News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 101 - 30/09/2002
- RAIL SERVICES [all issues]
- REVENUE PROTECTION [all issues]
- ROAD CONGESTION [all issues]
- GUIDED BUSWAY [all issues]
- EAST WEST RAIL LINK [all issues]
- TRESPASS AND VANDALISM [all issues]
- RAIL IN THE MEDIA [all issues]
- RAIL BARGAINS [all issues]
- RAIL COMPANIES [all issues]
- PRESERVED RAILWAYS [all issues]
- WEBSITES [all issues]
Railfuture East Anglia branch will be having a stand at Green Fair in Bury St.Edmunds on Saturday 23rd November 2002 (same day as the FLUA AGM and PNRUG meeting, both in Ely). Volunteers are requested to help man the stall with Nick and Ivan. Anyone wishing to help out should contact Nick Dibben. The Green Fair is organised by West Suffolk Green Party and Friends of the Earth. Details on http://www.burygreen.org.uk.
It's not too late to attend the Rail Users conference at Scientific Societies Lecture Theatre, New Burlington Place, London W1 on Saturday 5th October from 10:30. It costs £10, and you can pay on the day. Speakers include Chris Green of Virgin Trains, Anthony Smith of the Rail Passengers Council and Steve Thompson of National Express, who is managing their bid for the Greater Anglia franchise.
An Exhibition about Alconbury airfield's possible revival as a low-cost passenger airport is scheduled for Thursday 3rd October between 09:00 and 21:00 in the Trinity Room of the Huntingdon Marriott Hotel, Kingsfisher Way, Huntingdon, PE29 6FL. See http://www.aviation.dft.gov.uk/consult/airconsult/se/exhibitions/.
RAIL SERVICES
Anglia Railways pre-launch Cambridge-Norwich service popular with passengers
Keywords: [CambridgeNorwichService]
Anglia ran their pre-launch Cambridge-Norwich services for two weeks, in which hundreds of people took advantage of the £5 promotional to raise awareness of the new service. Peter Meades, spokesman for Anglia Railways, said: "Our trial runs have been very busy, the demand is certainly there."
On Monday 30th September, there were photocalls at both Norwich and Cambridge stations, with Nick Newton, chief operating officer at the Strategic Rail Authority joining Anglia Railways' managing director Tim Clarke.
Anglia press release: http://www.angliarailways.co.uk/latest-information/news-detail.asp?id=352.
REVENUE PROTECTION
Are WAGN to do something about fare evasion at Cambridge at last?
Keywords: [WAGN]
WAGN advertisements for on-train ticket inspectors have recently appeared in local Cambridge newspapers. WAGN have long claimed that it was difficult to recruit on-train staff. A salary of £16,250 and free WAGN travel plus reduced rate national travel is offered for a 35-hour week (with shift work including weekends). Anyone interested should send a CV quoting GN/0903 to Diane Barnes, HR dept, WAGN, 1st Floor, Hertford House, 1 Cranwood Street, London, EC1V 9QS.
ROAD CONGESTION
Great Yarmouth calls for study into traffic congestion
John Holmes, a Yarmouth county councillor has complained that Yarmouth hasn't had a traffic study for 30 years despite being the "second-largest urban area in the county and the third-largest seaside resort". He feels they have been short-changed compared to Norwich and King's Lynn. He and other councillors claim that road congestion is intolerable.
GUIDED BUSWAY
Potential conflict over the use of dismantled Cambridge-Trumpington line
The Hunts Post ran a news item suggesting that there may be conflict for the Cambridge-Trumpington railway line between Cambridge to Huntingdon Multi Modal Study (pro-busway) and London to South Midlands Multi-Modal Study (LSM MMS) which might include a Cambridge-St.Neots rail link on that line.
Howard Blessington, a director of LSM MMS consultants FaberMaunsell, said it not possible to say one MMS scheme has preference over the other." He said the LSM MMS team were 90 per cent certain they could find a way of bringing in a train from the west, possibly via St Neots, and 100 per cent certain of a route from the south.
The Hunts Post quoted Branch secretary Nick Dibben saying "One thing that is very clear is that there is a number of very differing developments being talked about and there does not seem to be any co-ordination. The Government is looking at airports, the district is looking at housing, the county is looking at guided buses and then teams such as CHUMMS and LSM MMS are looking at transport issues. Much of the route is open country so there would not be a problem, but the railway bridge [A1301 in Trumpington] is a pinch point."
