News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 245 - 30/09/2013
- RAIL ROUTES [all issues]
- Progress being made on half-hourly Cambridge-Norwich service according to MP championing the scheme
- Physical start made to Oxford-Bicester Evergreen 3 as a prelude to East West Rail reopening
- Railfuture publishes its analysis of possible Bedford-Cambridge routes for East West Rail
- Network Rail confirms that doubling of Ely-Soham route will go ahead even though EU-sponsored freight loops will be dropped
- STATIONS [all issues]
- Greater Anglia delivers on franchise commitment for all-inclusive bus-rail tickets from Saffron Walden
- Manea to receive s two-hourly service after years of campaigning
- More car parking spaces at Diss station to meet growing demand
- RAIL FARES [all issues]
- RAIL FRANCHISES [all issues]
- GUIDED BUSWAY [all issues]
- PRESERVED RAILWAYS [all issues]
Charity Railtours (www.charity-railtours.co.uk), which ran a charter train ("The Great Eastern Freighter") around rarely-visited branch lines (including Felixstowe Docks and Griffin Wharf, Ipswich) on 10th August has announced that it raised £7,965 for the Alzheimer's Society.
The A142 railway bridge at Ely adjacent to the station is regularly hit. Normally it is lorry drivers who are not paying attention. However, on Tuesday 10th September it was hit by a fire engine on a 999 call. Once the planned bypass is open, in a few years' time, the level crossing will be closed.
Network Rail has announced that the junction where the new Ipswich Chord links the Great East Mainline will be known as Europa Junction. The existing southern junction on the main line is known as East Suffolk Junction. The name of the new junction on the East Suffolk Line to the chord has not been revealed.
ESTA will be holding its Autumn Meeting at St Mark's Church Hall, next to Oulton Broad South station at 14:00 on Saturday 12th October. The guest speaker will be Councillor Graham Newman, the new Transport Portfolio Holder at Suffolk County Council.
The South Cambs Local Plan consultation closes on Monday 14th October (see http://scambs.jdi-consult.net/ldf/newuser.php) and the Highways Agency A14 improvement consultation closes on Sunday 13th October (See https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DQNFRDN).
On Tuesday 29th October at 14:30 Felixstowe Travel Watch will hold its autumn meeting at St Andrew's Hall.
Over the weekend of 19th and 20th October the Mid-Norfolk Railway will be holding its second 'Multiple Matters' celebration of the unsung hero of the railways, the Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU). There will be through trains between Dereham and Norwich using an East Midlands Trains class 156 DMU, and on the Sunday there will be one train from Hoe to Norwich - a first for the MNR and the first passenger train from Norwich station north of Dereham for at least 30 years. There will also be two round trips between Dereham and Hoe on the Saturday.
At the end of September BRB (Residuary) Ltd. will be abolished and the state-owned London & Continental Railways company will to assume responsibility for former BRB properties with development potential or those that might be used for future railway projects. Network Rail also assumes responsibility for properties associated with the operational railway that should have transferred with privatisation in the 1990s. Prior to its abolition BRB(R) off-loaded some if its land. For example, the Nene Valley Railway was finally able to purchase the Fletton line that connects its passenger route with Network Rail's tracks.
At Clacton station a new 60-space secure cycle compound has been installed, increasing the number of cycle parking spaces to 140.
Eurostar has confirmed that it intends to launch its London-Amsterdam direct services in December 2016 with just a short walk from King's Cross making it very convenient for passengers from the northern parts of East Anglia who are not near to an airport.
There is now a 'Real Time Trains' app available for Android smartphones/tablets, with iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad to follow - see http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/apps.
The second series of Great Continental Railway Journeys, presented by Michael Portillo begins on BBC-2 on Sunday 27th October. The programme consists of six hour-long parts spread over six weeks, beginning with Portillo's native Spain.
RAIL ROUTES
Progress being made on half-hourly Cambridge-Norwich service according to MP championing the scheme
Keywords: [CambridgeNorwichService]
One of Railfuture's top service improvement campaigns is the doubling of frequency on the direct Norwich to Cambridge trains, which were reintroduced in 2002 and have been a resounding success.
