News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 106 - 14/12/2002
- STATIONS [all issues]
- AIRPORT LINKS [all issues]
- Luton Airport-Stevenage rail link could form part of East-West Rail Link
- Road link to Stansted Airport from M11 finally opened.
- RAIL CONFERENCES [all issues]
- TRANSPORT COSTS [all issues]
- ROAD USER ACCIDENTS AFFECTING RAILWAYS [all issues]
- RAIL PUNCTUALITY [all issues]
- ENGINEERING WORKS [all issues]
- ROAD BUILDING [all issues]
- RAIL FRANCHISES [all issues]
- RAIL CUSTOMER SERVICE [all issues]
- RAIL FREIGHT [all issues]
- PRESERVED RAILWAYS [all issues]
- Mid-Norfolk Railway used for training emergency services in handling serious accidents
- Bure Valley Railway to run services 7 days a week during summer 2003
- WEBSITES [all issues]
The Jonathan Dimbleby Programme - ITV's Sunday lunchtime political programme - on Sunday 15th December 2002 will be discussing transport. Some Railfuture members have been invited to be part of the audience.
A full list of the organisations and individual public members of Network Rail is available at: http://www.networkrail.co.uk/corpgov/members.htm. It is believed that no-one from Railfuture has been selected, although well-known rail campaigner Jonathan Bray was successful.
STATIONS
BBC Look East publicises campaign for disabled access to platforms at Thetford Station
Keywords: [ThetfordStation]
On Wednesday 4th December, BBC Look East, BBC Radio Norfolk and Eastern Daily Press featured the on-going campaign by the Norfolk Coalition of Disabled People to get disabled access to the far platform (no. 1) at Thetford station, first mentioned in Snippets 90.
Currently wheelchair users, who are unable to use the footbridge, have to make a half-mile detour on a dirt track, since the crossing was removed in 1994. Because it is possible for wheelchairs to access the platform, even though it is prohibitively time-consuming, the staityon is classed as fully wheelchair accessible, and this statement features in brochures, e.g. "Your Guide to Anglia Railways".
The Central Trains employee at Thetford station bluntly told the film crew: "I'm just the monkey. Speak to the organ grinder." A Central Trains spokesman in the studio said they realised the situation was unacceptable but there was no money available. However, the SRA's new Access for All fund, which is still at a very early stage of development, will be launched in 2004 and will create match-funding opportunities for rail companies to install lifts, ramps and other access systems.
John Saunders, Railfuture East Anglia branch committee member and secretary of the Norwich to Peterborough Rail Users, was interviewed by Radio Norfolk on Thursday 5th December 2002 dealt with the issues concerning rail users and Central Trains.
AIRPORT LINKS
Luton Airport-Stevenage rail link could form part of East-West Rail Link
Keywords: [EastWestRail]
As part of the on-going proposals to increase airport capacity in the south east, it has been suggested that Luton Airport should be expanded. The current runway could be lengthened and another runway built. In addition. a road-rail link between Luton Airport and Stevenage, with north and south facing curves from the airport to the midland mainline is proposed. If this were to be built, then the east-west rail link could run from Cambridge down to Stevenage across to Luton, up to Bedford and then to Bletchley and beyond. This would avoid reinstating the 9-mile missing link between Sandy and Bedford, and was one of the alternatives investigated by Steer Davis Gleave in the mid-'90s.
Road link to Stansted Airport from M11 finally opened.
The £36m access road from the M11 (including flyover) to Stansted airport finally opened on 6th December after 18 months of construction, which caused major road delays. Railfuture members will be aware that no rail infrastructure improvements have taken place to increase capacity, and none are currently planned, even though they would cost considerably less than the road link.
RAIL CONFERENCES
Bowker and Darling warn rail industry that it must stabilise costs and ultimately reduce them
Railfuture branch members were among the 200+ audience at the widely reported fourth Annual Passenger Conference in London on Wednesday 4th December.
Secretary of State for Transport Alistair Darling and SRA chairman Richard Bowker were the key speakers. Both spoke of railway's strategic importance to Great Britain in the future, but the key message was that costs must be brought under control, and schemes in the Strategic Plan from January 2002 may not go ahead because much of the money earmarked for rail had been used up.
