News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 116 - 22/05/2003
- RAIL SERVICES [all issues]
- STATIONS [all issues]
- Berney Arms station now has waiting shelter and soon to have help point
- WAGN hopes to improve car parking facilities at St Neots station
- Cambs County council bids for £90m of government money for transport improvements including Chesterton Interchange station
- Kempston Hardwick station amongst least used in the country
- RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE [all issues]
- RAIL ROUTES [all issues]
- RAIL BARGAINS [all issues]
- PRESERVED RAILWAYS [all issues]
Rail East issue 119 should be dropping on doormats any day now. It will have details of the next branch meeting in Ipswich on Saturday 7th June, at the earlier time of 10:30am, with guest speaker Tim Robinson of GB Railfreight.
Railfuture's Nick Dibben spoke to a reporter from the Independent on Sunday about the East West Rail Link for a feature on the progress/lack of it by the Government which was due to appear in the 18th May edition.
The speakers for the Railfuture AGM on Saturday 31st May 2003 in Cardiff are now confirmed. They are Paul Harley, Chairman, Rail Passengers Committee for Wales and Bob Crossfield of First Great Western.
Snippets readers who have been following the Keswick-Penrith rail reinstatement project will be glad to know that the £100,000 bond target was reached by 6th May, and bonds will remain on sale well into the summer. One Train Operating Company has said that it wants to run a regular service on the line. Details from [ckp at cmartindale.fsnet.co.uk].
RAIL SERVICES
RPC calls for better early morning and late night rail links from Cambridge
The Rail Passengers Committee (RPC) for Eastern England has called for better late night rail services to villages so that people can take advantage of Cambridge's night life. It wants better evening train services to Foxton, Shepreth, and Meldreth, whose last train from Cambridge leaves at 21:45. Meldreth Parish Council has undertaken a survey which identified demand for later rail services.
The RPC has also criticised the withdrawal from 19th May of the final Cambridge to Peterborough train - leaving at 22:13 - to allow mid-week maintenance work, meaning that the last train will leave at 20:50.
The RPC criticises the first morning train to London from Cambridge, leaving at 4.25am, which takes 88 minutes ? almost double that of the non-stop "Cambridge Cruiser". It believes that the first trains linking city centres should arrive at their destinations no later than 07:30 on weekdays, with last services leaving no earlier than 23:00.
STATIONS
Berney Arms station now has waiting shelter and soon to have help point
Keywords: [BerneyArmsStation]
The remote Berney Arms station now has a shelter on the narrow station platform. The brand new timber structure, designed and constructed by Anglia Railways' own Buildings Team, is designed to be in keeping with the surrounding area which is an RSPB nature reserve. The station also has new signage which displays the Wherry Lines logo. A customer help point, linked to Ipswich, is planned for later in 2003.
Anglia Press Release: http://www.angliarailways.co.uk/latest-information/news-detail.asp?id=423.
WAGN hopes to improve car parking facilities at St Neots station
Keywords: [StNeotsStation]
WAGN has applied for planning permission to set up a temporary overspill car park on two redundant storage yards to the north and south of St Neots station. It could then build a new car park once plans for a nearby housing development on land to the west of the station are finalised. The current car park is frequently full and cars spill out on to the nearby streets.
Cambridge Evening News: http://w3.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/story.asp?storyid=26730.
Cambs County council bids for £90m of government money for transport improvements including Chesterton Interchange station
Keywords: [CambridgeNorthStation]
Cambs County Council are calling for £90m of government funding to help Cambridgeshire keep on booming in the 21st century. Planners have joined with businesses and organisations such as the Greater Cambridge Partnership and East of England Development Agency to draw up a list of schemes they believe Cambridgeshire desperately needs in the next few years. These include the £18m Chesterton Interchange station and a public transport information system that would show details of bus timetables and bus movements on computer screens plus a messaging system for motorists using the city.
Incidentally people visiting the County's LTP consultation have remarked on the absence of displays about some major road projects that are described in the LTP consultation pamphlet. This is because they excluded 'government' projects. Total expenditure by the County and government seems to be: £700 million on roads, £70+ million on guided bus and £20 million on rail; the latter being Chesterton Interchange station. County representatives confirmed that guided bus project was still not approved - saying "but we have heard some very encouraging things from the government", with the consultation on CHRT starting in "the next 2-3 months" - but their displays gives the impression that it's all go, except for the centre of Cambridge which is shown as a 'black box'. Details of the guided bus can be found at: http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/sub/eandt/planning/trplan/apr/app10.pdf.
Cambridge Evening News report on funding bid: http://w3.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/story.asp?storyid=19232.
Kempston Hardwick station amongst least used in the country
Kempston Hardwick on the Bedford-Bletchley line, which would form part of the East West Rail Link, has roughly 38 passengers a month, according to a recent BBC Radio 4 programme, which was also covered on Anglia News and Central News. Patronage is not helped by the absence of signs directing traffic to the station from the main road. The station - which was built mainly to serve the former Coronation Brickworks - would make a useful Bedford parkway station - if it had a car park - according to a regular passenger interviewed by the Guardian since "It costs the best part of £5 to park in Bedford, and the train costs £2.60. It takes 10 minutes on the train, when it can take 40 minutes in the car because of the traffic." Can Snippets readers think of underused stations in the East Anglian branch area which could attract many more passengers?
RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE
Track safety called into question along Cambridge-Liverpool Street line on anniversary of Potters Bar accident
Uttlesford district councillor Mike Hibbs, an architect, raised concert about the state of sleepers near Newport station on the Liverpool Street line. He took photos showing 50% of bolts were loose and apparently damaged sleepers and contacted Saffron Walden's MP, Sir Alan Haselhurst. Network Rail then inspected the site and in a letter from John Armitt it claims the line is safe. However, two minor rail defects had been found and dealt with and more repair work was due to be carried out.
Network Rail's 'attitude' was criticised by sections of the media. A Cambridge Evening News editorial said: "Network Rail insists the site is safe but it must understand that when passengers have legitimate safety concerns, it is better to welcome such contributions rather than dismiss them."
RAIL ROUTES
Stansted Airport boss insists that new rail links are essential if new runways are built
Managers of Stansted Airport, which is owned by BAA, have said that new rail links must be provided if any new runways are built. BAA had called for phased construction of up to three extra runways in the South East in the next 30 years, of which it says only two more are technically possible at Stansted. Original plans had showed the need for a new rail link if two runways were built but airport managing director Terry Morgan said that a new link is needed even if there is just a single new runway to mitigate against road congestion and vehicle pollution. Stop Stansted Expansion - whose campaign office can be contacted on (01279) 870558 - is insisting that the aviation industry should pay for the cost of rail and road links, rather than the taxpayer, although this may be seen as an attempt to up the price of airport expansion.
Stansted, currently caters for more than 16 million passengers a year but has permission to increase to 25 million, which it aims to reach by 2010, and its single runway has capacity for 35 million passengers. One extra runway would quadruple passenger numbers to 64 million by 2015.
Anyone interested in the tax advantages that airlines receive may be interested in a recent report from the Institute of Public
Policy Research (IPPR) which has called for aviation fuel to be taxed to reflect the environmental damage (including noise, air
pollution and climate change) that it causes. See BBC news reports:
High cost of low-cost airlines: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2327487.stm
Tax-free aviation fuel: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3048515.stm.
RAIL BARGAINS
Popping into Peterborough by train promoted by WAGN
Keywords: [WAGN]
WAGN have just launched a new promotional series of fares using a four colour tri-fold A4 leaflet, for the GN route. Cheap
Day Returns from 18th May 2003 will be available for off-peak journeys to Peterborough. The CDRs are valid after 09:30 Mon-Fri and at any
time on weekends and Bank Holidays. Train frequencies are generally every thirty minutes but hourly from Arlesey. Accompanied children aged
5-15 travel at half price and up to two toddlers under four can go free with each fare paying adult. The new fares cost:
* Huntingdon just £4.50
* St Neots only £6.00
* Sandy - Now Just £7.00 - was £9.70
* Biggleswade Now Only - £7.00 - save £2.80
* Arlesey Now Just £10.00 - was £11.00
* Hitchin Now Only £10.00 - save £2.00.
WAGN's leaflet claims that travelling by WAGN is "stress-free" which means that, "...you can travel from door to store, totally avoiding the hassle of traffic jams and the cost of parking. In fact, the average journey time by train is about 15 minutes less than going by car". The leaflet does not refer to the "Peterborough Card" and whether it will remain valid or is due to be withdrawn.
For Snippets readers unfamiliar with the Peterborough Card, it is a £3.00 annual card that partially serves the purpose of extending the Network South East Area from Huntingdon to Peterborough: The holder gets 1/3rd discount off normal return tickets from St Neots and Huntingdon to Peterborough, although GNER ticket office staff at Peterborough are not always familiar with it.
Network Gold Card free weekend travel offers
In August 2003 the £10 minimum charge for weekday travel with a Network Card (see http://www.railcard.co.uk) will apply to all Network Cards. Some people are aware of the advantage of buying a Gold Card - the cheapest being £104 per year by choosing Ryde Esplanade to Ryde St John's Road stations on the Isle of Wight. However, many people are unaware of the benefits of buying a Gold Card in East Anglia to get free/very cheap weekend travel.
Anyone travelling nearly every weekend may find it cheaper to get a Gold Card. If you buy one in the First Great Eastern area you get unlimited travel on FGE every weekend. Likewise purchasing a Gold Card and a 'London Lines Weekend Ranger for £2.50 gives you unlimited weekend travel on all the ex-NSE NatEx operators (WAGN, c2c or Silverlink). [Outside East Anglia, six free day rover tickets are given by SWT services at weekends when buying their season tickets.] It is not yet apparent what effect the Greater Anglia franchise will have on the Gold Card validity.
PRESERVED RAILWAYS
Mid-Norfolk Railway runs first weed-killer vehicle to North Elmham
Keywords: [MidNorfolkRailway]
On 20th May the first rail vehicle since 1989 travelled along the five miles of track between Dereham and North Elmham. It is a "UniMog" road/rail spraying vehicle which will be operated by Avondale environmental contractors to agreed environmental standards. It was brought to East Dereham by road, and was used to spray weedkiller on the whole 16-mile length of the track from Wymondham to North Elmham.
Teams of volunteers have finished clearing trees and scrub allowing work to commence on repairing the line to bring it back to passenger standards.
The narrow gauge Bure Valley Railway has spent several thousand pounds building it's own dedicated spray unit in order to perform similar duties on its 15 inch gauge line between Aylsham and Hoveton.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 116 - 22/05/2003
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