Development around stations - Exploring international experience and lessons for the UK - Campaign For Better Transport
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Development around stations
Exploring international experience
and lessons for the UK
www.cbtthoughtleadership.org.uk
Contents
Introduction 3
Benefits development around stations can bring 4
Raise money for Network Rail 5
Meet housing goals 6
Case study: Switzerland and Geneva 7
New and reopened stations and lines as catalysts for growth 8
Regenerate communities through improving gateways 8
Case study: Fixing the Link 9
Case study: cycling to stations in the Netherlands 10
Improve liveability 11
Improving and investing in stations 12
Case study: Inverness and Aberdeen 14
Case study: Dundee 16
Case study: Dudley Port 16
Case study: Switzerland 16
Options for institutional structures 17
In house/public sector 17
Case study: Sweden, Jernhusen AB 18
Case study: the Netherlands 20
Private sector 21
Case study: East Japan Railway 22
Mixture of the two 23
Case study: Stockholm 24
How to judge success 25
Policy recommendations 26
References 28
Acknowledgements 29
Tracks 31
2
Introduction
Several separate but related This report suggests that the
themes have prompted this experience of railway administrations
report: the need for more houses; in other countries shows that a
a requirement for Network Rail longer-term approach has succeeded
(NR) to reduce its debt; and the in addressing a variety of societal
ever more urgent requirement problems as well as providing greater
for developments to be genuinely revenues for the railway.
sustainable.
This report therefore looks at
Sir Peter Hendy, NR’s chairman, ways of maximising the economic,
responded to the Treasury’s social and environmental benefits
pressure to reduce its debt by to be gained from treating railway
planning to sell £1.8 billion worth stations as primary development
of assets. Choosing this short-term hubs. It then offers a number of
approach opens up a number of options for realising those benefits,
questions. It can be argued that a and suggests ways in which their
more considered approach could success can be measured. It
lead to a higher return for NR and describes how other countries
wider benefits for the railway and have addressed this and makes
society at large. recommendations on ways forward.
3
Benefits development
around stations can bring
Rising populations, seemingly future, uplifting architecture and
inexorable urbanisation and a health the engagement of a variety of
crisis caused by vehicle pollution stakeholders. Benign modes of
and obesity make railway stations transport are at the heart of the
one of the most critical pieces of process, and many countries and
infrastructure for the functioning conurbations realise that the
of cities. They therefore have huge future lies in creating attractive,
value. This is widely recognised, multi-purpose and largely car-free
but there is huge disparity between spaces around transport hubs. By
countries in the degree to which the capturing the rising property values
opportunities have been embedded in from the synergies of good place-
national or local policy. making, public investment can be
funded by commercial gain through
Successful long-term developments such mechanisms as business
need ‘place-making’ based on rate supplements and developer
thorough research, imaginative contributions.1
thinking about the needs of the
4
Raise money for have been carried out for decades, better to plan a bespoke depot on
usually at the insistence of the cheaper land and realise the value
Network Rail Treasury. Little or no thought of the urban site.
was given to future needs or the
Commercial developments at
possibility of the revival of rail East Japan Railway has also
stations and on railway land are as
transport. Much of the low-hanging adopted this approach of relocating
old as railways, but in Britain there
fruit has gone, so more creative lower-value activities. For instance,
was a presumption against railways
ways have to be found to develop a shopping centre was built at
becoming property developers;
what remains. Hiratsuka station on land previously
London’s Metropolitan Railway had
occupied by a warehouse, while the
to develop 3,000 acres along its line
One of the three areas that NR mall at Kawagoe was built on land
at arm’s length, but such restraints
is focusing on in its attempt to freed up by building an elevated
have disappeared in the quest for
raise £1.8 billion is understood to station. At Shinagawa a train depot
cash. Despite decades of sales by
be passenger train maintenance was moved further out of the city
British Rail Property Board, there
depots. There is little justification and running lines realigned to
are still substantial amounts of
for having such depots on urban release land for development.2
railway-owned land, and identifying
suitable sites for development land that could be redeveloped,
apart from proximity to a workforce. The benefits of developing
has become a priority for NR and
Providing there are suitably located brownfield sites rather than
Transport for London (TfL).
booking-on points and sufficient consuming more countryside
overnight stabling and cleaning has been emphasised by Swiss
The historic land-hungry nature of
facilities near stations where trains studies. As Jacques Herzog of
railways in urban areas provides the
start their journey, the maintenance Swiss architects Herzog and de
industry with a legacy that can be
can be done on low-value land. Meuron said: ‘in our urban planning
turned to great advantage. Changed
Bombardier chose rural Barton- research for Switzerland, which we
logistics, coupled with the decline
of traditional rail freight, has freed under-Needwood for its Central conduct at the Federal Institute
up land. This has most commonly Rivers TMD to maintain Voyagers of Technology in Basel, we put a
been converted to station car-parks, rather than an urban site. strong focus on already developed
but there are other activities that but now neglected sites: abandoned
do not require a high land-value Moreover, as many trains are rail yards…rail and tram depots
location, such as train maintenance. lengthened to address rising and the like. On these sites we can
Equally, rising land and rental demand, or new fleets introduced, condense the construction to create
values make raft developments over the current facilities are often new urban places and provide more
stations increasingly feasible. inadequate and would require residential and office space without
significant investment to allow consuming any more land.’
