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East Anglia Branch News - Snippets Issue 188 - 18/03/2009

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News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.

Railfuture News Snippets 188 - 18/03/2009



Network Rail will be holding a public consultation on its plans for a flyover at Hitchin. This will be held at Hitchin Priory, Tilehouse Street, Hitchin, SG5 2DL (Tel: 01462 420 500) between Thursday 2nd and Saturday 4th April from 10:00 each day. The prior is south west from Station, a 20-minute walk via the town centre shopping area.

ESTA's Spring Public Meeting will be held in Southwold on Saturday 28th March at 13:30 in the Methodist Church Hall, East Green. The main theme will be buses, with speakers from First Eastern Counties and Anglian Buses.

Cambs County Council has appointed a Transport Commission to find solutions to congestion in and around Cambridge. It is asking for views: whether improvements are needed, what should be done, views on CCC's £550m proposals, views on road charging. Full details at http://www.cambstransportcommission.co.uk.

The Fen Line Users Association (FLUA) is calling for Network Rail or local councils to buy the overgrown land next to the 'overspill' King's Lynn station car park to meet growing demands for parking at the station. The owner, government-owned company BRB (Residuary) Ltd, wants to sell the land.

On 16th March Network Rail and FCC gave presentations about the ThamesLink Programme to stakeholders. Slides can be viewed on the the Bedford Commuters Association website at http://www.bedfordcommuters.org.uk/nr_stakeholder_presentation_16032009.pdf and http://www.bedfordcommuters.org.uk/fcc_stakeholder_presentation_16032009.pdf.

A pub, the Railway Arms, has been opened in Downham Market station, enabling passengers to "down 'em at Downham". It is open every day from lunchtimes, and on Fridays it stays open until 23:00. Landlord Andrew Archibald has previously run the station's café and post office, but the latter was forced to close in 2008 as part of post office closures.

Eurostar passengers intending to buy a ticket with a guaranteed connection (CIV), which many ticket office staff struggle to find, are reminded that the National Location Code for "London International" on the Ticket Issuing System is 5470 and the CRS code is LNE.


RAIL CLOSURE THREATS
DfT drops changes to station "minor modifications" process

The Department for Transport has dropped its "minor modifications" proposals which would have made it easier to move a station a few hundred metres. This has particularly pleased ESTA the closure of Lowestoft's central station and the cutback of track by 400 metres could have gone ahead without a proper public inquiry. However, with the current process remaining in place Network Rail or the Train Operating Company would have to go through the proper closure procedures - and both have confirmed that they want the station to stay where it is.


GUIDED BUSWAY
More woes on construction of Cambridgeshire Guided Busway

Cambridgeshire County Council has tried to get constructing of the guided busway back on track by letting BAM Nuttall concentrate on the core route and asking Balfour Beatty to build the Orchard Park 'spur'. This would, apparently have been a direct contract between the council and Balfour Beatty, bypassing BAM Nuttall. However, after this became public knowledge with a major story in the Cambridge News, the county council backtracked and has allowed BAM Nuttall to complete the work after all.


PRESERVED RAILWAYS
North Norfolk Railway appeals for funds to complete level crossing reinstatement in 2010

Keywords: [NorthNorfolkRailway]

The NNR website has a new page http://www.nnrailway.co.uk/crossing.htm to explain its level crossing reinstatement project and to raising funds.

According to the website, all of the car parking spaces at the Network Rail station would be retained but they would be closed off the night before any rail movements. Gates would be installed at the boundaries of both railways which could be opened when required. The road would be fenced off and stop signs would be erected whenever a train crossed, with trains stopping before the crossing and then proceeding at walking pace. Initially there would be around six trains a year using the crossing.

Rails forming a tramway (a legal term describing a railway without fencing) would be laid across Ottendorf Green, which would be slightly restyled to move obstructions, such as benches, to the other side of the green, away from the rails. However, apart from the actual rails there would be very little to show a railway line is there. The entire green would remain open on days when there are no train movements across it but would be partially fenced off when movements are required.

On the Network Rail side of the road a waiting shelter and a few other items would have to be repositioned to remain clear of the rails. The buffer stops at both sides of the road would be replaced by lockable wheel stops.

Although the level crossing itself will be just 60 feet long, the NNR needs £135,000 in total to complete the project; * £40,000 has been raised so far. Some of the costs include:
* £60,000 for civils works (including the station car park and roadway area where the tarmac levels need to be adjusted)
* £25,000 for EDF to move their power cables
* £18,000 for purchasing level crossing panels.

It is offering items for sponsoring:
* 140 x yards of rail at £150 each, plus 70 x sleepers at £25 each
* 96 x crossing panels - £250 each, plus 16 x road signs - £250 each
* 4 x wheel stops - £450 each and 3 x trees - £500 each
* 2 x crossing gates - £2,500 each.

Norfolk Orbital Railway fails to buy land at auction

Keywords: [NorfolkOrbitalRailway]

The Norfolk Orbital Railway was outbid at the 17th February auction for the section of ex-GER trackbed near Fakenham, which was sold for £12,000 to an individual, Giles de Lotbiniere (the managing director of Brandon firm Lignacite), who had not even visited the site, which has no access and cannot be developed. It is unclear what he intends to do with the land. The NOR group had raised £7,500 to buy the 3.5 acre site, which is protected in the local plan for railway use.

Whitwell and Reepham Station reopening is a mssaive success

Keywords: [WhitwellReepham]

Whitwell and Reepham station, on the former M&GN line out of Norwich City station, was reopened to the public on Saturday 28th February, which was the 50th anniversary of almost the entire M&GN route. Around 500 yeards of track has been laid and steam train rides were provided. Attendance was astonishing with more than 2,000 people attending on the Saturday and up to 1,000 on the Sunday. Steam trains raon on the following weekend as well with over 2400 people attending.


WEBSITES
Uckfield-Lewes campaigners launch supplementary website for their reopening campaign

The Wealden Line Campaign has launched a new website at http://www.wealdenlink.org.uk to feature all their current and future PDF presentations as they are released. The first report is entitled "Lewes-Uckfield ~ a case unanswered" and is the Wealden Line Campaign's response to the 2008 Reinstatement Study by Network Rail.

Campaign Director Brian Hart said "I'm sure many people will be surprised by some of the revelations in our response and I hope that this will draw attention to what is a scheme of huge regional importance and not an insignificant local line reopening. It is high time this project is given the political attention it truly deserves."

The group's existing http://www.wealdenline.co.uk website is being maintained and will focus as the Newsline for their Campaign.


Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 188 - 18/03/2009

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