Bowker reaffirmed the case for Thameslink 2002, of major significance for East Anglia, which had to go ahead. Other positive news was a claim by Virgin's Chris Green that Virgin Cross Country had seen a 40% increase in passengers in Nov 2002 compared Nov 2001, though he did not say if this was at the expense of other operators.
Mr Bowker called on rail user groups (e.g Railfuture) to become more professional. They should "seek to engage [with the industry], recognise the constraints, and influence from within, rather than using the megaphone outside the tent."
Bowker's speech: http://www.sra.gov.uk/sra/news/releases/speech/20021204_rpc_passenger_conference_britains_rail.html
BBC News report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2541671.stm.
TRANSPORT COSTS
It's not only train costs that are rising: Bus costs in Cambridgeshire shoot up
The speeches by Richard Bowker and Alistair Darling said that rail costs are too high. Bus costs are spiralling too. The 100+ subsidised bus service contracts in Cambridgeshire have risen by 52% in the last three years, largely caused by increased labour and fuel costs. Cambridgeshire County Council is spending around £1.8 million (£103 per bus per day) on providing bus services this financial year - 22 per cent more than last year, which is 3% more than the national average.
The council did not mention whether rising bus costs would necessitate long-term subsidies for their proposed guided busway for the St.Ives railway line.
ROAD USER ACCIDENTS AFFECTING RAILWAYS
Yet another car on level crossing - train driver is praised
The 16:07 Cambridge-Ipswich Anglia Railways 2-car class 150 train was travelling at 60mph on Saturday 7th December when it struck a car at about 16:30 at the A1304 London Road crossing in Six Mile Bottom.
The car had careered off the road into a wooden shed that was next to the line and ended on the track along with the shed. The driver managed to get out of the car and attempted to alert the train driver, but the train was too close and it struck the car.
Anglia Railways, which has a very good reputation for customer care after accidents, took the 49 passengers (none of whom were injured) to a nearby pub and paid for drinks for passengers before a coach took them on to Newmarket to complete their journey. Train services resumed the next day. An Anglia Railways spokesman said: "We are very pleased that the train crew have come in for praise for the way they reacted."
News report: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/news.asp?sec=1&id=l4203.
Map of area: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=557780&Y=256950&A=Y&Z=3.
RAIL PUNCTUALITY
SRA's latest quarterly performance figures show small improvement for East Anglia
The SRA's latest quarterly 'National Rail Trends' analysis has shown a small improvement in punctuality for July-September 2002 over the same quarter in 2001 (81% up from 79%) but a decline over the previous three months, April-June 2002 (83%). WAGN was one of only three TOCs nationally to have improved punctuality over the previous quarter. However, Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats claim that WAGN passengers are now twice as likely to be delayed compared to 1997 when the Labour Government came to power. They blame Labour's lack of investment in rail network improvement projects. The figures are not based on the SRA's quarterly report, but the four weeks to 9th November when 29.5% (14.6% in 1997) of WAGN trains were five or more minutes late.
According to an SRA representative at the aforementioned RPC meeting, there are currently an average of "100 lateness incidents a day" in the Greater [East] Anglia franchise area.
Anglia Railways scored the fourth highest rating (86%) in the national passenger satisfaction survey, behind Island Line, Gatwick Express and Chiltern Railways. WAGN scored a significant improvement.
Disturbingly, freight moved was down 1% on the quarter and 5% down on July-September 2001.
SRA summary: http://www.sra.gov.uk/sra/news/releases/performance/20021212_on_track_and_national_rail_trends_pu.html.
SRA detailed figures: http://www.sra.gov.uk/sra/publications/ontrack/2002_12_12/ot_pp1-25.pdf.
ENGINEERING WORKS
Chelmsford bridge upgrade causes rail closure over Christmas 2004
The Highways Agency has announced that a £4m project to replace Chelmsford's 1930s Widford Bridge over the Great Eastern main line will suspend the rail link for a week during Christmas 2004. Road users will be affected for 18 months from August 2003. First Great Eastern has stated that it had not been consulted on halting its trains around Christmas 2004 and nothing had been agreed on the scheme.
East Anglia rail services will experience other blockades: Manton tunnel will be closed for 10 weeks in 2004, followed by Leicester-Nuneaton.
ROAD BUILDING
Government reviews its Ten-Year Transport Plan and announces major road widening schemes in England
The government has been reviewing its Ten-Year Transport Plan, originally launched by John Prescott in July 2000, and has also confirmed large sums for previously-axed motorway widening and dual carriageway construction schemes as part of a £5.5bn package of road and public transport spending.