Sales of what was thought to be a whole train to be lifted, for
redundant railway land in Britain example. It might therefore be
5Meet housing goals car-parks and many other surplus
or underused sites. Rather than
above and around Nine Elms station
on the Northern line extension.
selling land, TfL has chosen 13 The development will see the
The urgent need for housing has
partners, including house builders delivery of 332 new homes, 84 of
led to an agreement between NR
Barratt, Berkeley, Taylor Wimpey them affordable. It will also provide
and the Homes and Communities
and Redrow, with which to develop 5,332m2 of new office space, 902m2
Agency (HCA) to find potential sites,
sites in joint ventures. Initially 75 of retail and leisure space as well
reflecting the government’s wish
‘to ensure further opportunities are sites covering 300 acres are being as a new public square, pedestrian
grasped to put stations at the heart worked on, of which two-thirds are and cycle connections, cycle parking
of wider community regeneration’, in Zones 1 and 2. TfL’s wider plan is and disabled car-parking spaces.
as former Secretary of State for to generate £3.4 billion in non-fare The development will improve local
Transport Patrick McLoughlin revenue by 2023 to reinvest in facilities and provide new revenue
expressed it. The National Planning the transport network through its for TfL to reinvest.
Policy Framework3 looks to reduce property development framework.
the need for travel and to develop TfL is fortunate to still have sites
land around transport hubs, so The first sites include a long-derelict on this scale to redevelop, but the
housing around stations meets such depot site at Parsons Green, plans ability to take a longer-term view
policy criteria as using brownfield for 20 town houses on a strip of land is thanks to freehold ownership.
land and sustainable development. close to fashionable Thurloe Square No train operating company (TOC)
in South Kensington, land around has that benefit, and the principal
The first fruits of the NR/HCA Southwark and Bermondsey stations attempt to overcome that handicap
collaborations were announced in is earmarked for about 300 homes in Abellio’s Greater Anglia franchise
April, for three sites: 2,500 homes apiece and other locations under has not been replicated in more
and 100,000m2 of office space consideration are Harrow-on-the-Hill, recent franchises (it did form part
are earmarked for a ‘sustainable Northwood and Kidbrooke. At Bond of the West Coast franchise until
new community’ at York; a mix of Street flats are being built above that collapsed following Virgin’s
offices, shops, restaurants, cinema, the new Crossrail station. Even TfL’s successful challenge). Taking over
hotel and 49 homes at Taunton; Grade I listed headquarters building in February 2012, Abellio Greater
and land around Swindon station at St James’s Park, designed by Anglia has stations on a 99-year
has been identified for housing and Charles Holden, is being converted full repairing and insuring lease
commercial development.4 into 89 apartments. But by far (FRI), designed to facilitate longer-
the largest current development term and larger investments which
The recent £44 million is Earl’s Court where TfL owns the would be passed on to successive
modernisation of Manchester land around the exhibition centre. operators at the termination of the
Victoria station, voted in 2009 A partnership with Capco will see franchise period.6
‘the worst station in the country’, 7,500 homes built on 77 acres.
is the catalyst for a £185 million This laudable idea is still
mixed-use development proposal The partnership approach has handicapped by unresolved issues
by NR and Muse Developments been welcomed by others. Peter over the degree of control and
for an adjacent 2.5 acre site on Murray, chairman of New London rights retained by NR and by the
railway land currently used as a Architecture, believes that ‘if TfL mechanism to assess the residual
car-park. The development will adopts a long-term view and does value of investments made. The
include 150,000 square feet of floor not sell off the family silver, it could latter is naturally complicated by
space in an eight-storey office block be a boon for the whole of London, the number of stakeholders likely to
and 520 new apartments in two not just for transport.’ make a financial contribution to a
buildings of 20 and 25 storeys.5 station development. In theory, NR’s
New sites are also being developed. interest is supposed to be passive,
TfL owns 5,700 acres of land, In May TfL was given planning limited to ensuring a safe interface
owns or manages 400 stations, 61 permission for a new development with railway operations. Greater
6Case study:
Switzerland and Geneva
control over stations is one of the SBB Real Estate is one of the progress of CEVA and be a mix
main drivers behind regional calls Switzerland’s foremost property of social housing, council flats and
for devolved powers. companies with 864 employees condominiums.
looking after 3,500 buildings
Proposals for housing or and 3,800 railway sites across Scheduled to open in 2018, the
commercial developments at the country. Part of its role is CEVA rail link is expected to carry
stations should chime with the sustainable development of sites over 240,000 passengers a day
Development Plans of towns and around its stations to generate living or working within 500 metres
cities if they are in accord with the income for reinvestment. It is of a station. The project is expected
National Planning Policy Framework currently working on about 100 to stimulate the redevelopment
prescription for densification around sites, of which by far the largest of some living areas by providing
transit-oriented developments. In in scale is the reconfiguring of the them with new dynamism as
some cases, opening a new access railway network in Geneva by a new well as housing and commercial
point to a large station, or using a link between SBB and SNCF lines. development projects around the
reconstruction as an opportunity other station hubs.
to improve pedestrian links, as at Designed to cope with a huge
Aberdeen (see Case study), can increase in cross-border The huge scale of work in Geneva
transform the prospects of a whole commuting, this project known illustrates the potential value
urban area. The new pedestrian as CEVA (Cornavin-Eaux-Vives- of developments that can be
southern entrance to Leeds station, Annemasse)8 will link the main unlocked by such an infrastructure
opened in January 2016, was Cornavin SBB station with the improvement. There is hardly
built to serve new office and hotel former French terminus of Eaux- a city or large town in Britain
developments around Bridgewater Vives and Annemasse. Much of the without a closed or underused
Place. The strikingly designed 16km line will be in cut-and-cover line that could be a candidate
entrance to the £20 million scheme tunnel and five new stations will for revival for heavy rail or tram/
is attractively sited overlooking be built between Cornavin and trains, with new stations as hubs.
a canal and is expected to relieve Annemasse, creating new hubs The kind of cross-city services
pedestrian congestion at the main with great development potential. made possible by CEVA relieves
entrance by giving an alternative Already the site around Lancy- pressure on main stations
access point to 20 per cent of because it reduces the number
Pont-Rouge station is ranked
station users.7 as one of the Geneva region’s of terminating trains and reduces
biggest real estate projects. The dwell time.
heart of this project focuses both
on housing and five buildings
for different activities. The RECOMMENDATION: Local,
120,000m2 will include office space, regional and national
as well as complementary activities Government bodies should
such as restaurants, cafés, small identify sites for housing along
businesses, leisure activities, public existing lines, and along closed
facilities and a hotel complex. The lines capable of reopening.
