News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 205 - 28/05/2010
- RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE [all issues]
- RAIL ROUTES [all issues]
- Election candidates express support for new rail routes - East West Rail Link and March-Wisbech line
- RAIL FRANCHISES [all issues]
- STATIONS [all issues]
- Great Yarmouth station improvements could be linked to Vauxhall Bridge restoration to form 'gateway' for town
- Railfuture and ESTA submit comments on redevelopment of Lowestoft Station front whilst ESTA asks for clarity
- King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council refuses permission for Downham Market footbridge
- GUIDED BUSWAY [all issues]
- Slow progress on resolving all six defects will delay opening date for northern section being announced until "at least July"
- Conservative leader rejects calls for public inquiry into guided busway so new MP raises it with Secretary of State
- Freedom of Information answer calls into question county council's project management methods
- Busway is a hot topic in pre-election political discussions
- PRESERVED RAILWAYS [all issues]
A reminder than the next Railfuture East Anglia Branch meeting will be on 29th June (a week after the MNR's AGM on 19th June) starting at 14:15 at the Quakers' Meeting House in Ipswich. There will be two speakers: Ian Dinmore, talking about his role at Norfolk County Council promoting community rail partnerships, and John French, who will be advising First Group on their bid for the Greater [East] Anglia franchise.
The Railfuture Reopenings Conference 2010 will be held at Shoreditch Town Hall, 30 Old Street, London, EC1V 9LT on Saturday 13th November (see directions).
Network Rail will be holding an exhibition about the Bacon Factory Curve proposals at Ipswich's Corn Exchange (King Steeet, Ipswich IP1 1DH, in the Robert Cross Hall) from 10:00-20:00 on 8th-10th June where visitors will be invited to express their views. Since a contract has already been awarded to build the curve between 2012 and 2014, there will presumably be little chance of the public influencing the new 1km link.
Following the General Election and the forming of the Lib-Con coalition government, new Prime Minister David Cameron has appointed Philip Hammond (not to be confused with Stephen Hammond, former shadow transport minister), Tory MP for Runnymede and Weybridge since 1997, as the new SoS for Transport ? the 13th in the last 22 years. He will be leading on high-speed rail. He was the former shadow chief secretary to the Treasury since 2007 and had a short stint on the transport select committee 1997-8. He also has a business background. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Hammond for information about him.
Theresa Villiers has the number two role as minister of state for transport (dealing with rail), with the junior roles of Parliamentary Under Secretary going to Mike Penning MP for Hemel (responsible for roads) and former Lib Dem transport spokesman Norman Baker, who will have the regional and local transport briefs (e.g. trams) along with day-to-day responsibility for bus policy. Baker also has responsibility for the Department's work on promoting "alternatives to travel", which is a new objective for a transport minister. Meanwhile, on 20th May Lord Adonis stood down as Shadow Transport Secretary to allow the role to be covered from the Commons (by Sadiq Khan).
Phyllis Starkey who has been active in East-West rail lost her seat along with former rail minister Tony McNulty, who signed off the ill-fated Cambridgeshire Guided Bus scheme in 2003/4, and Barbara Follett who described the Cambridge Guided Bus as "marvellous". Former Suffolk councillor and deputy chief whip Chris Mole. who represented Ipswich and became a transport minister in June 2009 was beaten into second place in the general election by Conservative, Ben Gummer, son of former senior Tory John [Selwyn] Gummer, who was recently made a Railfuture Vice President.
The change of government has seen confirmation that the third runway at Heathrow and second runway at Stansted will not be going ahead - BAA withdraw its application for the latter on 24th May. This positive news for environmental campaigners is countered by a £683m cut at the Department for Transport, which will impact the railway. Significant changes announced are that the Office of Rail Regulation is to be made a passenger champion (presumably replacing Passenger Focus) and the bias against light rail in evaluating transit schemes is to be addressed, while the Regional Offices which have done so much damage to rail prospects in the south of England (e.g. by destroying lines to construct busways) look set for outright abolition.
Sunday 23rd May 2010 saw the official opening of phase one of the East London Line, which has led to the release of a modified London transport map: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf.
