News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 372 - 31/03/2024
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has announced that its new rules have reduced the maximum fee that train operators and ticket retailers can charge when an unused rail ticket is refunded from £10 to £5 from 2nd April 2024. The ORR's rule change It follows its review of refund admin fees and its call for train companies and ticket retailers to re-assess the maximum charge.
Transport for London (TfL) has announced that on Fridays until 31st May 2024, passengers can travel at off-peak prices all day on Fridays using 'pay as you go' (PAYG). This applies to the Tube, London Overground, Elizabeth line or DLR.
On 21st March 2024, the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) announced that a total of 417 million journeys were made by rail passengers in Great Britain in between 1st October and 31st Dececember 2023. This is a 20% increase on the 348 million journeys made in the same quarter the previous year (2022). Revenue also increased by 20%, which implies that the trend away from (high-yield) commuter travel to (lower yield) lesiure journeys has stabilisied.
The East West Rail Company will hold nine local drop-in events in April 2024 ahead of the first stage of statutory consultation. The three events in the branch area are Cambourne (10th May 2024 14:00-19:00, South Cambridgeshire Hall, Cambourne Business Park, Cambourne CB23 6EA), Cambridge (21st May 2024 14:00-19:00, St Philip's Church Centre, 185 Mill Road, Cambridge CB1 3AN) and Comberton (22th May 2024 14:00-19:00, Comberton Village Hall, Green End, Comberton CB23 7DY). The other events will be held in Bedford, Bicester, Bletchley, Marston Moretaine, Oxford and Roxton.
Greater Anglia has launched another round of its discounted Hare Fares, which are for standard off-peak day return tickets and can only be bought online exclusively at greateranglia.co.uk or via the Greater Anglia app. The off-peak day return is £6 between Norwich and the seaside termini of Sheringham, Great Yarmounth and Lowestoft; £12 for Cambridge to London, Chelmsford to London, Norwich to Cambridge; £18 for Chelmsford to Ipswich, Colchester to London, Southend to Colchester and £24 for Chelmsford to Norwich, Norwich to London, Shenfield to Norwich. Accompanied children travel for just £2 return each. Tickets must be booked between 28th March and 12th April 2024 for travel between 2nd April and 11th June (excluding 8th April, which is scheduled to be an ASLEF strike day). Fares are not valid on journeys wholly within the Oyster zone. See news story.
On Tuesday 23rd April 2024, there will be a 'Meet the Manager' event at Ely station from 10:00 to 13:00. The Hereward Community Rail Partnership (CRP) will be joined at Ely station by the The Bittern Line, The Wherry Lines, East Suffolk line and the Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Community Rail Partnerships and Visit Ely for a showcase of attractions, things to do and great days out along the region's rail branch lines.
Greater Anglia has appointed construction firm Capel C.S Ltd to refurbishment the canopy at Lowestoft railway station. The work will include strengthening the canopy, replacing the existing felt roof covering and soffit boarding plus brickwork repairs.
CrossCountry has announced that it will completely refurbish its train fleet, including the Turbostar trains that operate services from Birmingham to Stansted Airport, which will be complete by summer 2026.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is concerned about the rate of lift faults at railway stations. In March 2024 it published a report which stated that in the year from October 2022 there were over 8,600 faults across the 1,331 passenger lifts managed by Network Rail at 491 stations. Each fault takes an average of over 20 hours to repair. In the same year passengers got trapped in a lift 601 times. Meanwhile, the new footbridge at Royston station, which opened late in 2023, still has its lifts firmly hidden behind wooden panels. According to station staff, the lifts were to be tested in the week commencing 8th April 2024, for a week, to see how reliable they were. Station users might wonder why the old footbridge is still in place. The attempt to remove it failed because the train tipped over (into the car park fortunately, not onto the overhead lines) when trying to lift it out. So, they are waiting for another opportunity.
The route maps shown on the inside of Thameslink Class 700 carriages now show a "Cambridge South coming soon" station.
UK Railtours has announced that its 'wayside Wanderer' tour on Sundsay 29th July 2024 will visit Griffin Wharf (with thanks to Associated British Ports) and a first passenger visit to Brett Aggregates' Ipswich site.
Cambridgeshire County Council has announced that work to install new safety measures on the section of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, between Cambridge Railway Station and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus was almost complete, which means thay buses will return to two-way operation from Saturday (30 March).
2024 YouTube video from the Cambridhge Museum of Techonology entitled "Cambridge's Changing Railway Landscapes" for the 2024 Cambridge Festival (Festival of Film) shows historical images of the railway around Cambridge and up-to-date videos, including drone footage of the Construction of Cambridge South station. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOlV4togKDQ (7 minutes 34 seconds).
ROLLING STOCK
Great Northern to swap class 387 trains for former Greater Anglia class 397 trains
Keywords: [GreatNorthern]
Subject to inspection and acceptance, GTR has agreed in principle to lease 30 Class 379 units, which were used by Greater Anglia for more than a decade until replaced by their new Class 720 trains. The 379s are currently in storage (in the open air at a railway site in Worksop), but will, probably by the end of 2024, replace most of the class 387 trains, which are actually about three years newer but not as well liked by some passengers. Some 387s wil be retained — there are 38 units currently and 31 are needed to run the service. GTR does not plan to alter the internal layout of the units or to replace their more traditional seating, which many users find more comfortable. They were fitted with wi-fi when delivered in 2011. The reason for swapping the units it not particularly for passenger reasons, but because the 387s can operate on third rail and are destined for use south of London to increase capacity there.
Additional content will be added to this page.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 372 - 31/03/2024
[Prev Issue (371)] [Snippets Issues] [Next Issue (373)] [Category List] [Keyword List] [People List] [Story List] [Branch Dashboard]