No significant new heavy rail improvements were announced, although funding for light rail schemes in English cities has been approved. Funding to double the size Manchester's Metrolink tram system has been reconfirmed after costs soared. Liverpool is likely to get a tram system for £170m; additional lines for the Nottingham Express Transit (currently being built) are likely and Leicester is to investigate building a system too.
According to Ceefax, a light rail scheme for Southend could be open by 2006, if councillors have their way, though this was not announced by Alistair Darling.
Commenting favourably on trams, Darling told the House of Commons: "In Greater Manchester Metrolink has proved safe and reliable. Last year it carried over 18 million passengers. Many of whom would previously have travelled by car."
Cambridgeshire County Council received £18m for local road schemes, but have been told by government that it needs longer to think about the guided busway scheme. Transport Minister David Jamieson said "As this would be a large and expensive scheme, we have asked independent external consultants to undertake a technical audit of the information received, in order to help us form a view on whether the proposal passes the established tests that determine eligibility for Government funding. We will continue to work with the promoters to resolve outstanding issues as soon as possible.". Mr Jamieson said that a decision on the £73m guided bus could be a year away.
Light Rail Transit Association news item: http://www.lrta.org/news/news0247.html
BBC News report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2560003.stm
T2000 report: http://www.transport2000.org.uk/news/maintainNewsArticles.asp?NewsArticleID=82.
RAIL FRANCHISES
Greater [East] Anglia franchise document will be issued on 15th January 2003
The SRA have confirmed that the document for the "tightly-specified" Greater Anglia franchise (which will contain 'key performance indicators' such as cleanliness) is still being written, and should be 90% complete by Christmas, when Richard Bowker will be given it. The final document will be issued to bidders on 15th January 2003.
The SRA have confirmed that new franchises, such as GAf, will require bidders to identify ways of reducing the current budget by up to 20% with minimal impact to passengers. This is likely to mean a reduction in staff, marginal services and new vehicle orders, but line closures cannot be part of the bid. The timetable will not be cut since the GAf winner will be expected to operate the same timetable from 1st April 2004. After that date, there will be only one timetable change per year - blamed on EU rules - which will occur around 11th December each year.
RAIL CUSTOMER SERVICE
First Great Eastern tries to prevent tipsy passengers sleeping beyond their station stop
Keywords: [FirstGreatEastern]
Each December, many passengers returning from the Christmas office party fall asleep on the train and miss their stop. FGE have recently offered passengers free '[please] wake me up at ____ station' badges to wear, and hope that helpful fellow passengers will do just that.
RAIL FREIGHT
MoD uses trains to assess logistics capability of Parkeston Quay port
EWS recently brought two trains of military vehicles from Ashchurch in Gloucestershire to Parkeston Quay port as part of a combined rail, road and sea exercise by the Ministry of Defence to assess the port's capability. These were the first MoD trains to Parkeston Quay for almost a decade.
PRESERVED RAILWAYS
Mid-Norfolk Railway used for training emergency services in handling serious accidents
Keywords: [MidNorfolkRailway]
The privately-owned Hardingham station on the Mid-Norfolk Railway was used by Norfolk police on three occasions in November to train around 70 police and civilian scenes-of-crime officers how to tackle a major incident involving multiple deaths. The MNR-based class 141 'Pacer' also took part.
The exercise simulated recovery of bodies or body parts - for easy identification and safeguarding of evidence - following serious rail crashes.
Bure Valley Railway to run services 7 days a week during summer 2003
Keywords: [BureValleyRailway]
The 15" narrow-gauge Wroxham-Aylsham Bure Valley Railway will be operating daily from 13th April to 28th September 2003 instead of just Sundays-Thursdays outside the peak season.
WEBSITES
National routing Guide now available on ATOC's website
Keywords: [ATOC]
ATOC now has an Electronic National Routing Guide at http://www.atoc.org/rsp/Routeing%20Guide/enrg.htm.
ATOC planning to launch single travel booking system
Keywords: [ATOC]
ATOC has struck a £31m deal with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young to develop a single online travel reservation system, which requires the integration of more than 30 existing train operating companies' booking systems, is planned to go live on 26th December 2004.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 106 - 14/12/2002
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