News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 217 - 28/05/2011
The next branch meeting is on Saturday 25th June 2011 at the Friends Meeting House, Ipswich, IP1 3JH. It will focus Railfuture East Anglia's top campaign, the East West Rail Link between Oxford and Cambridge (when John Henderson, who is leading the campaign for the branch, will give an update on progress and show a video from the EWRL consortium) and a discussion on Railfuture's aims for the new Greater [East] Anglia franchise plus thoughts on Network Rail's recently released Stations RUS.
The Friends of Norwich City Station (FONCS) aims to secure the former station's place in history. The group has cleared earth and undergrowth near the Halfords store to reveal around 150ft of Platform 1's wall as well as two shorter platforms and an inspection pit. FONCS plan to build a seated area and memorial garden on what they believe to be now public land. The station was closed to passengers on 2nd March 1959 (as part of the closure of the Midland & Great Northern railway), although it continued to be used for goods traffic until 1969. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich_City_railway_station.
The East West Rail Consortium recently added a video to their website - see http://eastwestrail.org.uk/video/ for a computer-generated promotional video of phase 1 (the western end). There is no mention of phase 2. Meanwhile members of Railfuture's Oxford-Cambridge project group met at King's Place in London on Sunday 15th May 2011 to plan future campaigning.
On 11th May Railfuture branch chairman Peter Wakefield and branch secretary Nick Dibben, along with Chris Austin OBE, met two members of Cambridgeshire Horizons to discuss rail schemes in East Anglia. These included Chesterton Station, Peterborough to Cambridge service, Wisbech Branch and the Oxford-Cambridge rail link. Cambridgeshire Horizons were also concerned about Ely station level crossing and the impact of the Alconbury development.
ATOC has launched a website-only summer promotion for Plusbus. See: http://www.atoc.org/media-centre/latest-press-releases/train-travellers-could-save-up-to-60-off-bus-journeys-this-summer-100577.
On Wednesday 1st June 1st the Ipswich - Lowestoft line will be 152 years old. ESTA members and friends will celebrate with an evening buffet at the Dog & Duck pub, 100 metres from Wickham Market station in Campsea Ash, from 19:30. Book in advance by sending a cheque for £9 payable to ESTA to Rod Lock, The Beehive, Hall Rd., Oulton Broad NR32 3AW.
The 15"-gauge Bure Valley Railways, built on the line from Wroxham to Aylsham that British Rail closed in 1982 and lifted in 1984, was opened in 1990 and will be celebrating its 21st Birthday on 10th July 2011. The Railway will hold a "Travel Back in Time" event over the weekend of 9th/10th July when all passengers will travel at the same fares as when the Railway first opened (Adults £5.50, Juniors £3.95 and Under 5s Free).
RAIL ROUTES
East Suffolk Line resignalling design work to start in June
Keywords: [EastSuffolkLine]
The East Suffolk Line was completely resignalled in the 1980s, reducing the cost of operating the line and ultimately saving the line from closure. Manned signal boxes were closed and level crossing were automated. Radio Electronic Token Block (RETB) signalling, as used in the Scottish highlands and Cambrian line in Wales, replaced first generation signalling, and sprung points (normally associated with trams) were introduced at Halesworth and Woodbridge. The RETB equipment is nearly 30 years old, and technology has moved forward, so spares are difficult to obtain. Moreover, the government is reassigning the radio frequency used by RETB and a change would be needed by the end of 2012.
Network Rail had intended to pioneer the new ERTMS system on the line (under its Early Deployment Scheme), but chose the Cambrian Line instead. Unfortunately proving the ERTMS system has taken longer than expected and NR is not ready to roll it out to another line yet. However, the decisive reason is that NXEA is highly flexible in utilising its fleet and a large number of diesel multiple unit trains would have needed to be fitted with the cab signalling. As well as the cost, there would not have been time to modify the fleet in time for the 2012 deadline when RETB has to be decommissioned. Therefore, as first mentioned in [Snippets 209] NR will be resignalling the East Suffolk Line with conventional signalling - putting back after they were removed in the 1980s will seem like a retrograde step to many. Moreover, no-one seems to have suggested renewing the RETB with different frequencies. The signalling design work will commence in June 2011 and the system will be fully operational in late 2012.
East Suffolk Line website: http://www.eastsuffolkline.com.
STATIONS
Network Rail closes Downham Market station's barrow crossing following 'one abuse too many'
Keywords: [DownhamMarketStation]
On 9th May Network Rail closed the un-gated barrow crossing between the station's two platforms forcing passengers to use the adjacent level crossing on Station Road where the manually-controlled full barriers prevent pedestrians and motorists from crossing the railway when it is unsafe. Of course, this means that passengers needing to cross will have to ensure that they arrive before the barriers are lowered.
The barrow crossing has long been misused by people ignoring the miniature 'stop' lights. NR's move is supported by First Capital Connect and the ORR. However, West Norfolk MP Elizabeth Truss said "I think that it is disgraceful after many years of proposing solutions that people in Downham Market didn't want, Network Rail have imposed their plans on the station. It was made very clear that local residents wanted to see the barrow crossing made safe, rather than closed."
Plans for a footbridge adjacent to the listed station building were rejected by local authority planners, as described in detail in [Snippets 205].
GUIDED BUSWAY
Commencement of work by new contractors may see Cambridgeshire Guided Busway open in August 2011
A 28-day period for BAM Nuttall to correct faults with the guided busway expired on Wednesday 19th May, with replacement contractors Jackson Civil Engineering commencing remedial work on Monday 23rd May. One of its first jobs will be to stop water leaking through the River Great Ouse viaduct (near St Ives) onto the steel beneath. It will also work on the park and ride car park at St Ives by installing new drains are increasing the gradient to stop rainwater forming puddles. On the busway itself it will adjust the gaps between the guideway beams to make sure the concrete can expand during hot weather without damage. The total cost of the busway is now believed to have reached £187 million.
Because much of this work can occur simultaneously with driver training and other tests, it is possible that the busway could open to passengers in August 2011.
News story: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Busway-defect-repairs-to-start-next-week-20052011.htm.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 217 - 28/05/2011
[Prev Issue (216)] [Snippets Issues] [Next Issue (218)] [Category List] [Keyword List] [People List] [Story List] [Branch Dashboard]