The half-hourly train services are dependent on the £25 million to upgrade to Ely North Junction (the upgrading of the 'single lead'), which will take place some time during Network Rail's Control Period 5 (2014-2019), certainly in time for the May 2017 timetable change if not sooner. The removal of the bottleneck will also facilitate a half-hourly service between King's Lynn and King's Cross (another Railfuture priority).
In the first week of September Mid-Norfolk MP George Freeman met Network Rail and was told they are starting work on a feasibility study. He made the case for improvements to the service between Cambridge and Norwich, with the prospect of many people moving to the area with the growth of the Norwich Research Park. This is something he will be speaking about at Railfuture's summer conference in Cambridge on Saturday 21st June 2014 - see http://www.railfuture.org.uk/conferences/.
He said that at the meeting Network Rail went through the pieces of work that needed to be done. For example, there are a few places where the train operator cannot run the trains at full speed, because of the track, and there are level crossings that are slowing down trains. Longer term, electrification and Trowse Bridge, south of Norwich, where trains have to stop could become a significant bottleneck.
Physical start made to Oxford-Bicester Evergreen 3 as a prelude to East West Rail reopening
Keywords: [EastWestRail]
The first real signs of work to construct the new London Marylebone to Oxford route (part of the Evergreen 3 project being managed by Chiltern Railways) were evident in early September when thousands of tonnes of rocks and stones were delivered to site by a train. Around 80,000 tonnes of recycled rail ballast will be used to construct the embankment for the new chord linking the Chiltern Mainline to the east west rail link near to Bicester, and 10,000 lorry trips will be avoided by delivering the material by rail. A construction date for work to start has not yet been announced.
BBC News item: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-24107419.
Railfuture publishes its analysis of possible Bedford-Cambridge routes for East West Rail
Keywords: [EastWestRail]
Responding to Cambridgeshire County Council's consultation on its transport strategy RailfutureEast Anglia branch has a 10-page document (see http://www.railfuture.org.uk/east/docs/East-West-Rail-Routes-from-Cambridge-Sept2013.pdf, which includes maps) describing four options to reopen the railway line between Cambridge and Bedford, although Railfuture's prefers a new route via Cambourne. It has also called for the land to be earmarked now for a two-track electrified line with trains running at 100mph or above, which would be competitive with the car by offering a journey time from Cambridge to Bedford of just 35 minutes with part of the route being used for trains travelling between Cambridge and Peterborough in 35 to 40 minutes rather than the current 50 minutes.
Railfuture East Anglia branch chairman Peter Wakefield, who was interviewed by several radio stations on the subject, told the Cambridge News: "If councillors are serious about this, they have to start protecting routes, else it will be virtually impossible.
Network Rail confirms that doubling of Ely-Soham route will go ahead even though EU-sponsored freight loops will be dropped
Network Rail had originally intended to provide two freight loops to the east of Ely in order to hold waiting freight trains either to allow passenger trains to pass or to schedule freight trains to cross Ely level crossing at the same time as passenger trains or to ease traffic over the single-lead Ely North Junction. However, each of those problem areas is now going to be resolved separately with Ely North Junction being remodelled, the level crossing being closed once the Ely bypass is opened and the whole of the Ely-Soham route being doubled. Therefore the two loops will no longer be needed in the short term (and possibly never). This means that Network Rail has to return the funding it had secured from the Trans-European Transport Network (TENT-T) for the Ely loops to ease the movement of freight and passenger traffic.
Network Rail had created a large depot on a farmer's land in Cawdle Fen, in Ely, in January 2012, bringing in building materials and fences. However, in May 2013 Network Rail came and stripped the depot bare, taking everything they had purchased away with them and moving off the land. The handing back of the £4m EU money had been speculated about for months and it was feared that Network Rail might backtrack on the doubling plans too. However, Network Rail has just confirmed they it has aside the money for the doubling.
STATIONS
Greater Anglia delivers on franchise commitment for all-inclusive bus-rail tickets from Saffron Walden
Greater Anglia has launched its combined bus-rail ticket for travellers from Saffron Walden to Liverpool Street and Cambridge stations (it's disappointing that tickets are only available for two stations. The all-in-one tickets (the add-on works out at £3.10 for the bus) can be bought from Saffron Walden Tourist Information Centre, Audley End Station or online.