adjoining public areas are reserved
for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
Located along the hillside
of Lancy, a housing area will
gradually complete the commercial
development with the construction
of 600 new homes, which will be
completed gradually according to
7New and reopened City Council, Northern, NR and
developer CEG which is building
routes are also being recognised for
their contribution and targeted for
stations and lines as 1,000 new homes, 300,000 square improvements.9
catalysts for growth feet of new offices and 100,000
square feet of retail, leisure and An ancillary benefit of densification
Though most of the focus has been community space. of residential accommodation and
on the regeneration of existing commercial activity around stations
communities by enhanced gateways, Cambridge’s meteoric growth is the greater demand for bus and
it is equally important that no new has engendered a new station at tram routes and better bike paths to
communities are created without Cambridge North which is expected serve them. Higher footfall around
a station and a good train service. to attract new businesses to locate stations and along pedestrian
To build housing developments to the Science Park and St John’s routes enhances the sense of safety,
that rely on road links negates any Innovation Centre. encouraging the use of train travel
rational transport policy. in off-peak hours – it is all too
Railway reopenings are
Regenerate common to hear women say they
are reluctant to use public transport
often predicated on housing communities through after a certain time.
developments. The business case improving gateways
for rebuilding the East West Rail An advantage of both bike and
between Oxford and Cambridge is The vital importance of stations pedestrian access is flexibility. This
being calculated around the scope as welcoming gateways to a place is reflected in the fact that about
for housing developments adjacent is now well recognised – compare 50 per cent of Dutch rail passengers
to the railway. Because the trackbed the impression gained by arriving do not travel via their nearest
has been built on at the eastern at King’s Cross in 1980 and 2016. station. What influences that
end of the Oxford–Cambridge line, Consequently more attention is choice? It may be that they chose
the optimum route east of Milton being paid to the experience of the shortest route to the nearest
Keynes is being identified by those arriving by train. What is their station when the weather was poor,
assessing the availability of land for first impression as they leave the but preferred a longer route through
housing. station? Are they confronted by a more pleasant environment on
an obstacle course of car-parking, clement days. Or they may choose
Another possible reopening, as a busy roads and uninviting, even a different route to shop or access
result of developer contributions, intimidating, subways? There another service. Dutch research has
is the Stratford-upon-Avon– are many ways to address such shown that distance and destination
Honeybourne line: one of the shortcomings (see Case study), accessibility are the dominant
developers behind the planned though the most thorough ones can influences on the choice of station,
construction of 5,900 new homes seldom be quick wins. followed by bike-/pedestrian-
on two ex-military brownfield sites friendly design, bike shelters and
near Long Marston has offered To address these issues, the Station public transport connectivity.
£17 million towards the railway’s Travel Plan concept was developed
reopening. As a rule of thumb, by ATOC, Campaign for Better As land values and passenger
3–4,000 houses are required Transport and Abellio and now numbers rise, the physical and
to justify a new station without forms part of British rail franchise economic case for station car-
revenue subsidy. commitments. Train operating parking diminishes. The space under
companies are aware of the the new monumental staircase
New stations on existing lines can importance of promoting and easing and escalators at Holland’s busiest
be used as catalysts for housing and door-to-door journeys to encourage station, Utrecht Central, has been
commercial developments. Partners greater use of their services. These used for a three-level bike park
behind the new station opened at Plans have focused mainly on holding 4,200 bicycles. Using city-
Kirkstall Forge in June were Leeds cycle and bus access, but walking centre land for 4,200 cars is simply
8Case study:
Fixing the Link
unthinkable. Even this bike park will Research by Abellio in the Improvement Programme, cycle link
be overtaken in 2016 by the world’s Netherlands showed that people funding and the Local Sustainable
largest bike facility, on the east side arriving in a shopping area stayed Transport Fund.
of Utrecht station, for 12,500 bikes. longer and spent more if they had Since publication of ‘Fixing the
had a pleasant experience getting Link’ in 2013, many of the report’s
That rise in land values has also there. By the same token, almost criticisms in Colchester have been
encouraged satellite developments every pedestrianisation scheme addressed. Colchester Borough
which help to reduce the numbers on shopping streets in Britain Council responded to the challenge
using main stations. The largest has increased retail turnover; and worked in partnership with
urban regeneration project, at conversely surveys of Leicester in Abellio, Essex County Council and
Salford Quays on the site of the the early 1990s found that there Colchester in Bloom to develop a
docks, relies heavily on Manchester was a statistically significant wayfinding scheme. Silhouettes of
Metrolink and the bus link with correlation between streets with an elephant, echoing the town’s
Salford Crescent station. Cross- high motorised traffic and high Roman past, have been used in
city services, most notably those numbers of vacant shops. The Dutch conjunction with bright yellow
through Birmingham, provide an evidence encouraged Nederlandse signs to waymark the route into the
opportunity for a proportion of Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways) and centre. Attractive planting softens
passengers to reach out-of-centre local authorities to work together the setting beside the ring road, and
work-places without the need to improve walking routes between the elephant reappears at various
to change. When many central stations and local high streets, points on the pavement, sometimes
stations are at or near capacity, using a methodology to measure highlighting local history.
developments around outer stations and assess their quality.
that help to spread the traffic are The report has also been a catalyst
especially valuable. In ‘Fixing the Link’, Abellio and
10 for improvements elsewhere. At
Campaign for Better Transport Bletchley, the growing prospect
have examined ways to apply this of East West Rail has focused
in a UK context with case studies attention on the station’s poor
in Ipswich, Colchester and Ely. links with the town centre. Plans
The four criteria evaluated using to improve them and the bus/rail
the Abellio methodology are interchange were costed at £3.5
liveliness, human scale, legibility million and were implemented in
and safety and comfort, within the first half of 2016.
