News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 57 - 28/04/2001
- RAIL MEETINGS [all issues]
- Railfuture Extraordinary General Meeting decides that changes to constitution require a vote of full membership
- Limited term in office proposal defeated
- CHUMMS - A14 CORRIDOR STUDY [all issues]
- RAIL SERVICES [all issues]
- RAIL FREIGHT [all issues]
- RAIL COMPANIES [all issues]
- STATIONS [all issues]
- RAIL NEWS OUTSIDE EAST ANGLIA BRANCH AREA [all issues]
A reminder that the Railfuture AGM will take place on 5th May 2001.
There are just a handful of places left to travel along the March to Wisbech branch - perhaps for the last ever time - on Saturday 12th May. Starts from King's Cross. Also covers Middleton Towers branch. Standard accommodation is fully booked - only first class (incl. breakfast and dinner) is left. Details: http://www.traintrips.co.uk/FT.html.
RAIL MEETINGS
Railfuture Extraordinary General Meeting decides that changes to constitution require a vote of full membership
The Railfuture EGM to discuss changes to the RDS constitution was held on Saturday 21st April 2001 in Birmingham, and attended by 36 members.
After careful consideration of clause 21 of the existing constitution on whether the meeting was authorised to adopt a constitution on this day, a vote was taken and by a small majority it was decided that a full postal vote of the membership is now necessary to change the constitution. The Constitutional Sub-Committee will prepare a final draft of the constitution and it is hoped to enclose a copy together with a voting form in the next edition of Railwatch.
Copies of the minutes of the meeting will be available from John Lee (Admin Officer) in due course.
Limited term in office proposal defeated
The contentious issue concerning the number of years Officers and National Executive members could serve the organisation (clauses 9.3,9.4,9.5A, and 9.5B) was put to the vote with a small majority in favour of deleting these sections, hence there is now NO time limit on the number of years Officers or National Executive members can serve.
CHUMMS - A14 CORRIDOR STUDY
CHUMMS perceived "anti-rail" presentation of options severely affects public support for heavy rail
On 26th April, GO-East revealed the results of the CHUMMS public consultation based on four strategies. From the 3,500 completed questionnaires, according to the Cambridge Evening News, GO-East claim that there is considerable public support for widening the A14 - though not for major new roads - and "public transport schemes like guided buses, light rail and trams".
The sixth CHUMMS newsletter was published on the same day; contact [Judy_Howlett at mouchel.com] for a copy. This showed the public's preferences in 10 geographic areas in a series of pie charts, although no overall totals were published.
Despite the guided busway appearing in three of the four strategies and light-rail in only one, there was at least as much support for light rail or tram as the busway.
There was no area where "heavy rail" (a term which may sound a little alarming to some) received more votes than the guided busway, though it is probably fair to say that the public wanted more buses generally - not necessarily on a busway, and not at the expense of destroying a rail route for ever. Had they been told that a busway might cause existing bus services to be dropped the result could have been different.
As predicted by many, the decision by the consultants to combine road and public transport solutions into single strategies has caused confusion, with the public led to believe they could only have rail if they also suffered a new road. A new northern highway was bound to be highly unpopular - it was! - and the decision to combine it with the only rail option has severely affected public support for rail. Cynics would say this was the intended outcome.
If proof were needed that people misunderstood the form, the lowest vote in favour of rail - just 14% - was in the very same villages where the rail line runs: Oakington, Westwick, Longstanton, Willingham, Over and Swavesey. This area also gave the lowest vote for the new road - just 8.9%. This public consultation has produced results that contradict all other surveys of rail against guided buses, that its validity must surely be in question, and future multi-modal studies should learn this lesson.
John Brown [jbrown.goe at go-regions.gov.uk], GO-East's A14 project manager said that they will endeavour to reply to the many hundreds of letters in due course. A seventh and final CHUMMS newsletter will be published in July which gives clear details of the preferred proposal, which will have to be approved by the regional planners and government before being implemented.
RAIL SERVICES
Anglia Railways return to full mainline service following Hatfield 'melt-down'
Keywords: [AngliaRailways]
Anglia Railways are planning to resume a normal scheduled timetable from Monday 30th April 2001. All Norwich - Ipswich - London mainline services, London Crosslink and all through services between local destinations (Bury St. Edmunds, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft) and London will resume the normal (winter) timetable.
Announcing the news, Tim Clarke, Anglia Railways managing director, said "Passengers are returning to our train services in significant numbers and the combination of a full and reliable service and attractive marketing will help ensure we can secure future real growth in rail travel, restoring the positive trends in passenger numbers we had achieved prior to Hatfield [accident], with year-on-year growth of 10% per annum."
Press release: http://www.angliarailways.co.uk/latest-information/news-detail.asp?id=135.
RAIL FREIGHT
EWS transports timber from Brandon again
Keywords: [EWS]
 |
EWS will be transporting 7,500 tonnes of round-wood timber from Brandon, Norfolk to Kronospan's base at Chirk in North Wales, which is part of an Austrian group manufacturing wood-based panels for furniture. |
Kronospan's Chirk website: http://www.kronospan.co.uk/main.php.
David Murray, EWS Commercial Manager said "More and more goods are being moved by rail instead of road. EWS is delighted that Kronospan have selected rail for the transportation of timber."
RAIL COMPANIES
Speculation mounts that First Group will bid for Anglia Railways' parent GB Railways
Keywords: [GBRailways]
There is speculation that UK-based international train, tram and bus company First Group (which operates the First Great Eastern, Great Western and North Western franchises) will bid to takeover GB Railways Group PLC, which owns Anglia Railways, GB Railfreight and a majority stake in Hull Trains.
Newspapers suggested late last year that GB Railways had serious cash flow problems following Hatfield. Its share price has dropped by 65% in the last six months, and despite winning an award and being granted £1m for new services, reached 35p a share low on 12th April.
If Anglia is taken over by First Group - or any other company - the East Anglia branch will be pressing for service improvements. Please contact Nick Dibben (see Branch Contacts) with your wish list or concerns.
STATIONS
New improved car park opens at Stowmarket station
Keywords: [StowmarketStation]
The new, improved car park at Stowmarket station opens on Monday 30th April. The £60,000 investment by Anglia Railways has provided 75 extra spaces and CCTV surveillance, which has taken only eight weeks to complete.
Work is about to start at Lowestoft station to create 40 extra car parking spaces, and the £2.5 million car park at Ipswich is under construction and on target for completion this autumn.
Press release: http://www.angliarailways.co.uk/latest-information/news-detail.asp?id=136.
RAIL NEWS OUTSIDE EAST ANGLIA BRANCH AREA
National Trust produces "Green Transport News" bulletin
Copies of the National Trust's thrice-yearly Green Transport News can be obtained free - enclosing three first class stamps - from John Hobby, Public Transport Co-ordinator, The National Trust, 36 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9AS. He can be contacted on 07971 828595, fax 01208 77887.
New tram projects are approved
Two of the three major tram projects mentioned in [Snippets 55] - Leeds Supertram and South Hampshire Light Rapid Transport system linking Fareham, Gosport and Portsmouth - have now received government funding approval. The £194m light rail scheme in Bristol is also expected to receive funding approval soon.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 57 - 28/04/2001
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