Unfortunately there's no evening or Sunday service. The last buses are 18:54 ex Saffron Walden (Mon-Sat), 21:05 ex Audley End (Mon-Fri) and 18:29 ex Audley End (Sat).
News article: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Saffron-Walden/All-inclusive-bus-and-rail-ticket-from-Saffron-Walden-now-available-20130918125322.htm.
Manea to receive s two-hourly service after years of campaigning
Just months after Railfuture's massive effort to promote the reopening of the Wisbech branch, which including circulating its petition amongst the residents of Manea, the Fenland village is to have a much improved service from January 2013. Instead of the two trains per day, every Greater Anglia Ipswich-Peterborough train will call at the station, meaning that it will have a two hourly service. The extra operational flexibility at Peterborough station as a result of creating two dedicated platforms for the cross country services (without having to share a platform with inter-city trains) has allowed trains to be re-timed to allow a stop at Manea. Fenland District Council is hoping for improvements at the station, which could include a station car park, improved waiting accommodation, better information and extending the platforms to three car lengths.
More car parking spaces at Diss station to meet growing demand
Keywords: [DissStation]
A further 85 car parking spaces are to be provided at Diss station from spring 3014. This is a 35% increase in capacity.
RAIL FARES
Cheaper train travel as First Capital Connect expands the scope of its super off-peak single and day return fare
Keywords: [FirstCapitalConnect]
Greater Anglia offers 'super off-peak' fares each day of the week but First Capital Connect offers its equivalent only at weekends and on bank holidays. Until now FCC's super off-peak single and day return were only available on part of its route (e.g. Cambridge to King's Cross) but it has now been extended to cover longer journeys so that it is no longer necessary to buy a super off-peak ticket to London and another ticket to, say, Brighton. There is still no reduced fare for journeys that both start and finish within the London Travelcard zone.
News article: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Cost-of-rail-travel-from-Cambridge-slashed-but-only-at-weekends-20130923123643.htm
RAIL FRANCHISES
On 26th September the government published the Invitations to Tender (ITTs) for the giant combined 'Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN)' and 'Essex Thameside' rail franchise competitions. These are the first to be issued since the Brown review into rail franchising, which was published in early 2013. According to the schedule both successful bids will be announced in May 2014. The Thameslink and Great Northern elements of the TSGN franchise will start in September 2014 but the Southern element will be phased in and should be fully integrated by by July 2015. The franchise will run for seven years.
The following companies have pre-qualified for the franchise:
- Abellio Thameslink Limited
- First Thameslink Limited
- Govia Thameslink Railway Limited
- MTR Corporation Thameslink Limited
- Stagecoach Thameslink Trains Limited
The government has warned the potential franchises that they face a series of challenges including:
- Deliver services which effectively manage passenger demand throughout the period of reconstruction of London Bridge station
- Bring into service a new fleet of trains, equipped with new technology, to deliver additional capacity for passengers
- Manage the integration of other franchises' services (that is, FCC, Southern and some Southeastern) into this combined franchise
- Manage the transition in a way that enables the benefits of the Government's investment in the Thameslink Programme to be fully realised
- Ensure focus across the whole franchise area whilst supporting delivery of the Thameslink Programme.
Timetable changes will start in December 2014, when London Bridge closes to through Thameslink services until 2018.
Briefing Document: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/245205/consultation-responses-tsgn.pdf
http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/biggest-rail-franchise-ever-now-open-to-bidders
Will Wi-Fi become available on all trains free of charge in the future?
At the Labour party conference in September Maria Eagle, the shadow Secretary of State for Transport, said that Wi-Fi should be rolled out free to all train passengers because it is now regarded by many as a necessity, rather than a luxury, as people are trying to work on the train. She suggested that this requirement should be written into the future contracts of train operators. Currently only a few operators, mainly inter-city ones, provide Wi-Fi and is is often only free in first class (Greater Anglia charges £2.95 per trip for standard class passengers). First Capital Connect currently has no plans to install Wi-Fi as part of its class 365 fleet refurbishment. The railway is being left behind compared to many other industries. For example, even some supermarkets offer free Wi-Fi.
