News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 103 - 04/11/2002
- RAIL SERVICES [all issues]
- Anglia's announces successful summer 2002 passenger figures for local train services
- Anglia's new Cambridge-Norwich service appears to be massive success
- ST.IVES LINE [all issues]
- STATIONS [all issues]
- Chesterton Interchange station plans developed but new platform at Cambridge 'Central' no nearer
- Police conduct consultation exercise at Ely railway station
- RAIL FARES [all issues]
- RAIL AWARDS [all issues]
- Anglia Railways named best operator for cyclists for second year in succession
- Central Trains announces its own awards following passenger satisfaction survey
- EAST WEST RAIL LINK [all issues]
- RAIL DISRUPTION [all issues]
- TRANSPORT CONSULTATIONS [all issues]
- Suffolk County Council hold consultation about transport improvements
- WAGN hold 'meet the managers' passenger forum
- ROLLING STOCK [all issues]
- PRESERVED RAILWAYS [all issues]
- WEBSITES [all issues]
A reminder that the next Railfuture East Anglia branch meeting is on Saturday 9th November, 14:00, at Little St.Mary's Church Hall in Cambridge.
Anyone who has not yet received the November 2002 edition of Railwatch (issue 84) can read it on the back issues web-page: http://www.railwatch.org.uk/backtrack/index.html.
The branch website, which was mentioned in Rail East 117 (see URL above), has recently been updated.
According to Peter Lawrence, Railfuture have sent in an application for Railfuture representation among the public members of Network Rail. A number of Railfuture members have also sent 'individual' applications. Network Rail has not yet confirmed any appointments.
RAIL SERVICES
Anglia's announces successful summer 2002 passenger figures for local train services
Anglia Railways claims that record numbers of passengers used its local train services in summer 2002. The Norwich to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft 'Wherry Lines' recorded its highest ever passenger volumes with over 100,000 passenger journeys during August - with September figures up nearly 18,000 over 2001. Anglia Railways gave most of the credit to the "proactive and positive work of the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership", through which it introduced a half hourly service between Norwich and Great Yarmouth on summer Saturdays.
The Bittern Line saw a 7.4% on 2002, helped by an additional Norfolk County Council sponsored Sunday service.
Anglia are hoping for high passenger levels during the winder season following the launch of 'Aletrack' in which selected pubs (e.g. the Buffers in Cromer and The Railway Tavern at Reedham) will offer discounts on food and drink to rail ticket holders. One potential problem is that the outward part of the ticket has to be handed in. not much use for Anglia Plus ticket holders! The Aletrack scheme has been set up by Norfolk County Council, the Wherry Lines and Bittern Line Community Rail Partnerships, Anglia Railways and the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) with funding from ACoRP and the East of England Development Agency.
Anglia press release: http://www.angliarailways.co.uk/latest-information/news-detail.asp?id=354.
Anglia's new Cambridge-Norwich service appears to be massive success
Keywords: [CambridgeNorwichService]
Anglia Railways say that 1,000 passengers have been travelling each day on the new Norwich-Cambridge service, with the peak services being virtually full. Across the day, nearly a third of the seats are filled, although Anglia have not revealed how many people were using the £5 introductory vouchers. Anglia expect the passenger figures will rise further as more people learn of the service. Unfortunately the service has been hindered on Sundays because of engineering possessions on the route.
Cambridge Evening News item: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/latest-information/news-detail.asp?sec=1&id=269978.
ST.IVES LINE
Public meeting on 15th October is told "Accept the St.Ives line guided bus or you will get nothing"
At a public meeting about the guided busway in Histon - which is beside the St.Ives railway line - the 200 attendees were told by Cambs County Council transport representatives to "accept the guided busway or get nothing".
Brian Smith, director of environment and transport, said: "The decision has been made by Government: we will only get money from Government if it is for a guided bus. They hold all the cards in terms of how decisions on big transport issues are made. If we fight [the scheme] then nothing will happen at all." However, he offered no evidence that the government had indeed said that, and gave no reason why the government should only wish to fund a guided busway.
The mood of the meeting can best be described as sceptical. Many people at the meeting were concerned at the busway's effect on houses and gardens next to the route. Others feared buses could cause congestion in their village. The busway was criticised for failing to cut down on freight on the A14. The busway was accused of focusing in the city centre, assuming that anybody coming into Cambridge off the A14 wants to go to the city centre. The busway doesn't help people who want to go across the city.
Disappointingly many of the answers sought could not be given, as Brian Smith and Shona Johnstone repeatedly said that the scheme had not been developed to a detailed level. No new information was forthcoming; the only detail available appears in Annex E / Appendix 10 of the Local Transport Plan Annual Progress Report. Details of which have already been circulated in Snippets.
Cllr Johnstone confirmed that demand management, one of the four key interventions recommended by CHUMMS, would be physical not fiscal within Cambridge. She has ruled out any possibility of using non-residential parking place levies or road-user charging as a means of discouraging car access to the City. Brian Smith conceded that the guided bus would be of little benefit to Histon residents. Mrs Johnstone said that currently there were 8,000 daily passenger journeys by bus between Cambridge and St.Ives and they project 18,500 daily passenger journeys by guided bus in 2016. Sceptics say that a doubling of the current bus passenger levels - on one corridor only - isn't a good reason for £73m of new infrastructure.
