cllr Foggo a reality check on the mountain of funding hurdles any rail bid would have to overcome. He told the committee how investment in the current network and its issues were the combined authority’s priorities at the moment.
Mr Bryant said: “Our experience over the last few years in some of these rail projects is to take a concept through, where you’ve got a full vision that the government would take a decision on, is an awful lot of work. You’ve got to go through three rounds of putting together a business case.
“Just to give you some context, Darlington Station – which is strongly supported by the government – still has an awful lot of hurdles to jump through, and an awful lot of scrutiny from the Treasury and Government around its value for money. The cost of actually taking a concept through to full design with contracts and prices to give you that certainty and reduce the risk is a huge undertaking.”
The transport official added the national rail budget was under “huge pressure” at the moment. Mr Bryant added: “So even projects with really strong business cases and huge patronage levels are really challenging to get through.
“Darlington has got an extremely strong business case – and we’re making a strong case – but even that isn’t easy.”
*Never say Never!!
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