Why introduce new rail stations?
The underlying argument for introducing new rail stations is to increase the number of journeys made by rail by increasing the geographical accessibility of the railway system. That is, if a new rail station is opened in a particular area where there was previously no rail station then it makes rail journeys to and from that area possible, where previously they were not possible. Research shows that rail stations draw most of their passengers from within an 800m radius (Preston, 1987) and this has tended to define the size of the catchment area served by any one particular rail station, though this is extended where the station has a park and ride facility.

On any particular railway line, there is often considerable scope for opening new rail stations. The potential for new stations will depend upon:

• The distance between existing rail stations - given that the catchment area for any one station tends to be within an 800m radius, there may be potential for a new station where the distance between existing stations is greater than 1.6km;

• The size of the population adjacent to the railway line - where a railway line passes through a built-up area, however that is defined, there is likely to be some potential for a new rail station, where as where it passes through a deeply rural area there is likely to be little or no potential for a new rail station;

• Engineering constraints - where lines go through tunnels or deep cuttings, or where physical access to the railway line is either difficult or impossible for some other reason, a new station is likely to be either very expensive or impossible to build;

• Operational constraints - where there are pathing difficulties or minimum speed restrictions etc it is likely to be difficult to open a new rail station;

Related to this, new rail stations may make conditions worse for existing rail passengers by reducing the average speed of the train as a result of it stopping more frequently. They may also worsen conditions for existing passengers by increasing the complexity of the system and by increasing the number of people on any one train, hence contributing towards 'overcrowding'.

Demand and Supply Impacts
New rail stations, on their own, do not add to the capacity of the rail network. Their specific supply impact is to enable additional access to, and hence additional use of, the existing network. That is, a new rail station at point C, between points A and B, enables the existing rail service from A to B to make an additional stop at point C for passengers to board and alight. Having said this, the opening of one or more new rail stations will often also be associated with extensions to the existing services see New Rail Services, eg in the form of longer and/or more frequent trains.

New rail stations provide new travel opportunities, as well as providing an alternative to car travel, so they are likely to impact on the total demand for travel by all modes, as well as on the demand for travel by rail and by car. The new travel opportunities will contribute towards accessibility-related objectives and towards economic growth, whilst the diversion of car journeys to rail will contribute to environmental, economic efficiency and, to a lesser extent, safety objectives.

Several studies have shown that, while around 60% of new usage comes from bus, around 20% is transferred from car use, and 20% newly generated (Nash, 1992; Cristobal, Garcia and Gonzalez, 2001).

Responses and situations outlines potential responses to the introduction of new rail stations and the situations in which particular responses are encountered.

Response	Reduction in road traffic	Expected in situations
		Where rail passengers set out slightly earlier or later to fit in with the timetable
		Where the rail line follows a different alinement to that of the road
		Where the journey to the origin or from the destination rail station involves a diversion ‘off-route’
	NA	NA
	NA	NA
		Where travellers switch from car to rail
		Where travellers switch from other public transport, walking or cycling to rail
		Where existing rail passengers observe a drop in the speed, comfort or quality of the rail service, resulting from the additional stops and passengers, and switch to car
		Where the main driver in a household decides they no longer need a car of their own
		Where the household decides that there are benefits from living closer to the rail system

Financing requirements
The cost of opening new rail stations can vary substantially. A single new station may be able to be constructed for under Euro 300k. At the other end of the spectrum, a new high specification station may cost over Euro xx [check xx]. Cost may therefore be a substantial barrier to implementation.

Response	-	1st year	2-4 years	5 years	10+ years
	-
	-
	Change job location
-	Shop elsewhere
	Compress working week
-	Trip chain
-	Work from home
-	Shop from home
	Ride share	NA	NA	NA	NA
-	Public transport
-	Walk/cycle
	-
	-

Expected Impacts on Policy Objectives
The impact on objectives will depend on the balance of impacts on demand and of short and long run effects. The increased travel opportunities will contribute positively to equity and social inclusion objectives, whilst the transfer from car to rail will contribute positively to economic efficiency, environmental, safety objectives (the transfer from bus to rail, which is relatively more safe, can also, potentially, contribute to increased safety) and economic growth objectives. If carefully designed, there should be little negative environmental impact.