During the heated meeting Shona Johnstone's said that people who wanted rail were "living in the past", including other local authorities that were pursuing rail schemes. At one point she tried to explain how the scrapped guided bus proposal for Chester had been a "successful project".
The Cambridge Evening News in its report of the heated meeting finally woke up and described the guided busway as a "controversial scheme" and for the first time ever described it - correctly - as the longest guided bus system in the world.
Cambridge Evening News item: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/news.asp?sec=1&id=274734
Histon/Impington guided busway website: http://www.hisimp.net/news/guidedbus/index.htm.
St.Ives line focus of RAIL magazine feature on guided busways
The threat to railways from guided busways across the UK has largely been ignored by the rail industry and the
rail press. However, in the 30th October edition of Rail magazine, a two-page feature covered the threat
of guided busways, and focussed heavily on the St.Ives line. Hopefully this should raise the profile of the line
particularly with the Greater Anglia franchise bidders.
STATIONS
Chesterton Interchange station plans developed but new platform at Cambridge 'Central' no nearer
Keywords: [CambridgeNorthStation]
It has been suggested that the cost for a new four-platform Chesterton Interchange station, north of Cambridge, may now cost up to £17m. According to one councillor it is undecided whether to build a through station at Chesterton sidings or a terminus station on the St.Ives line. Either way, the SRA say that case for the station is independent of the guided bus scheme.
Cambridgeshire Local Transport Plan 2002 'annual progress report' says that "Lack of platform capacity currently prevents provision of additional through trains that are necessary to develop extra services to Stansted and extending to a new station at Chesterton Sidings. A new Island platform is currently being developed by Railtrack and the SRA and would solve both existing capacity restraints and create extra capacity for a development of services.". However, it appears that the SRA has made no progress on plans for a new through platform at Cambridge station.
Cambs County LTP progress report: http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/sub/eandt/planning/trplan/apr/apr2002.pdf.
Police conduct consultation exercise at Ely railway station
Keywords: [ElyStation]
On 24th October the Cambridgeshire Police Authority's train called at Ely railway station from 06:30-08:30 to meet commuters and day trippers. Passengers were given a questionnaire asking for views on policing where they live. The police chose to stage the consultation at the railway station to reach local residents who would not normally come along to the other police events.
RAIL FARES
SRA announce caps on basket of regulated rail fares
The SRA has announced that regulated fares on long distance and regional rail services will be held to 1% below inflation during 2003, effectively an average increase of 0.5% in those regulated fares, based on July 2002's RPI rate of 1.5%. However, 7 of the 10 London & South East operators (including First Great Eastern and WAGN) are allowed to raise fares by 1% above inflation in 2003 because their performance has improved since Hatfield.
RAIL AWARDS
Anglia Railways named best operator for cyclists for second year in succession
Keywords: [AngliaRailways]
Anglia Railways has won the 2002 CycleMark Awards 'Best Train Operator' title. It has won it every year since 1997 (there being no award in 2000), making a fifth win. During the year Anglia launched a website for cyclists and in May 2002 completed the installation of cycle parking at every Anglia Railways station.
Anglia press release: http://www.angliarailways.co.uk/latest-information/news-detail.asp?id=362.
Central Trains announces its own awards following passenger satisfaction survey
Keywords: [CentralTrains]
The winner of the Central Trains' "Superstaff 2002" award for 'excellence of customer care' in the East went to Thetford. It was recommended by numerous passengers in the Liverpool-Norwich passenger satisfaction survey earlier this year. The 'community award' in the east went to the Peterborough-Norwich Rail Users, who enjoyed the the moving lunch on the Severn Valley Railway, and thoroughly recommend it!
EAST WEST RAIL LINK
Bedfordshire Railway and Transport Association protests about threat to Sandy-Bedford trackbed
Keywords: [EastWestRail]
The BRTA is very concerned about the threat to the Sandy-Bedford trackbed - seen as essential to reopen the EWRL with an 'inner route' into Bedford - from the proposed Olympic-sized rowing lake at Willington. They accuse Bedford Borough Council and Bedfordshire County Council of trying to have it both ways by supporting EWRL but also supporting and giving planning permission for construction of the rowing lake which would create a 30 metre wide gap across the trackbed.
BRTA have asked their members - and other rail campaigners to support the case for EWRL by writing to:
* Shaun Field, Chief Executive, Bedford Borough Council, Town Hall, St. Paul's Square, Bedford, MK40 1SJ.
* Mr Richard Watts, Head of Environmental Strategy, Bedfordshire County Council, County Hall, Cauldwell Street, Bedford, MK42 9AP.
In addition BRTA accuse the government of clawing back investment in rail but planning road construction: dualling of the A421/ A428 parallel to East West Rail Link. They call for government and SRA to put reopenings back on the agenda and for TOCs to call for reopenings.