which 12 characteristics are
assessed. Some improvements
are simple and inexpensive such RECOMMENDATION: Encourage
as signage, benches and planters; the roll-out of Station Travel
others require a longer-terms Plans as part of a strategy to
strategy – moving station car-parks, provide traffic-free or quiet
improving crossings of busy roads, routes between all schools,
encouraging more economic activity hospitals, civic buildings and
along the route, and reversing the major employers, as well as
planning priority given to cars. leisure routes into surrounding
country, and promote ‘fixing the
link’ projects at stations that act
Funding for these improvements has
as gateways to the communities
come from local authorities and Local
they serve
Enterprise Partnerships, business
rates, developer contributions such
as Section 106, central government
City Deals, the National Stations
9Case study: cycling to
stations in the Netherlands
The country is famous for having Cycling is also ideal for planning
the world’s highest modal share mobility over a mesh size of 3–5 RECOMMENDATION: Increase
for cycling, at 27 per cent of all square kilometres; only in cities awareness and visibility of
trips, and 31.2 per cent of people with the density of London can one Bike & Go, nextbike and other
schemes, through National
seeing the bike as their main mode work to a mesh as small as 1km2.
Rail and other websites. Fund a
of transport for daily activities. The average journey distance by
national app for bike hire. Use
In cities, it is even higher: 38 per bike in the Netherlands is 3km,
franchise Invitations to Tender
cent of trips in Amsterdam, 46 per and reflects the distance between
to increase resources and
cent in Zwolle. Bike facilities are urban stations. incentives for self-service bike
impressive: 35,000km of bike paths hire schemes.
and some of the world’s largest Though folding bikes have only 1 per
bike parks. cent of the market and are rarely
seen on trains, it is a different story
But there are some surprises about with bike hire for regular users. The
this success. First it has been OV-bicycle scheme was taken over
demand- rather than supply-driven. by NS seven years ago and has
The explosion of cycling over recent 10,000 bikes for rent. Most railway
decades has created the high-class stations offer a hire facility, those
problem of how best to provide at smaller train stations have a self-
parking for thousands of bikes. Bikes service system, whereby you use a
deliver about half of rail passengers special pass to take the OV-bicycle
to the station of origin and 12 per out of a storage place or locker.
cent of them have bikes at their There is a €10 annual subscription
destination station. These volumes and the daily hire fee is €3. A major
stretch the capacity of facilities and factor in the scheme’s success – it
the costs of addressing them have is growing at 15 per cent per month
become something of a hot potato. and doubling every year – is that it
takes ten seconds to get or return a
Transport analysts point to the bike by scanning a pass, and users
growth projections for the next few receive an account every month.
decades and argue that cycling is
the only transport mode capable of This synergy between bike and train
rapid scaling up at reasonable cost in the Netherlands is so strong,
compared with the alternatives of partly due to being consumer-
metro, light rail and bus. Moreover driven, that it has been argued
a recognised benefit of bike access that the country wouldn’t have
is its superior flexibility over car or the transit system it has without
public transport: it offers control a bike culture and conversely it
over the choice of station and wouldn’t have a cycling culture
routes when wanting to combine a without the transit system.
journey between station and home Nor would the country have an
with errands, as compared with increasingly urban culture either.
fixed public transport routes. Bike With the certainty that the 21st
journeys are usually door-to-door century will be characterised by
(rather than car-park which may be the continued growth of cities and
some way from a destination) and greater densification, the lessons
allow easy diversions or overtaking of the Netherlands can be seen as
when traffic is held up. especially prescient.
10Improve liveability bike lanes, subsidise the purchase
of electric bikes and reduce
pleasure to use date almost from
the beginning of railways, but a
automobile traffic by 20 per cent by nadir was reached in the 1960s
Cities the world over are competing
2019, 30 per cent by 2030. A core and ’70s when there was an
for investment and high scores in
part of the strategy is ‘concentrated incomprehensible disregard for
the attributes that inform the annual
development of businesses, the heritage value of the railways’
Mercer Quality of Living rankings,11
dwellings and public services at the inheritance. Consequently many
and similar guides to liveability.
junctions of the public transport good buildings were destroyed
There is no doubt that time will
have to be called on the place of the network’. that could, with imagination and
motor car in cities and many towns. vision, have been adapted to
Population pressure and soaring It is the ability of transport hubs modern needs. The legacy of that
land values are likely to combine to to address a range of problems dismal period is still visible at many
make the use of urban space for the that has encouraged many city stations and a major reason why
parking of cars, as well as multi-lane administrations to embrace many regions want to gain control
roads, look untenable. London’s their potential. Businesses are over station development.
population is expected to reach 10 recognising that traffic and
million before 2030, and if only 1 in 5 pollution damage their bottom line: Recognition of the importance of
people owned a car, it would require retailers in London’s West End have good design has been encouraged
an area ten times the size of the demanded that traffic be halved by passengers’ response when
City of London just to park them. by 2020, though the fact that they encounter it and rewarded
The futility of attempts at car-based pedestrianisation almost invariably by such schemes as the Brunel
mobility in megacities is writ large increases retail turnover has still Awards, the triennial competition for
in the smog over Beijing, unfinished to be absorbed by some retailers international railway architecture
flyovers in Los Angeles and traffic and authorities. The indirect costs and design. As the foreword to the
speeds slower than a dawdling of traffic pollution are now well last competition said: ‘a sense of
bicycle in almost every city. understood. A February 2016 quality is shared more and more
Royal College of Physicians report throughout the world by all those
This almost inevitable conclusion calculated that the cost of polluted involved in infrastructure design. The
comes from analysing possible air on the NHS, business and other basic needs of individuals regarding
solutions to the combination of costs in the UK came to more than their travel experience don’t differ so
problems and opportunities facing £20 billion a year.12 much worldwide. Everybody wants
cities throughout the world: funding to feel safe and comfortable during
pressures, rapidly increasing The Foresight ‘Future of Cities’ their journey. It has been proven and
urban populations and housing report by the UK Government’s widely accepted that an environment
shortages, rising awareness of the Office for Science stressed that ‘the of good spatial quality shortens and
costs and consequences of traffic quality of the physical environment improves the perception of waiting
pollution, the time bomb of obesity, plays an important role in mental times; that a clear station layout
and demands for a more pleasant well-being; among the significant guides the traveller to his destination
environment. In the UK, a 57 per factors are noise and light levels, naturally; and that the station area’s
cent growth in train passengers in building layouts and way finding, ambiance adds to the city’s quality
ten years and a declining interest in and access to nature. The design as well as to the station’s urban
car ownership among the young can of everyday products, buildings, quality and activity.’14
be added to the opportunities. transport systems and information
communications devices, all The pleasure of joining or leaving
The measures being taken in many contribute to levels of stress or Eurostar under the magnificently
cities to create inviting places puts contentedness.’13 restored pale blue ironwork of
stations centre stage. In Oslo there Barlow’s roof at St Pancras, or the
are plans to ban cars from the Imaginative ways of making stations dramatic roofs created by Santiago
city centre by 2019, create more an aesthetic as well as practical Calatrava at Liège-Guillemins or
11Oriente station in Lisbon, gives train
travel an uplifting quality.