Thursday 20th May saw the hoardings surrounding Platform 0 at King's Cross come down overnight followed by an opening ceremony today by Philip Hammond. The platform opened to regular trains on Sunday 23rd May, with the start of the new timetable. FCC operated the first-ever train into Platform 0 to test the facility at 10:57 on 4th May. The new track and platform, at the eastern side of the station, was for many years a taxi rank. Platforms 1 and 2 will soon close as the start of the long-term programme to upgrade the existing main line station platforms. Passenger numbers at King's Cross are expected to rise to over 50m a year within a decade (10m more than today).
The Friends of March Station will be conducting another clean-up exercise on Saturday 19th June.
National Express East Anglia will be operating extra trains to Southend-on-Sea for the annual 'Festival of the Air' airshow on Sunday 30th and Bank Holiday Monday 31st May.
The inquest into the Potters Bar derailment on 12th May 2002 in which 7 people lost their lives is due to start on 1st June in Letchworth. For related documents see http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1205.
People following progress of the East West Rail Link project may be interested to know that UK Railtours is planning to run a train over the Bletchley flyover as far as Swanbourne on Saturday 14th August 2010. The tour will then be visiting Wolverton Works for its open weekend. Both morning and afternoon trains will start from and finish at Northampton.
Tesco Clubcard vouchers can now be used to buy Megatrain (and Megabus) tickets at half the normal price! These can be purchased at the rate of £10's worth of travel for £5 of Clubcard vouchers. The Clubcard vouchers are not accepted by suppliers so they must first be exchanged for token codes (in the form of 16 digit tokens each worth £2.50) which are emailed and are then used at checkout on the Megabus site (http://megabus.com/uk) with any balance being paid by card. For details of how to use the Clubcard see http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/product.aspx?R=1327.
All rail passengers are warned that because of upgrade work to the national reservation system it will not be possible to make seat reservations or to book Advance tickets at stations, call centres or over the internet for approximately 35 hours from 00.01 on Saturday 29th May until around 11:00 on Sunday 30th May. Tickets not involving a seat reservation can still be sold.
Railfuture understands that some design work is shortly to be undertaken to look at extending the down platform at Royston to support 12-coach trains. Whilst the up platform was extended in 2009 the down was unchanged. Platforms at other stations, such as Letchworth, are also expected to be extended.
From 29th May to 6th June inclusive, London Midland is offering 100,000 tickets anywhere on its network for £10 Standard Class or £20 First Class - see http://www.londonmidland.com/tickets-and-fares/great-escape.
Network Rail have posted an appeal for suggestions for improving Paddington Station. Anyone wishing to make a submission please email [paddington.station at networkrail.co.uk].
The 12th edition of the Baker railway atlas is now available. It includes Workington north, which is described as a temporary station. It can be ordered from many outlets, such as Book Repository.
Readers may also like to know that, in its Railway Roundabout series, RAIL Magazine Issue 643 (5th-18th May) had a six-page feature on many of the rail routes of Norfolk.
RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE
Hitchin flyover public inquiry ends with most objectors accepting Network Rail's proposals
Keywords: [HitchinFlyover]
The Public Inquiry into Network Rail's planning application for the Hitchin Flyover finished on Tuesday 25th May, which was an extra day to the schedule to cover possible conditions to be applied to Network Rail's TWA Order if it is granted. Details of the proposed scheme can be found at http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/6397.aspx.
All landowners whose interests would be compulsorily purchased have either withdrawn their objections or are imminently expected to; or have not appeared to pursue them. NR's assertion that no farm would go out of business has not been challenged. The objections of the statutory authorities have also been withdrawn, and delivery of materials by rail is no longer being advocated by the Councils.
Network Rail's case explained that existing long distance train journey times decrease with the scheme. In the May 2011 emerging timetable an aggregate 20 minutes of pathing time will be saved for 20 long distance ECML services with trains saving half a minute to 2 minutes. These savings generate £800k per annum of benefits using the DfT appraisal guidance. Every southbound train from Peterborough (around 60 long distance trains together with outer suburban and freight services) on any day of operation currently has the potential to be delayed by the flat junction. Based on current service levels, train performance modelling shows that the flyover would provides annual benefits of £3m using DfT appraisal methodology. The scheme also helps to maximise timetable options by making journey times quicker by avoiding the need to build in pathing time to account for infrastructure constraints on the line and by improving the reliability of services. The Hitchin grade separation BCR has been calculated at 5.5 over 60 years.
