Published: Wednesday, 17th June, 2009 12:05pm

Public 'misled' over night freight trains

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MILLIONS of pounds in compensation payments could be made to residents living close to the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine (SAK) railway line after promises over the running of night trains were broken.

As previously reported in the Advertiser, people staying close to the line have been up in arms since trains carrying coal to Longannet began using the line during the night.

This was despite promises that no trains would use the line between 11pm and 6am.

Yet it has now been claimed that Transport Scotland knew even before the line was re-opened that freight trains would run on the line at night.

And Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Dr Richard Simpson has accused Transport Scotland of misleading the public, claiming they had given explicit undertakings there would be no night trains.

Dr Simpson said, 'Transport Scotland implicitly and explicitly gave undertakings that there would be no night trains.

'I think they have misled the public. That"s what is most shocking.'

Dr Simpson has raised in the Scottish Parliament the issue of possible compensation for residents living near the line.

And Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson has admitted that compensation may be payable to residents whose property has been devalued.

The freight train operator DB Schenker said that early in 2008, and well in advance of the line re-opening, EWS (the freight train operator at that time) advised both Transport Scotland and Network Rail that it would require 24 hour running, six days a week.

And, in a recent letter sent to Clackmannanshire Council, DB Schenker stated that its night trains had to run to Longannet to meet the power plant"s coal needs and that all parties had known about this since the line reopened.

A spokesperson added, 'In order to transfer the coal trains from the Forth Bridge to the Alloa line, the trains needed to be timetabled over a 24 hour period, six days a week.

'It should be noted that on day seven, Network Rail completes essential maintenance and renewal of the rail network.

'DB Schenker"s customer requires up to 12 trains of coal to be delivered per day, six days a week. Without this Longannet Power Station would have insufficient product to meet the electricity requirements of Scotland.'

The freight company said the timetable it is using accomodates the loading duration, transport time from Ayrshire to Longannet Power Station and the discharge period in the station.

All these elements, it says, require trains to operate around the clock, six days a week. This enables the coal trains to be moved away from the Forth Bridge at Transport Scotland"s request.

The spokesperson added, 'DB Schenker is aware that residents on the line of the route were informed that trains would not operate at night. We are unable to comment on why this pledge was made - that is for the parties who made it to comment on.'

During a parliamentary debate at Holyrood last week on the issue, Michael Matheson MSP called on Network Rail and DB Schenker to work towards implementing a speed restriction on the route.

But a briefing by Network Rail, which is responsible for rail infrastructure, claimed it couldn"t impose any speed restrictions unless there were safety issues involved.

Margaret Mitchell, Scottish Conservative MSP for Central Scotland, called for a 'swift resolution' for the sake of the residents living alongside the line.

She said that the previous Scottish Executive and the current Scottish Government must accept some culpability, after pledges that no trains would run between 11pm and 6am were not upheld.

And she expressed her concern that everyone, including the Government, Transport Scotland and Network Rail, appeared to be running for cover now that compensation claims were live.

Ms Mitchell added, 'When the SAK Line opened, Transport Scotland claimed that the timetable had been developed to minimise early morning and late evening services.

'Both Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government"s Executive Agency knew of the problem but both have apparently been powerless to prevent the rail operator from requesting and implementing a 24 hour timetable.'

Clackmannanshire Council has, so far, received 27 formal claims for compensation from those who have been forced to live with the noise and believe their property has dropped in value. These claims have been passed to Network Rail as the infrastructure owner.

Councillor Eddie Carrick, Sustainability Portfolio Holder, said, 'The council only became aware of the proposal to operate overnight services in May 2008. It was not until around August or September that we had it confirmed that overnight services would operate. At that stage we had no idea how many trains there would be overnight or what the likely disturbance would be.

'The council will provide mitigation to qualifying properties.'

Transport Scotland said the operation of freight services and the timing of these was a matter for the rail industry and was outwith its remit.

A spokesperson said, 'We acknowledges the concern expressed by residents adjoining the new railway, especially since freight trains commenced operation at night.

'We are working closely with Network Rail and the council to address concerns about noise and vibration as quickly as possible.'