Improving and that replaced many a solid Victorian
station building in the 1960s and
investing in stations ’70s to realise how expectations
The quality of stations on the have changed. As has the response,
eastern extension of the Jubilee Placing railway stations at the exemplified in the outstanding
line, with their cavernous, future- heart of the planning process is improvements at St Pancras and
proof proportions and striking fundamental to realising the many
King’s Cross at one end of the scale
designs, was instrumental in making benefits of sustainable transport. It
and Burnley Manchester Road or
acceptable the idea of a business not only creates demand for train
the eco-station at Accrington at the
rate supplement to pay for public services and feeder public transport
other. As NR observes ‘successful
infrastructure, and specifically to stations, but provides both the
stations add to the passenger
Crossrail. Quality design helps to revenue and business case for
experience and support the
increase the size of a windfall in improvements to passenger and
economic, social and environmental
property values around node points. ancillary facilities, often creating
benefits of rail.’
a local destination in its own right.
The ambience of a station can be Besides attracting more passengers,
Between the two is Wakefield
given a different dimension with better stations generate more
Kirkgate, once dubbed by Lord
the inclusion of art. SNCF’s Gares non-transport revenue, creating a
Adonis as ‘the worst medium-large
& Connexions Culture Programme virtuous circle.
station in Britain’, which has been
introduced 60 contemporary transformed by a £4 million scheme.
artworks at 40 stations. The As the President of the UIC,
Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, put it, ‘[A] Besides transforming the station’s
Stockholm metro system has been near-derelict appearance, it created
called the world’s longest art exhibit great challenge for the railways
is to optimise the role of stations revenue streams by incorporating
because 90 of its 100 stations units for new businesses, a café,
are decorated with sculptures, as places of convergence for
passengers, places of activity a retail outlet that doubles as a
mosaics, paintings and reliefs by ticket office, meeting rooms for
over 150 artists. Kungsträdgården where city dwellers spend time,
and increasingly as their cities’ community and local business use,
station looks like an archaeological
economic and cultural centre. and accommodation for Groundwork
excavation, incorporating the remains
Stations, built and renovated Wakefield which led the project
of the city’s old Makalös Palace.
in the context of increasingly with ten other partners and funding
At Östermalmstorg the artist Siri
well thought-out partnerships sources. More bus routes now serve
Derkert highlights women’s rights and
between railway operators, city the landscaped forecourt.
peace and environmental issues.
or regional authorities, investors
and all the economic stakeholders, Improvements have been carried out
In Hong Kong ‘art in mtr’ has
have become much more than at many stations under the National
brought artworks and performances
a transport hub. They have Stations Improvement Programme
into MTR stations since 1998, and
become a vital feature of urban with supplementary funding from
the ‘art in station architecture’
programme continues to enrich the planning which, while continuing stakeholders. Though welcome,
MTR network. to meet their basic requirement these have often done little more
of supplying interfaces between than improve waiting areas, lighting,
modes of transport, also form part information systems and signage.
RECOMMENDATION: The Rail of the city’s historical, cultural and Rather more is required to make a
Delivery Group and Network economic heritage.’ significant impact.
Rail should promote and
bring together examples of In common with other aspects of The principal deterrent to doing
high-quality design at railway the public realm, higher standards more is the lack of the ‘flexible and
stations and of use of artworks are demanded of the railway long-term stewardship’ identified
in and around them. station. In the UK, one has only to by RDG as a prerequisite for
remember the basic bus shelters progress. The disincentive that
12short franchises imposes is the and the urban realm around stations Nottingham) and/or car-parking
reason why combined authorities – trees, shade, sitting, public charges can provide financial
are so keen to take over devolved transport integration, information support to create sustainable
responsibility for stations and provision). To create the bustling links such as light rail or tram/
create a structure for long-term centres of urban life which it wants train developments, as pioneered
stewardship. Part of city devolution stations to be, it is focusing on: by Karlsruhe. New stations can
settlements has been provision for designing stations to provide better become new hubs for housing and
the new combined authorities to take connections with other modes of other development. A similar idea
over responsibility for their railway transport; addressing the needs of is being developed as Swift Rail by
stations in their areas – Transport local communities; making stations Reg Harman and Nicholas Falk of
for Greater Manchester (TfGM) efficient and welcoming by keeping Urbed, which won the 2014 Wolfson
and West Midlands Rail are keen to passengers comfortable, ensuring Economics Prize for its vision of a
develop individual plans for their 97 access for all, and providing new generation of garden cities.18
and 110 stations (respectively). multimodal information in real
time; and administering stations At smaller stations the work of
By acting as the co-ordinator, and enhancing their value through Community Rail Partnerships is well
regional and city authorities a combination of shops, public recognised for both improving the
could make the prospect of multi- services, programmes and events.16 appearance of stations and injecting
stakeholder station developments new life into underused buildings,
much less daunting for participants The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has with local cafés, community rooms,
unfamiliar with the regulatory set out nine principles in its ‘Vision restaurants and bike hire. Such
and railway environment. Ideas for Stations’ document17: services help to tie the station into
for underused station buildings local communities, especially where
include social enterprise café, 1 Customer-focused local facilities are sparse or where,
skills centre, art gallery, start-up 2 Intelligent use of technology as at Gobowen, the station café has
units and community centres. The 3 Seamless journey experience an arrangement with a local training
potential for out-of-centre urban 4 Reflect local needs and centre to provide a skill to young
and suburban stations has yet to be opportunities people with learning difficulties.
