[Kevin K Kelehan]

CIE are not alone in seeking returns from the surplus holdings on their estate:

Birmingham New St station is currently being redeveloped by network rail in a Stg3.9bn mixed use project.

In relation to privatisation being any better; give the dutch or french sysytem as a choice and 99% of the public will chose it above anything else.

UK Trains 'near breaking point'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/306853.stm

Commuter lines into London are becoming so overcrowded the system may soon be unable to cope, senior rail officials are warning.
Figures released on Monday show that overcrowding on rush-hour main line trains is getting worse.



Overcrowding is putting pressure on the rail system
The official report shows two out of ten London commuter train companies have exceeded the maximum permitted level of overcrowding.

Rail Franchising Director John O'Brien warned: "Clearly, if numbers continue to grow at the predicted rate, the system will soon become overloaded."



Transport Correspondent Simon Montague: "Overcrowding won't be eased quickly"
The figures, from the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising, are based on counts in August 1998 compared with August 1997.

The permitted threshold overcrowding figure is an average of 3% over full capacity for morning and evening rush-hours combined.

Full capacity is when all standard class seats are filled on trains with journeys of more than 20 minutes.

Thameslink was 7.1% over capacity, while South West Trains was 3.9% over.

Chiltern and LTS (London Tilbury and Southend) Rail had the least-crowded trains, with both being 0.5% over capacity.

Criticised by Prescott

The number of overcrowded trains drew criticism from Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

He said: "We made it clear at the National Rail Summit that carrying more passengers is no excuse for poor performance.

"While I am pleased that numbers are increasing, the many passengers who are forced to stand every day will find it hard to understand why their services are not classed as 'overcrowded'.

"Passengers expect and deserve to travel in comfort. That doesn't include standing for the length of the journey.

"As passenger numbers continue to grow, there will be more strain on current capacity."

Mr Prescott said he looked to Mr O'Brien to "make sure train operators act immediately, where possible, to reduce any severe overcrowding".



SWT has seen "exceptional growth" in passenger numbers
The number of people using commuter rail services into London rose by 3.8% in 1998 compared with 1997 - an extra 16,050 morning rush-hour passengers a day.

Mr O'Brien said most companies had coped well with the increase.

But he added: "The current trend shows that many more people are travelling to work by rail and commuter capacity is a key issue that the shadow strategic rail authority will need to address urgently."

He said talks were under way with both Thameslink and SWT to help ease overcrowding and that SWT had experienced "exceptional growth" of 9.8% in the morning peak.

Mr O'Brien said: "The underlying factors that contribute towards overcrowding are very difficult to tackle on some specific routes such as Thameslink, but, overall, this is a satisfactory industry performance."

'Wrestling with problems'

Giles Fearnley, chairman of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said: "The rail system is wrestling with the problems of its own success."

He said more trains and major improvements to track and signalling were needed to provide travellers with the quality of service they were entitled to expect.

In a separate announcement, Mr O'Brien's office said that ScotRail's Edinburgh-Fife commuter line exceeded the overcrowding limit with a figure of 4.7% last year.

There had been an 8% growth in rush-hour passengers on this line but measures had already been put in place to bring the overcrowding down to permitted levels.

The proposed solution:

Commuters face 'C-charge' on train travel
Evening Standard (London), Nov 3, 2005 by DICK MURRAY
RAIL commuters could face a " congestion charge" for arriving in London between the peak hour of 8am and 9am.

The idea is just one of a list of options to reduce chronic overcrowding on services into Waterloo mainline station.

Those passengers travelling either just before or after the rush hour could be offered cheaper rates.

Between 7am and 10am 73,000 commuters come into Waterloo - but this figure is forecast to increase by nearly a quarter over the coming decade.

Overcrowding is already so bad on the Waterloo station concourse that rail chiefs are planning to rip out many of the shops to allow more room for passengers once they arrive.

If successful, the staggered fares idea - with rates calculated to the hour on what time a commuter arrives in the capital, could spread to other mainline stations. Network Rail, responsible for infrastructure, today unveiled major proposals costing more than Pounds 300 million to improve Waterloo in an effort to run more and faster services.

John Armitt, Network Rail chief executive, said that without the new works "the concourse will suffer from extreme overcrowding and periodic closure".