BRTA website: http://www.brta.org.uk.
RAIL DISRUPTION
Railway companies react differently to travel disruption
Over the weekend of 12th/13th October points were reinstated at Hitchin allowing Cambridge trains going to London to switch to the fast line. When rail services to London were reduced on Saturday 12th, a Hertfordshire Rail Tours charter stopping at Stevenage picked up all London-bound passengers to take them to King's Cross, despite not having any obligation to do so. However, on Sunday 27th October, during the violent storms sweeping East Anglia, WAGN and GNER failed to work together. Whilst GNER's diesel trains could have transported Cambridge-bound passengers to Hitchin - it left them stranded at Stevenage meaning a longer bus journey or more expensive taxi fare for WAGN.
The storms forced WAGN to suspend all services between Cambridge and London on the Sunday, and trains failed to run between Cambridge and Bishop's Stortford on the Monday either. Signals and overhead wiring were damaged stopping trains and stations had minimal information available to passengers a when internal communication link failures cut station information screens off from our control centre.
Anglia mainline services plus the Cambridge to Ipswich and Cambridge to Norwich lines were also disrupted, with an Anglia spokeswoman saying: "This has been the worst the railways have seen since 1987."
TRANSPORT CONSULTATIONS
Suffolk County Council hold consultation about transport improvements
Suffolk County Council held two days of exhibitions in Beccles on 25-26th October, so that people could have their say on proposed transport improvements in the area. People were able to comment on the plans, as the Council sought feedback on its plans. Proposals covered all aspects of transport including parking, improved access for pedestrians and cyclists, coping with HGVs etc. Railfuture has campaigned for a modest increase in local rail infrastructure (e.g. Beccles loop) so that more frequent train services can be operated.
WAGN hold 'meet the managers' passenger forum
Keywords: [WAGN]
WAGN will be holding a 'customer open forum' at Cambridge station on Wednesday 6th November between 17:30 and 20:30. Senior members of the WAGN management team will be present, including James Adeshiyan for the GN route and Julian Drury for the WA route. They will be joined by Railtrack route directors and representatives from RPC Eastern England.
They are holding another at Liverpool Street Station on Wednesday 13th November 2002 between 16:00 and 19:00 in front of the Stansted Express Ticket Office (between Platforms 5 & 6). Julian Drury will be joined by several WAGN directors, Network Rail managers (including Liverpool Street station manager), and Brian Cooke the chairman of RPC Eastern England.
ROLLING STOCK
First Great Eastern show off their new class 360 trains at Siemens' Wildenrath test site in Germany
Keywords: [FirstGreatEastern]
People from FGE, SRA, PRC, Railtrack, rail user groups, railway press and some council officers including Linda Smart from Essex CC - plus Railfuture branch secretary Nick Dibben - were on board the special charter flight from Stansted. Others flew out from London City airport all at FGE expense.
At the Wildenrath site there were the speeches from Siemens who noted that the UK railway set up "was unique and a challenge" for them, Angel Trains and First Group. The first new train was then pushed through the screen to the usual sound effects and smoke. Guests took a ride around the 6km test track. Siemens claim that these units are being built in one third less time than previous ones. Current production, including those for SWT is 84 coaches per month. They also say maintenance will be quicker quoting three hours to change a bogie compared with 8 for existing trains. FGE intend to have 20 out of 21 units in service each day. 16 have already been built. The trains should be ready for the May 2003 timetable.
Rail News article: http://www.railnews.co.uk/2002/11_november/news/news04.html.
PRESERVED RAILWAYS
More grants made to Norfolk Railways
On 15th October, the Mid-Norfolk Railway announced that it is to receive £590,000 funding as part of the Breckland Cultural Package, EU Objective 2 bid. This grant will be used to renovate the Victorian Station at Dereham as well as provide some infrastructure for steam services. Breckland District Council have made it a condition of their contribution that stream services commence by 2005.
Breckland Council has also agreed to sell County School station to the MNR for just £1. The railway has been the tenant, operating a tea room during the summer season at weekends. The station is not currently connected to the rest of the railway, and services stop around 5 miles short of it. The trackbed from North Elmham (which MNR alread owns) up to County School is also being sold to them.
At the North Norfolk Railway, A £471,000 grant has been formally made to improve Weybourne Station and Yard and to make infrastructure improvements at Holt including the reconstruction of an M&GN 'goods shed' and the provision of watering facilities. Both of these awards were received in a fraction of the time - and without need to clarification - that the SRA takes to approve or reject an RPP bid!
WEBSITES
Website to encourage car sharing to cut down on road congestion
Although not a rail related website, travellers can cut down on congestion and help the environment by visiting http://www.shareacar.com/index.php. It helps people find someone whom they can share a car with. As well as database of users' commuting journeys, the website holds a national directory of park and ride schemes.
There is a carshare service available in Cambridge. Details on the "Travel for Work" website: http://www.tfw.org.uk.
London Transport Users Committee launches website
Following on from the launch of the Rail Passengers Council website, the new LTUC website is launched in November 2002 at http://www.ltuc.org.uk.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 103 - 04/11/2002
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