examined in detail, but a comment 5 Safe and secure environment
by the former city planner of 6 Entrepreneurial spirit Provision of a facility such as bike
Vancouver, Brent Toderian, suggests 7 Flexible and long-term hire at Barnstaple station for the
that this will be a litmus test of stewardship nearby Tarka Trail or Hassop for the
future success: increasing densities 8 Shared industry know-how Monsal Trail can make the difference
in city centres is relatively easy; 9 Optimised network to modal choice in getting there,
the real challenge is how well we especially when jointly promoted.
do the suburbs.15 Creating well- As station hubs are increasingly As can provision of somewhere
designed satellite hubs with lower regarded as the most important to work while waiting for a train;
commercial and residential rents is element in the efficient functioning the Brunel Award-winning station
an opportunity still be explored, but of urban areas, it should become at Nakamura in Japan used local
as property values and population progressively easier to scale cypress wood to create such a
pressures increase, over station up developer contributions and pleasing waiting area that it is used
developments may become feasible. finally achieve a more balanced by many more students happy to
relationship between public work at its stylish wood tables while
Gares&Connexions is SNCF’s arm’s investment and commercial they wait for a train.
length business unit for stations benefits.
and has carried out research into Tourism can shape the way a
the design of a number of detailed Alternatively, business rates, a station is used. Bentham in North
station features (e.g. ticketing, community infrastructure levy, Yorkshire, run by the Friends of
waiting areas, children’s play areas, a workplace parking levy (as in Bentham Station, has a strong
13Case study:
Inverness and Aberdeen
19
community presence, acting as a Abellio’s success in winning At Inverness Abellio worked with
tourist information centre, local bus the ScotRail franchise from the local authority, Highland Council
and taxi office and an education April 2016 was partly due to its and the Highlands and Islands
centre for school visits. The station plans for stations. With only two Transport Partnership (HITRANS)
is branded as ‘The Gateway to the conurbations exceeding half a to develop a scheme that embraced
Forest of Bowland’. million people and a background the area surrounding the station.
of extensive land disposal, options The historic square in front of
for substantial developments at its the station no longer forms an
355 stations are understandably impressive or welcoming gateway
RECOMMENDATION: Station
limited. Moreover it does not to the city; the station frontage
investment plans, jointly have the advantage of its Greater is an ugly 1966–8 façade and the
owned with local authorities Anglia franchise 99-year FRI forecourt is cluttered with traffic.
and others, should become station leases (see page 6) The plan is to improve the three
parts of franchises. The pedestrian access points to the
Greater Manchester and other However, during the bid process station, from Eastgate shopping
devolution and city deals that Abellio had identified five centre, the bus station and by
transfer control of local rail stations which justified significant largely pedestrianising the square
stations to combined authorities investment: Perth, Stirling, fronting on to Academy Street.
and local transport authorities Motherwell, Inverness and
should be evaluated and, subject Aberdeen. A blank canvas was A new glass frontage will provide
to success, should be rolled out adopted: what does this station access to new double-height retail
in future such deals. and town need? The ideas met units, and there is a scheme to
with Transport Scotland’s (TS) realise a long-held ambition to
approval and became part of the extend the Royal Highland Hotel
negotiations, producing a commit and move the taxi pick-up point.
by Abellio to invest part of the £9 Abellio is funding 30 per cent of the
million earmarked for a station cost, 25 per cent is coming from
fund in the projects and to source the Scottish Station Fund, some
funding from others. These included from retailers and the remainder
the Scottish Station Fund set up by from the Highland Council with a
TS and administered by NR, with possible Railway Heritage Trust
£32 million in Control Period 5. contribution to work on the square.
Detailed business cases looking In Aberdeen the city council has
at the economic benefits to big aspirations in its Master Plan,
the areas were developed though there is still uncertainty
in Year 1 for Aberdeen and about traffic plans. The railway
Inverness, involving many other station is adjacent to Union
parties. The level of detail and Square shopping centre, which
impressive visuals encouraged was developed by Hammerson,
other stakeholders to invest. partly on railway land, within the
Inverness has moved quickly, last ten years and an expansion is
thanks to a growing awareness planned despite the downturn in
of the importance of urban hub oil. The station has good links to
stations as economic generators. the shopping centre but is rather
These stakeholders had found overpowered by it. One of the main
the railway difficult to deal with, objects of the plans for Aberdeen
and welcomed the opportunity station is to improve the very poor
to form a partnership, with pedestrian links to Union Street,
Abellio dealing with NR and the city’s main street. It is currently
the regulatory and planning an unpleasant and confusing
processes. experience with heavy traffic and
14underpasses on different levels. The
Master Plan wants to address this.
The station plans are in two phases.
The first will improve the impressive
listed concourse area with better
retail facilities, moving the ticket
office and first class lounge from
their current tucked-away position
and improve the frontage on to
Union Square. A new and larger Bike
& Go hub will be created and areas
landscaped. Funding is coming from
the Scottish Station Fund and the
city council as well as Abellio.
Phase 2 is a much bigger opportunity
and probably the largest potential
railway land development in Scotland.