The current running time for down trains between Hitchin and Letchworth will be increased by 30 seconds for some trains and 45 seconds for others. However, the average journey time increase will be offset by removal of the pathing time at Hitchin in Cambridge Line services (28 services affected per day in the May 2011 timetable for a total of 45 minutes).
The flyover will not accommodate the heaviest freight trains (in excess of 2000 tonnes trailing load) and the flat junction will be left in for exceptional train movements which would be timetabled in quiet periods.
Construction materials will be transported via Wilbury Hills Road. There are currently 17 HGV's in the AM peak hour or one every 3.5 minutes but For 70% of the 27 month construction period 10 HGVs would be added in the peak hour making 27 or one every two minutes. NR has asked for a limit of five years (rather than the usual three years with ordinary planning applications) before commencement of works must start to allow time to exercise powers of compulsory purchase and possibly go through a public procurement exercise.
Inquiry documents available at: http://www.persona.uk.com/hitchin/index.htm.
RAIL ROUTES
Election candidates express support for new rail routes - East West Rail Link and March-Wisbech line
Keywords: [EastWestRail]
It is usual for election candidates to tell people what they want to hear so it is hardly surprising that all parties have expressed support for new rail routes when asked.
Railfuture East Anglia's key campaign is the [Oxford-Cambridge] East West Rail Link, as proposed by the East West Rail Consortium and backed by the East of England Regional Assembly, which would link Norwich, Ipswich and/or Stansted Airport with Bedford or Luton with trains going onto stations such as Oxford, Reading and Swindon.
Railfuture East Anglia's other key reopening campaign is the mothballed (since 2001) freight-only line between March and Wisbech, where it wants to see passenger trains reintroduced (for the first time since 1968): a proposal backed in 2009 by the Association of Train Operating Companies when it suggested an hourly service from Wisbech to Peterborough via March.
According to the BBC, rail reopenings have been given backing in principle by all three main political parties:
* Labour's Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, on a visit to Norwich, said: "The East-West rail link is an important project. We want to
see big improvements in East-West rail services, for instance the Norwich to Cambridge started under this government. We want more
East-West services." However, he implied that the government does not look at the railway as a national network looking at
routes distance by saying "It is the job of local authorities to take forward proposals for reopening stations. "They have to demonstrate
it is economically viable to reopen the station" and wished to see companies "coming forward with proposals".
* Founder member of the Liberal Democrats Baroness Shirley Williams, also visiting Norwich, said: "In principle with the East-West
link we are completely there. Money...should go into major rail investment" and reiterated that rail was a priority area for the Lib
Dems Commenting on routes generally, she said there was a "very strong argument" for the reopening the stations...If you reopen
stations it improves the economy of the area and the prospects for small businesses." However, cautioning about unrealistic expectations
she said money would be tight and the "question is how soon you can invest in these rail projects".
* A Conservative spokesman said: "I know how important improved rail services are for local people. We will get a grip on Network Rail
so schemes like the East-West Rail link deliver the best possible value for money for taxpayers and fare payers alike."
Lord Adonis also expressed hope that services on existing lines would be speeded up with London to Norwich in 90 minutes and therefore Ipswich to London taking just under an hour.
During a visit to Great Yarmouth where she was told about the campaign to revitalise the town's run-down station, Theresa Villiers MP said that the conservatives would provide money towards improving stations to attract more user and also improve rail users' experiences by reforming Network Rail so it would focus on customers whilst also making it easier to remove rail operators. The Conservative candidates also recognised the need to improve railway stations at Beccles and Lowestoft and to get more frequent services on the line.
BBC EWRL news item: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/england/8656074.stm
BBC Wisbech news item: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/england/8658608.stm
EADT news item: http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/high_speed_rail_pledge_1_218067.
RAIL FRANCHISES
First Capital Connect pays high price for offices close to Cambridge station
Keywords: [CambridgeStation]
In [Snippets 204] criticism of NXEA was revealed as it had prevented FCC from having staff accommodation within the Cambridge station. As a result FCC has leased nearby refurbished premises at Twenty Station Road, Cambridge, which is part of Brookgate's cb1 scheme. However, the railway has become a victim of its own success in making commercial property near to the station more valuable. According to the letting agents it will be paying the highest Cambridge city centre office rent achieved in recent years. It has agreed to lease 3,208sq ft at £28.16 per sq ft until April 2014. FCC also gets secure parking for an average of 14 cars per floor.
