Creating value from stations

The Rail Delivery Group and Network Rail

Britain has continued to grow and invest in its station estate – in the last decade, 34 new stations have been added to make 2569 stations on the network, and over 200 have benefitted from material investment. However, are we clear as to the value to local communities from that investment in stations?

The Rail Delivery Group and Network Rail asked Steer that very question, and we set about answering it through the lens of social value.

Social value seeks to summarise the economic, environmental and community or social contribution. The social value concept has been gaining traction in the UK, particularly since 2015 when the Government identified obligations regarding some public sector procurements. In late 2020 the Government further emphasised social value with mandatory obligations to consider it in the procurement of central government projects.

Steer investigated the investments in over 180 stations to identify four illustrative stations (Strood, Chelmsford, Burnley Manchester Road and Nottingham) whose scale, timing and nature of investment would be relevant to the question. We developed a framework of social value perspectives (see figure 1). We undertook desktop research into datasets that reflected the different aspects of social value – including planning applications, employment data, property values, numbers of enterprises and crime data.

Figure 1: Social Value at Stations Framework (source Steer)

We also interviewed stakeholders, including local councils, local enterprise partnerships, train operating companies and Network Rail. They provided feedback on the impacts, which are less easily quantifiable, for example, adding to the pride and identity of the local community.

Through the use of comparator stations and comparison with the station's wider community, we were able to identify some significant potential impacts from the station investment.

Sustainable mobility – perhaps not surprisingly, the evidence pointed to increases in rail demand and passenger satisfaction.
Supporting economic activity – there was a significant increase in the number of planning applications per year (from 10 to 133 per year at Nottingham) and the number of registered enterprises after (an increase from 2.3% per annum to 4.6% at Chelmsford)
Liveable communities – urban realm improvements leading to increased active travel use and a consequential improvement in air quality were cited at Chelmsford. Still, perhaps more interesting was the dramatic crime reduction. For example, Burnley Manchester Road saw a 22% reduction in antisocial behaviour. Whilst reported crime rose by 8% at Strood, that was materially lower than the increase of 43% in nearby areas.
Regeneration and growth – at both Chelmsford and Strood, the stations' investment outcomes in terms of physical impact and aesthetic quality were seen by stakeholders as direct contributors to new commercial and housing developments on brownfield sites. At Burnley, the station's regeneration was said to have helped the growth of the University of Central Lancashire's nearby campus. All four stations are now welcoming gateways to their communities with clear evidence of care and investment by the railway and community's care and investment into their town/city.

Our research identified facilities and construction methods that also recognised the community and place, from creating a community room at Burnley Manchester Road to the use of local ragstone in the construction at Strood and the retention of the original and familiar station retail tenant after the station's reconstruction.

Whilst our research did not seek to identify causation, it does indicate reasons for great optimism about the value that can be created with appropriate investment.

You can read our full report and the Rail Delivery Group's summary here.

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Creating value from stations

Mike Goggin

We are Steer

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Complex challenges.
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