The £80–90 million scheme would
create a new station frontage on
to Guild Street, so that it would no
longer be the poor relation to the
shopping centre. The space over
part of the station and taxi rank
would be developed to provide office
accommodation and a hotel as well
as more retail space. The station’s
listed architectural features would
be incorporated to create perhaps
a restaurant. This opportunity
for something transformational
is being handed over to NR with
continued support from Abellio.
NR is also involved in the idea of a
raft development over the railway
to provide better walking routes,
student accommodation, a hotel and
some office space but this scheme is
still at an early stage.
Motherwell and Stirling are next
on the list. Neither has the retail
opportunities offered by Inverness.
A main object is better links to
the town centre at Stirling where
pedestrians currently have to cross
seven lanes of traffic. Motherwell
station has been badly neglected,
and City Deal funding is available
here for improvements.
15Case study:
Dundee
20
Dundee waterfront is undergoing a end of 2017, the crescent-shaped
remarkable £1 billion redevelopment building will become a gateway to
with various flagship projects such the adjacent waterfront though it
as the £76 million V&A Museum of remains surrounded by busy arterial
Design. Complementing this is a new roads. The station is expected
£29 million station incorporating to have a staffed ‘ambassador
a 120-room hotel, a new bridge desk’, which might have touch
under the station and in front of screen maps on the counter, and
the station, public realm around the a point where rail users can seek
station, offices, retail units, café and information about Dundee, the
bike hire. Due for completion at the station and other travel modes.
Case study:
Dudley Port
21
This station represents many environment despite having almost
of the shortcomings that West half million users a year. The mesh-
Midlands Rail wants to tackle cage waiting room wouldn’t look
across the region. On the line out of place in a prison, tickets are
between Birmingham New Street sold from a portacabin and paint
and Wolverhampton, and a former on the seats is flaking. To reach
interchange with the freight-only nearby bus stops, one has to cross
Stour Valley line for which there a busy road. Yet in a box-ticking
are reopening plans, the station exercise listing facilities, it would
is the epitome of an unwelcoming score well.
Case study:
Switzerland
22
SBB Real Estate develops the passengers, from birthday cards
company’s stations and adjoining to haircuts and chemists, often
sites to create attractive service open for longer than most of the
centres – sustainable development country’s shops. One of the largest
that is seen as being of major current developments is beside
importance to Switzerland’s future. Basel station where a futuristic
Stations are more than just the building designed by Herzog & de
start and end points of a trip, Meuron named SüdPark D houses
especially at 59 of the country’s the Coop’s largest supermarket in
larger stations, where there are the canton, the Basler Kantonalbank
varied and substantial shops service centre and the SüdPark
and other services of value to retirement home.
16Options for
institutional structures
Those charged with raising the providing an interchange with
money to build public infrastructure Crossrail 1, Tottenham Court
have long looked at the way Road will become an even more
speculators have been the principal significant transport hub, as
beneficiaries of the hike in property Farringdon has on Crossrail 1.
values that new railways or
enhanced stations generate. This is
The question is, how best to exploit
not a new concept: it was called the
such opportunities?
‘unearned increment’ by a pioneer
of garden cities, Ebenezer Howard.
In house/public sector
The London School of Economics
found that central London office In an ideal world, the railway would
properties within half a mile of undertake the development and
projected Crossrail stations rose by
reap the full rewards, but capital
15 per cent over and above the rising
for non-railway developments
price trend between 2005 and 2013.
in Britain has generally been at
In the five years up to 2013, 40 per
cent of planning applications within a premium, and railway estate
a kilometre of the central London departments are generally ill-
Crossrail stations cited the new line equipped to undertake large-scale
as a reason for the proposal. This projects. The vast 1929 Chiltern
century 90 per cent of all London Court development of apartments
office developments have been with above Baker Street station in
500 metres of a station. London was a rare exception.
Even after the establishment of
New transport hubs drive growth. British Rail Property Board in
Even though Crossrail 2 is barely on
1970, it relied on partnerships
the drawing board, priority zones
with the private sector for major
for entire new neighbourhoods
commercial developments, most
have been designated around
new stations along the route. It is notably Broadgate at Liverpool
expected to trigger construction Street with Rosehaugh Stanhope
of 200,000 new homes and is seen Developments.
as making a much more significant
contribution to London’s housing It is impossible to see this situation
shortage than the benefits of changing, which is regrettable
Crossrail 1, which has been based when seen in the light of overseas
primarily on providing faster examples where revenue streams
links and much-needed capacity from property are substantial. One
increases for the capital’s business
successful option is to create a fully
districts. In its potential to stimulate
state-owned company like Jernhusen
residential building on a substantial
scale, Crossrail 2 is a throwback to in Sweden (see Case study). The
the construction of the Metropolitan exceptional geographical necessity
Railway and Metro-land. of integrating land-use planning and
transport in the Netherlands has
The impact on the principal influenced state retention of powers
intersections will be dramatic: (see Case study).
17Case study:
Sweden, Jernhusen AB
This public limited company was Though financially independent, entail going through the planning
created in 2001 as part of the Jernhusen is expected by the process and bringing in a company
deregulation and liberalisation of Ministry of Finance to encourage specialising in housing to develop it.
the Swedish rail market. It has a more people travel by train, partly Jernhusen has the freedom to buy
single shareholder, the Swedish out of self-interest: more station land to create a better development
Ministry of Finance, and is therefore users means more interest from site if its railway inheritance is
entirely independent of the national retailers and therefore higher inadequate for the scale of a
state-owned operator SJ. It is a revenues. It achieves this by planned development.
property company and owns 38 developing infrastructure that
of the larger stations, as well as promotes multimodal travel, creating Planning decisions are taken at
maintenance depots and freight station areas where it is easy for municipal and local level, so the
terminals in growth locations trains, buses, bicycles and cars authorities are likely to have some
and important transport nodes. to meet. It provides stations that preference for a type of housing,
The company develops new and function well: attractive, safe, secure, social housing or a mix of housing
existing station areas, maintenance clean, with additional services that and offices. Local authorities also
depots and freight terminals. It also make the choice of public transport part-fund station improvements and
develops and delivers services in easier, such as a variety of shops, sometimes become the tenant of an
connection with these properties. including practical services such as office building at the station on a
shoe repair and chemists. 25-year lease, for example.
