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East Anglia Branch News - Snippets Issue 242 - 30/06/2013

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

Railfuture News Snippets 242 - 30/06/2013



Construction of the new island platform at Peterborough station is proceeding. The platform walls have all been built and the centre has been filled in. Track has been laid along the majority of the new platform 7.

Modifications to the modular signalling on the Ely-Norwich route to improve reliability are due to be installed in October. The main problem is the pioneering Obstacle Detection (MCB-OD) system, which checks not only for large objects such as vehicles but also people collapsed on the road using a low-level detector called LIDAR. It is understood that Network Rail wishes to remove the unreliable detection system as it achieves very little according to the risk assessment. Most complaints were received at Brandon where the level crossing has caused delays to traffic. Network Rail has confirmed that it would offer to fund a replacement bridge across the railway as part of a future relief road for the town, which would mean the level crossing would no longer be needed.

Wymondham South Junction signal box, which was taken out of use in December 2012 when the Ely-Norwich resignalling project was completed, has been listed by English Heritage as Grade II. The Mid-Norfolk Railway hopes to turn it into a visitor attraction.

Outline planning permission has just been granted for the proposed new four-platform Beaulieu Park station on the Great Eastern Mainline near Chelmsford to serve 3,600 new homes. Construction should being in 2016 for opening in 2019. The cost of the scheme has risen to £53m because Network Rail wishes to install additional tracks so that fast trains can pass trains stopped at the station. The South East Local Transport Board is contributing a substantial amount towards the cost.

Network Rail has confirmed that all seven signal boxes controlling semaphore signals on the Norwich-Great Yarmouth and Norwich-Lowestoft lines, which are known as the Wherry Lines, will be closed by May 2016 with control being taken over by the new Rail Operating Centre in Romford, which will eventually control all lines in East Anglia. However, no technical solution has been found yet for any ROC to control swing bridges. Therefore the signal boxes at Oulton Broad, Reedham and Somerleyton will continue to be manned solely for the purpose of operating their respective swing bridges.

The southbound bus stops 2,3,4 at Cambridge Railway Station will be closed for 70 weeks - see http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/around/buses/Disruptions+to+bus+services.htm.

The Mid-Norfolk Railway will be holding its second annual beer and music festival at Dereham over August bank holiday weekend (from 17:00 on Friday and from 12 noon Saturday, Sunday and Monday), which it hopes will bring it vital revenue to support its expansion plans. Its AGM will be held in Dereham on Saturday 29th July and will include a business-led presentation by its company secretary Chris Nesbitt.

Greater Anglia was the only operator in the country to record improved satisfaction levels over the past year in the national passenger survey conducted by Passenger Focus, which was published in mid-June. Peter Lawrence, a Railfuture vice-president was quoted in the Eastern Daily Press saying that Greater Anglia had had "a decent 12 months" but added "As far as the national picture is concerned, East Anglia is not getting its fair share of investment at the moment."

The announcement in mid-June that AstraZeneca's new HQ will be located at the Addenbrooke's Hospital campus sparked suggestions that the mothballed plans for a railway station there should be resurrected. This would allow people from the south east access to the site.

Passenger Focus' freepost address to be given to passengers has changed. It is now RTEH-XAGE-BYKZ, Passenger Focus, PO Box 5594, Southend on Sea, SS1 9PZ. The main passenger contact phone number and email address will remain the same, as do the direct contact details for individuals.

Cambridgeshire County Council, which is leading on the central section of the East West Rail Link, has invited quotations for consultancy services for the provision of specialist transport planning services for a route between Bedford and Cambridge.

In late June the government announced that the could contribute about £1bn to the £1.5bn upgrade of the A14 road, with local authorities paying about £100m. The remaining £300-400m expected to be generated from vehicles paying toll (although many observers are sceptical about the viability and suitability of a toll road). Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander said building work would be brought forward two years to 2016.