STATIONS
Great Yarmouth station improvements could be linked to Vauxhall Bridge restoration to form 'gateway' for town
Keywords: [GreatYarmouthStation]
Norfolk County Council is currently undertaking a £60,000 feasibility study to examine what to do with the rusty and decaying Vauxhall railway bridge, which could be opened for public transport or taxis. It is considered by many to be an "eyesore".
Meanwhile, local businessman Spencer McCormack, who is a key figure in the 'Fix Yarmouth Station' project, has met Norfolk County Council highways officers to discuss his vision of the restored bridge forming part of a history trail for visitors, starting at the newly-refurbished station, which will be adorned with photos of Yarmouth's other attractions, including the Pleasure Beach. A volunteer-based clean-up event is planned at the station for 19th June.
Railfuture and ESTA submit comments on redevelopment of Lowestoft Station front whilst ESTA asks for clarity
Keywords: [LowestoftStation]
Railfuture will be writing to Waveney District Council on the plans to develop the front of Lowestoft station whilst curtailing the line by 40 metres and moving it 80 metres to the west. Meanwhile ESTA's committee has written to the council to applaud the apparent decision not to move Lowestoft station over 400 metres southwards away from the seafront). However, it raises a concern that the consultation document makes no reference to the needs of rail passengers and gives no detailed plan of what is proposed including what facilities the station would retain or whether its platforms would be long enough for full length trains.
King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council refuses permission for Downham Market footbridge
In April the borough council refused Network Rail's latest application (submitted December 2009) to build a steps-only £1m 13.8-metre-long footbridge (north of the station building) across the tracks at the Grade II listed Downham Market Railway station citing the lack of accessibility for disabled passengers (because Network Rail intended to close the barrow crossing when the bridge was opened) and the effect that the footbridge would have on the station's appearance (despite the Railway Heritage Trust having been involved in the design process). The footbridge had to be high enough to avoid the overhead wires but close enough to the centre of the station otherwise passengers might not use it. In 2009 Network Rail withdrew its previous proposal, which was also seen as unsuitable. Network Rail had ruled out an underpass and also automatically-locked wicket gates to protect the barrow crossing.
The barrow crossing is at the southern end of the station immediately before the signal box but does not have any gating. Passengers frequently (nearly every hour) ignore red lights (which tell passengers when it is safe to cross) at the barrow crossing. Most of the people who cross on a red light are, in reality, not risking their life because the light goes red when the train is still in the distance, but there is a risk that the train might be non-stop (more likely a freight train) or people get into the habit of ignoring the light and one day will step into the path of an oncoming train. Network Rail is obviously concerned that it will be blamed if there is a fatality.
Those who oppose the closing of the barrow crossing may breath a sigh of relief at the rejection of the bridge but Network Rail has warned that it may close the barrow crossing anyway and force passengers to cross at the level crossing, with the danger of being hit by road vehicles - but Network Rail wouldn't be blamed!
GUIDED BUSWAY
Slow progress on resolving all six defects will delay opening date for northern section being announced until "at least July"
Optimism in early May that an opening date (perhaps for August) could be announced by mid-June has now (just four weeks later) been replaced by despair in the county council that BAM Nuttall is not working fast enough on the six defects. At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday 25th May Bob Menzies, Head of Busway Delivery, said that there was no evidence that BAM Nuttall was gearing up to perform any physical works, which are required to fix at least three of the six defects. Councillors then passed a motion expressing "ongoing dissatisfaction with the contractor's performance.
Cambs County Council had said it would accept a minimal-cost proposal from BAM Nuttall to reduce flooding on the parallel maintenance track/cycle way (which was built too low and "looks more like a river" at several spots between Swavesey and St Ives) by raising the track and narrowing it "slightly" to around three metres wide in places where it currently floods. It was claimed that this work could be done once buses start running, but that may lead to cyclists continuing to use the busway which would pose a safety risk.