Jernhusen bought the whole real
estate portfolio at market value on Public transport has a 26 per cent Jernhusen owns and manages
creation of the company and has share of motorised trips, so 74 per only 38 of the country’s 200
been managing and developing that cent are by private car, leaving a big stations because it is not seen as
portfolio on a commercial basis. market to capture. That objective the best owner for the majority. A
Jernhusen raises money through prompts questions such as what is small station with low footfall has
bank loans or by issuing bonds on missing in this area? Do we need little potential commercially, so
the financial markets. The Ministry more people in the day or the Jernhusen would not be able to
of Finance expects a return on evening? Have we got the mix of invest or maintain it in the best way.
sound investments because part of activity right? The recipe for success Consequently most stations are
the rail infrastructure is financed is seen as making sure that the owned by over 100 municipalities
through commercial operations. three key elements are all pulling and real-estate companies as well
in the same direction: high-quality as private individuals who have a
Besides operational railway premises, public transport; a station with the bought charming station in woods
it manages land formerly linked requisite facilities and standards; and and live there, perhaps providing
to the railway. It is free to make a surrounding area that is inviting. bed and breakfast on the upper
its own decisions independent of Get one wrong and the scheme floor. Jernhusen is required to offer
government. The board of directors is impaired. Success depends on an agreed level of facilities for
approves big investment decisions getting the right balance of activities train passengers so it becomes the
and it is funded by the income from to create a vibrant and welcoming tenant and manager of the waiting
commercial leases to retailers and place, which in turn determines the room and other designated spaces.
companies that have premises in mix of the development. The public see no change.
its real estate, and through station
fees that train operating companies This leads to decisions about Naturally Jernhusen has to provide
and bus operators pay for such how surrounding railway land is rail facilities for passenger and freight
shared services as waiting rooms and developed. If more people are train operators and is in constant
concourses. Fees are also received needed during the day, Jernhusen dialogue with them to provide, for
per passenger on a scale that would create office space for example, a cost-efficient maintenance
distinguishes their useage (bus, long- leasing; in the evening, more depot for particular rolling stock. It
distance rail, etc.). housing or a hotel. This may cannot close strategic sites.23
18RECOMMENDATION Improve
the quality of place-making
at large schemes by holding
competitions between
developers, following
consultation with residents.
19Case study:
the Netherlands
The Netherlands is a highly railway built in the 1980s between major retailers such as the AH To Go
urbanised country and has a Weesp and Lelystad, and there are concept of convenience stores with
policy focused on strong cities six stations within Almere. The ready-to-eat products or using its
using a holistic, cross-sectoral population is expected to reach own brands. Since the beginning of
approach. Land is scarce, reflected 350,000 by 2030. 2016 the policy has been for NS to
in Multi-annual Programmes for stay in charge of commercial outlets
Infrastructure, Spatial Development Success in concentrating but only to operate small kiosks.
and Transport to co-ordinate employment and housing around However, NS will retain a say in the
and optimise land use and station hubs is reflected in a quality and quantity of units and
infrastructure. This scarcity forced comparison between the number of both specify the mix and encourage
the country into adopting integrated stations on the similar lengths of local retailers rather than chains to
planning much earlier than most the Dutch and Belgium networks: add distinctiveness to stations. NS
other European countries: urban 381 on the 3,223km network in the wants local communities to feel a
development has been concentrated Netherlands; 550 on 3,592km in sense of identity with the station
around new stations since the 1960s Belgium. as a consequence, something that
and ’70s when it became apparent has been picked up from NS’s
that increasing car use was Though all shares in NS are owned relationship and exchanges with
incompatible with ‘liveable’ cities. by the Ministry of Finance, the East Japan Railway and which
Huge opposition to arterial roads board of directors is independent Abellio is looking to develop in
being built into cities encouraged and has tried to become even Scotland.
a policy of creating ‘soft’ green more involved in planning to take
cores in towns and cities that are advantage of railway-owned lands In the Netherlands it is done by
accessible only to cyclists and around stations such as goods and NS offering the basic operational
pedestrians. marshalling yards. NS Stations features for local independent
business unit retained freehold businesses (they call them ‘local
This coincided with a revival of ownership until 2012/13 when heroes’) and it is up to the tenants/
both cycling and public transport. pressure from national government concessionaires to make the most of
the station as they see fit. Tenants
Dutch Railways (NS) developed led to a focus on the core business
may also have some operational
a strong sense of the need to of running trains and the sale of
responsibilities, such as looking
examine and improve the journey properties and land to raise money
after the toilets. Part of a station
to the station and to have a voice for investment in the railway.
might be used as a showroom by a
in the development of local and All main stations were rebuilt or
furniture designer, and sometimes
regional plans. NS had and still refurbished, such as Utrecht and
a regional dialect is used to give
has a spatial planning department Rotterdam where the dramatic
standard national signage a local
though it is now smaller because station won a Brunel Award in
flavour.24
the railway infrastructure has 2014 for acting as ‘a catalyst for
been managed since 2003 by new urban developments’. It was
ProRail, a government organisation also part of a policy of giving RECOMMENDATION Increase
comparable with NR. NS is involved local councils more say in local regional input into station
with national five-year spatial plans developments, but in return NS retailing.
and still provides advice to ProRail, joined project teams to develop
representing the TOC point of view. railway land sites in partnership
with property development
This includes the development companies.
of new cities planned around
infrastructure such as Almere, Commercial activity at stations
now the seventh largest city in was retained, though that is now
the country with almost 200,000 changing. NS used to run all retail
inhabitants. The city is on a station units in co-operation with
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