RAIL ROUTES
Passenger trains start using the Hitchin flyover

Keywords: [HitchinFlyover]

Commissioning of the £47m single-track Hitchin Flyover has finished (after a construction period lasting 18 months) and since 25th June First Capital Connect trains has been using the flyover for occasional trains, mainly those terminating at Letchworth Garden city rather than those going on to Cambridge and King's Lynn. The only regularly diagrammed trains using it the moment are three mid-day Monday-Friday Moorgate to Letchworth stopping trains, which depart from Hitchin at 11:57, 12:57 and 13:57. They are marked as 'DCF' (which possibly means Down Cambridge Flyover) on the Operational Timetable.

One of the reasons for not using the flyover for many trains is the lack of driver route knowledge amongst FCC's 300 drivers who sign the route. However, there is a technical reason too. The route is in use from the down slow line i.e. the track beside Hitchin station platform but not from the down fast yet. This means that currently a Cambridge-bound train on the down fast line at Stevenage would have to switch to the slow line before it reached Hitchin. This would slow down the service and there would, of course, be a problem if a train was at the platform. Network rail will need to take another possession to integrate the crossover from the down fast to the down slow north of Hitchin station with the signalling to allow fast trains to use the flyover. This will be done later in the year prior to the full use of the flyover (by 600 trains a week) from the December 2013 timetable change, which will make services "more reliable, reduce delays [by 30,000 minutes every year] and provide extra capacity in the future" according to Network Rail. The removal of conflict at the flat crossing (which is being retained for resilience and also because not all freight trains can climb the flyover) will create a path for another inter-city train per hour.

A series of photos ofthre flyover can be seen at: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ijackson/2013/hitchin-flyover.

Legal deadline passes so 'Evergrree 3' London Marylebone to Oxford rail link construction can commence

An individual from Summertown near Oxford had tried to halt the upgrade of the Bicester to Oxford rail link claiming a negative environmental impact, specifically the impact of nitrogen oxides on the Oxford Meadows Special Area of Conservation. Such opposition had delayed the highly important rail link, which is essential for the western section of the East Wail Rail Link, for about two years. However, in late June the deadline paased for appealing the decision to reject a judicial review bid against the Evergreen 3 project, allowing Chiltern Railways to commence work. It now hopes to open the line and operate services from Water Eaton Parkway from summer 2015, with the full line to Oxford expected to open in spring 2016.


STATIONS
ESTA calls for improvements to stations on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line

Keywords: [EastSuffolkLine]

Passenger numbers on the Ipswich-to-Lowestoft line have increased from 243,000 in 2011/12 to more than 270,000 in 2012/13 according to Greater Anglia. The East Suffolk Travellers' Association has carried out a station audit on all stations on the line and has produced a 20-page report that has been sent to the train operator, Suffolk County Council and local MPs. It found a wide variation in standards at stations. For example, it found that whilst all station had timetable information displayed, sometimes this was posted only on one platform. It identified a lack of free car parking spaces at Melton, Wickham Market, Saxmundham and Darsham stations. A new transport interchange at Lowestoft station is due to be complete in July 2013.


GUIDED BUSWAY
Guided bus catches fire and forces closure of guided busway track

At about 14:15 on 6th June 2013, in the latest in a long list of incidents on the guided busway, a Stagecoach guided bus developed an electrical fault and caught fire as it approached the Longstanton park and ride site from Oakington. The fire service were called out and doused the flames. All the passengers (none of whom were injured) were put onto other buses. Part of the busway was closed with services diverted.

Cambridge News laps up more negative stories associated with highly controversial guided busway

Knowing that there is no easier way of getting its readers stirred up than by mentioning the highly-controversial guided busway, which has split on lines of bus users and council apologists versus everyone else, the Cambridge News reported the latest incident on the busway.

In late June a teenage cyclist knocked over by a bus on the guided busway had to wait more than 45 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, even though it had to travel less than five miles. The cyclist suffered a head injury and a suspected fractured arm in the crash, which happened as he was crossing the busway from a path near Buchan Street in the King's Hedges area of Cambridge.


Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 242 - 30/06/2013

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