BAM Nuttall didn't manage to commence soil tests (by creating boreholes) on time and will not meet its self-imposed mid-June deadline to complete the tests and follow-on calculations required to check the foundations on the northern section are stable. Only a short section of track foundations will be examined as the vast majority has already been "signed off".
The greatest risk to passenger safety, apart from the shredded tyres catching fire, is that the concrete beams may ride up in very hot weather - it has been confirmed that some have been laid too close together to avoid this risk.
Of the other four defects preventing the northern section of the busway from opening, BAM Nuttall has submitted a design for a new expansion joint to solve the problem of water leaking onto the steelwork holding up the viaduct over the Great Ouse viaduct, which could cause remedial work to be needed in a few years' time.
The Hunts Post has decided to print a checklist each week to its show readers the progress - or lack of it.
News item: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Flood-water-set-to-shrink-guided-bus-cycle-track.htm
Photos of busway northern section on 19/03/2010 by Graham Jellett: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tournessel.
Conservative leader rejects calls for public inquiry into guided busway so new MP raises it with Secretary of State
Calls from opposition leaders on Cambridgeshire County Council to hold a public inquiry into the guided busway construction has been rejected outright by Conservative leader Jill Tuck, who promised that the project would merely be "revised" once it has been completed. She said: "A full public inquiry is not necessary, but as we have said before we will fully assess how the contract has worked and identify any lessons that can be learnt for us and others who will use this standard civil engineering contract in the future.
The new Liberal Democrats MP for Cambridge, Julian Huppert, has now asked Transport Secretary Philip Hammond to scrutinise the guided busway project by holding a public inquiry. In a written parliamentary question he also asked Mr Hammond to explain why the Department for Transport has decided to allocate further government money to the Luton and Dunstable kerb-guided bus project. He said: "The people of Cambridge have put up with months of disruption to allow this scheme to go ahead and we need to get the whole situation resolved. It is now well over a year late, and millions of pounds overspent. I am also anxious to know why we are allocating more money to a similar project in Luton before lessons have been learned from the Cambridge scheme."
News item: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/MP-calls-for-inquiry-over-guided-bus-fiasco.htm.
Freedom of Information answer calls into question county council's project management methods
A Freedom of Information request by a member of the public inquiring into how Cambs County Council has managed the list of busway defects with BAM Nuttall has revealed a surprising admission. Apparently the council has not used a formal defect tracking tool and has merely maintained a list in "a Word document and as each issue was resolved, it was removed from that document." This begs the question of whether a history of these defects has been kept (which is probably a legal requirement), so another FoI request has been made to ask if about version control.
From discussions on the "cam.transport" newsgroup it appears that the department of the council involved in this and many other projects doesn't use the sort of project management techniques that one would expect. A councillor had asked what they used, expecting Prince or APM or another of the 'normal' ones and was told "we use our own".
FoI Request 1: http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/busway_issue_tracking_system
FoI Request 2: http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/busway_snagdefect_list_document.
Busway is a hot topic in pre-election political discussions
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire held a series of political debates (usually as part of Andy Harper show) prior to the district council elections on 6th May. The busway was discussed in several of them: Huntingdon DC (15th April), South Cambs DC (27th April) and the final debate on Wednesday 5th May. Listeners could submit questions and comments via the BBC Cambs website.
CGB Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridgeshire_Guided_Busway.
PRESERVED RAILWAYS
Mid-Norfolk Railway's volunteers make good progress on northern extension but much more still to do
Keywords: [MidNorfolkRailway]
On Sunday 2nd May the MNR managed to change 80 sleepers (against a target of 52) on its northern extension to Hoe with 12 volunteers. On Sunday 9th May it changed a further 24 and backfilled screened ballast around the 104 new sleepers. The MNR plans to replace approximately 250 sleepers in 2010 and 300 in 2011 but only if its sponsor a sleeper [http://www.mnr.org.uk/help/sleeper] scheme continues to be a success. On a previous occasion the MNR was able to clear vegetation around Hoe Level Crossing thanks to the probation service.
The MNR's first target is to restore the derelict line as far as Hoe, a distance of 3.5km. There are just over 4,000 sleepers in this section, and a survey has shown that a minimum of 800 need to be replaced before passenger trains can run.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 205 - 28/05/2010
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