Meanwhile, Cambridge residents have been accusing the SuperCAM brochures of disguising the sizes of the monster-sized buses. They claim that "every picture except one shows only front or rear sections of a bus. In one picture a bus is shown in full length but at a very steep angle, which makes it look shorter. There is not a single picture of a bus in full-length profile against a building for proportion and all pictures are computer-generated impressions, not real photos."
EAST WEST RAIL LINK
Bedford-Sandy Report available from Bedfordshire Railway and Transport Association
Copies of a report showing the planned rail route between Sandy and Bedford, which includes diagrams and photos, are available for £7.50 from the BRTA. Send a cheque payable to BRTA to 24c St Michael's Road, Bedford, MK20 2LT.
TRESPASS AND VANDALISM
Stone throwing vandals cause Cambridge train to be taken out of service
A King's Lynn to London WAGN train, with 300 passengers, was taken out of service at Cambridge station after a passenger carriage window was smashed by young vandals (aged 7 and 15) from Chesterton railway bridge, north of the city, at 16:30 on 20th September. The BTP have warned youngsters that they risk imprisonment for such acts.
RAIL IN THE MEDIA
BBC News Online appoints Witham-London commuter as "Rail Commuters' Champion"
BBC News Online, which has been asking for nominations to become their Rail Commuter's Champion, has announced that Jon Yuill has been chosen. He commutes each weekday between Witham and Liverpool Street, and says his biggest gripes are overcrowding of trains and unreliability. His quick-win solution would be more seats and better information for passengers who are often "left milling around, frantically trying to locate their train, wondering which platform it will arrive at".
Jon, who's been commuting for 20 years, was quoted saying "When I started, I was a passenger. Now I'm known as a 'customer'. It's a ridiculous affectation. Customers tend to have a choice. We don't."
BBC news report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2288272.stm.
RAIL BARGAINS
WAGN offers free rail travel with McDonalds 'happy meals'
Keywords: [WAGN]
Just buy two McDonalds Happy Meals between the 23rd September and 27th October 2002 and you will receive an exclusive voucher giving you free rail travel and entry into one of our 10 top family attractions which will be valid when you buy one Wagn Adventure Days ticket. Must also buy a full-price Adventure Days ticket to venues such as British Museum and London Zoo. Only from certain McDonalds 'restaurants'. See www.wagn.co.uk for details.
RAIL COMPANIES
Freightliner parent withdraws from offer to buy GB Railfreight
Keywords: [GBRailfreight]
Freightliner parent MCB has said it no longer wishes to acquire GB Railfreight, which it was trying to buy in a venture with GNER. The GB Railways board did not consider MCB's offer to be of sufficient merit to enter formal discussions, since it did not reflect the potential value that GB Railways felt it could delivering for shareholders. GB is now no longer in an "offer period". The Company expects to announce its interim results for the six months ending 30th September towards the end of November.
PRESERVED RAILWAYS
Funding assured for Mid-Norfolk Railway station at Kimberley Park to reopen
Keywords: [MidNorfolkRailway]
The Countryside Agency has awarded funding, under the Vital Villages Scheme, to Kimberley & Carleton Forehoe Parish Council for the reopening of Kimberley Park station, which has been disused for over 30 years. The grant will be used to repair and regauge the platform edge slabs, which had subsided, and provide a platform shelter, lighting, replica signage and cycle racks. MNR volunteers have already started working on the station. The parish council (also through the grant) will provide a footpath linking the Station with the village green.
WEBSITES
Network Rail launches website
Network Rail, the new not-for-dividend company set up to run the rail infrastructure in place of Railtrack has a new website now running at http://www.networkrail.co.uk.
They are running an advert for members of the public to join the board as public interest members. See http://www.networkrail.co.uk/Network_Rail_press_ad(ii)_20-09-02.pdf for a copy of the advertisement. The completed questionnaire, which asks why you think you should be a public member, needs to arrive by 11th October.
New website to promote 'piggyback' freight transport on rail
A new website http://www.piggybacktrial.com has been set-up to promote the use of intermodal or 'piggyback' transportation which is current operating from Tilbury in Essex and Grangemouth in Scotland. The website shows a video of the Blue Circle, with a tanker arriving by road, being offloaded and then continuing on its way by rail.
Railtrack's dedicated website for its 14 major stations
Railtrack has a website http://www.majorstations.com with information for passengers about each of its 14 major stations (Fenchurch Street omitted), including copies of the latest station newsletter for each.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 101 - 30/09/2002
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