Interestingly, just days after Maria Eagle's speech Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced that the rail industry plans to roll out "high-speed mobile broadband" (possibly raising data capacity per train 25-fold) across the busiest parts of Britain's rail network. This would be achieved by increasing the number of mobile phone masts to fill gaps in signal coverage, and incorporating signal boosters inside train carriages.
GUIDED BUSWAY
Guided busway 'has not helped to cut A14 traffic' according to analysis by CAST.IRON
Keywords: [CASTIRON]
CAST.IRON, which tried to reopen the Cambridge to St. Ives railway line, has said that the guided busway was failing in one of its key aims - to cut traffic on the A14. This follows the release of official figures that show the traffic levels (based on counts) on the A14 between Huntingdon and Cambridge has fallen far less during the first year of the busway's operation that on sections of the A14 beyond the busway's reach. However, and apparently without justification, Cambridgeshire County Council had previously cited the slightly lower number of journeys being made on the A14 as evidence of success.
The traffic monitoring report which is available on the county council's website showed the number of vehicles travelling between Dry Drayton and Cambridge fell by 1,700, or 1.9 per cent, between September 2011 and August 2012 compared to the previous year. A similar decrease was counted on the A14 between Huntingdon and Godmanchester (where there are bus services but no busway). However, much larger increases were seen on the A14 west of Huntingdon, with a 3 per cent drop at Huntingdon racecourse, 3.4 per cent at Ellington, and 5.4 per cent at Catworth Hill.
Tim Phillips, chairman of CAST.IRON, said the council's attempts to claim the busway was a success were "Orwellian". He said: "Contrary to the meaningless 'bums on seats' figures loudly proclaimed by the council on a regular basis as indicating the success of the guided busway, we now have something approaching the truth sneaked out in an obscure report using imprecise language. The council's own figures now tell us exactly what they denied in the run-up to, and throughout, the public inquiry. There is, quite simply, no reduction at all in traffic on the A14 attributable to the guided busway."
The county council's spokesman did not deny this allegation focusing on the passenger figures for buses that travel at some point on the busway claiming that "the busway is extremely popular" and is the "transport of choice for man commuters, shoppers and tourists."
Following the deal announced in August between the county council and the contractors, BAM Nuttall has since broken its silence claiming in a statement that the busway had "exceeded expectations in respect of its engineering and operational outputs." The company said it had "taken a pragmatic decision as a mature, responsive contractor to minimise further legal costs to the benefit of both parties and to solve the dispute through engagement rather than through legal means."
In a cheeky article the Cambridge asked what one might have bought instead with the same money (£84.7 million) it had paid BAM Nuttall to construct the guided busway. It came up with Real Madrid's new signing Gareth Bale (minus a few toes) at £85.3 million, four new secondary schools at £21 million each, nearly three extensions to the Rosie Maternity Hospital at £30 each and 528 space flights with Virgin Galactic at £160,000 each.
News article: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/Guided-busway-has-not-helped-to-cut-A14-traffic-20130903060000.htm http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/News/For-85m-we-could-have-bought-Gareth-Bale-what-else-could-you-get-for-the-cost-of-the-busway-20130903060250.htm.
PRESERVED RAILWAYS
North Norfolk Railway has plans for more services and facilities
Keywords: [NorthNorfolkRailway]
The North Norfolk Railway is continuing with its plans to run trains into Network Rail's station at Cromer on summer Sundays to interleave with the Greater Anglia service. The Office of Rail Regulation has already indicated that it has no objections (although this would require the limit of 12 crossings per year on the tram-style level crossing at Sheringham to be realised or removed). The benefits to the public from better train services ought to outweigh the delays to car traffic and pedestrians by increased use of the level crossing. The NNR hopes it could commence a service in 2015.
The NNR has also submitted a planning application to the district council for a new permanent brick-built education building at its current terminus at High Kelling (about a mile away from Holt), which in typical Ryanair-style it calls "Holt".
NNR website: http://www.nnrailway.co.uk.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 245 - 30/09/2013
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