Nevertheless, the impact of new rail stations, as with rail infrastructure projects in general, on wider environmental sustainability in the long run is uncertain. By reducing levels of car use they reduce energy consumption and hence CO₂ emissions and reduce pressures for further land-take for road infrastructure; however, they may encourage more decentralised patterns of land use and longer distance travel, as well as attracting currently suppressed car traffic to use the road space freed-up by the transfer from car to rail. Furthermore, whilst new rail stations and other rail infrastructure projects, see New Rail Infrastructure and Lines are likely to have positive equity implications, since they offer a service which can be used by all. However, these benefits are limited to the corridors directly served, and any resulting reduction in bus services may disadvantage certain groups of travellers. Combining different policy instruments within a package may prove a useful means of maximising the positive impacts and minimising those negative impacts see complementary instruments.

Objective	Scale of contribution	Comment
		Time savings should be significant but will depend on the speed, frequency and reliability of the rail service and to what extent road congestion is alleviated
		There will be an increased level of pedestrian activity around the new rail station and any reduction in congestion should have positive impacts
		Reduced road traffic levels will have a positivie impact, but the extent will be determined by the potential to attract motorists to switch to rail
		New rail stations provide for increased mobility both for those with and without a car
		Rail is a relatively much safer mode than road so any transfer to rail will involve an improvement to safety
		New rail stations will generate a proportion of totally new trips, some of which will be for purposes related to economic activity; in addition, diversion of trips to rail may contribute to increased productivity, due to people being able to make better use of their time spent travelling
		New rail stations have relatively significant capital investment costs which have to be incurred in advance of any revenues which should arise subsequent to the station opening; these investment costs may be recouped in the longer term through the additional revenue arising from additional rail passengerws

Expected impact on problems
The transfer from car will reduce congestion, provided that overall demand does not increase.

Problem	Scale of contribution	Comment
Congestion-related delay		By transfer of some car journeys to rail, though there may be some attraction of previously suppressed car traffic if congestion falls notably
Congestion-related unreliability		By transfer of some car journeys to rail, though there may be some attraction of previously suppressed car traffic if congestion falls notably
Community severance		-
Visual intrusion		So long as station design and location are sensitive to the surrounding environment
Lack of amenity		By encouraging longer journeys and endangering the viability of local facilities
Global warming		By reducing traffic-related CO2 emissions
Local air pollution		By reducing emissions of NOx, particulates and other local pollutants from car traffic
Noise		By reducing car traffic volumes
Reduction of green space		By increasing pressure for city expansion and associated road building
Damage to environmentally sensitive sites		By reducing car traffic volumes
Poor accessibility for those without a car and those with mobility impairments		By creating new opportunities to access the rail network and discouraging car-oriented development
Disproportionate disadvantaging of particular social or geographic groups		By creating new opportunities to access the rail network and discouraging car-oriented development, though some may be disadvanted if bus services along part of the rail route become unviable and are withdrawn
Number, severity and risk of accidents		By reducing car traffic volumes
Suppression of the potential for economic activity in the area		By improving an area’s accessibility, by freeing up time previously spent in congestion and by improving the efficiency of the local transport network

Expected Winners and Losers

Group	Winners / losers	Comment
Large scale freight and commercial traffic		To the extent that car traffic is reduced, freight and commercial traffic will enjoy improved journey times and journey time reliability, with possible benefits for their fleet utilization
Small businesses		To the extent that car traffic is reduced, small businesses who need to travel around the local area will enjoy improved journey times and journey time reliability
High income car-users		High income associated with high value of time and, hence, highly valued time savings from any reductions in congestion
People with a low income		People with lower incomes would tend to use bus more than rail and there is a danger that improvements to rail may abstract from local bus services and make them less viable, perhaps leading to some reductions in the level of bus services
People with poor access to public transport	*	Those within this group living in the vicinity of the new rail station will experience a dramatic increase in their access to public transport
All existing public transport users		Existing public transport users will be affected in a number of different ways; some will enjoy additional travel opportunities, some may experience over-crowding on their rail service, some may experience reductions in the level of competing bus services
People living adjacent to the area targeted		People living near the new rail station will be provided with additional choice in how they travel
People making high value, important journeys		any time savings resultting from reductions in congestion will be highly valued
The average car user		To the extent that car traffic is reduced, the average car-user may enjoy some improved journey times and journey time reliability

Barriers to Implementation

Barrier	Scale	Comment
Legal		Planning approval will generally be required, though usually no need for legislation or public inquiry
Finance		Except where there are substantial space or topographical constraints, there will usually be a relatively low cost option, as well as a number of higher specification, higher cost options
Political		Generally a politically favourable intervention
Feasibility		May be institutional difficulties if the railway is separated into a number of different companies, or may be engineering issues