News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 148 - 12/05/2005
- RAIL FRANCHISES [all issues]
- RAIL SERVICES [all issues]
- 'one' announces timetable chances effective from 12th June 2005
- Plans for liong-distance through services to Great Yarmouth in 2005 are abandoned
- RAIL SERVICES [all issues]
- ST.IVES LINE [all issues]
- Cambridgeshire County Council's costs for progressing guided busway are double anticipated amount
- CAST.IRON highlights near redundancy of guided busway once A14 widening is complete
- Election candidates criticise guided busway
- CAST.IRON appeals to members to renew membership to help it top up funds
- STATIONS [all issues]
- RAIL SAFETY [all issues]
- TRANSPORT CONSULTATIONS [all issues]
- PROMOTING RAIL TRAVEL [all issues]
- TransportWatch attacks Railfuture's "Case for Rail" booklet
- RSPB produces series of leaflets encouraging visitors to arrive by bus and train
- RAIL FARES [all issues]
- AIR TRAVEL [all issues]
- RAIL FREIGHT [all issues]
- PRESERVED RAILWAYS [all issues]
- North Norfolk District Council hosts tourism event at North Norfolk Railway
- Mid-Norfolk Railway forced to postpone launch of steam services
- WEBSITES [all issues]
Railfuture's East Anglia branch now has three of the ten non-officer members of the board (Clara Zilahi, Jerry Alderson and Trevor Garrod). The seven others are: Andrew MacFarlane, Ian McDonald, David Redgewell, Philip Bissatt, Trevor Jones, Rowland Pittard and Norman Bradbury. Chairman Mike Crowhurst and Vice Chairman Ray King were re-elected, both by very narrow margins. A total of 474 ballot papers were received. Contrary to Snippets 147, Railfuture ballot papers had to be returned by 23rd April as John Lee brought forward the deadline. It is hoped that no-one missed the date.
The National AGM in Peterborough on Saturday 7th May was a great success attracting around 85 members. Speakers were James Adeshiyan of WAGN, and CAST.IRON chairman Tim Phillips. There was also a chance to see CAST.IRON's professionally produced display. One Rail User Group secretary observed "CAST.IRON has shown that volunteers can run a professional outfit.
Membership officer David Harby revealed at the AGM that Railfuture's membership now stands at 2,650. Membership leaflets are being sent to heritage railways in the coming months as one of the ways of attracting new members.
The registered office of the Railway Development Society Limited is now 18a Grantham Road, Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln LN4 2LD.
Following the election, Tony Blair has left Alistair Darling as Transport Minister. Tim Yeo (MP for South Suffolk since 1983) has stepped down as shadow environment and transport secretary. Members who lobbied about the Railways Bill wil be interested to know it received Royal Assent on Thursday 7th April. The Houses of Commons and Lords passed a "carry-over motion" so that the Crossrail Bill can be carried over into the new Parliament.
The ESTA AGM is on Saturday 14th May in St Marks Church Centre, Bridge Road, Oulton Broad. It is next to Oulton Broad South station and the 14:30 meeting fits in with the 13:02 train from Ipswich and 17:00 from Lowestoft. Peter Meades of "One Anglia" and Mary Skelcher from the Rail Passengers' Committee for Eastern England are the speakers.
National Community Rail day is also on 14th May. 'one' is offering 2 for 1 travel on its community lines plus discounts for rail travellers on Bure Valley and North Norfolk Railway. There is a CRP stall at Norwich station. The first ever National Community Railfest is planned for Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th September 2005. Backed by 'one', Network Rail, Norfolk County Council and ACoRP, there will be a gala at Norwich station with events on the Bittern and Wherry Lines.
Dates for Branch meetings in 2005 are: Sat 25th June in Bury St Edmunds Library and Sat 1st Oct in Norwich Assembly Rooms. A December meeting is intended for Cambridge, likely to be second Saturday.
A meeting of RUG's and pro-rail groups is being held at 12:30-14:15 on Saturday 4th June in the upstairs Children's Room at the Friends Meeting House, 5 Lansdowne Road, Bedford (off Union Street). This 10-minutes walk from the railway station. Organised and funded by BRTA it is for like minded groups who want to pool talents and resources and who wish to oppose the proposed Willington rowing lake as it would cause a major blockage to reopening a Bedford-Sandy rail link via the inner route. For further info, contact BRTA, 115 Kimble Drive, Bedford, MK41 9SZ.
The Railway Safety and Standards Board report into the Potters Bar accident can be found at:
http://www.rssb.co.uk/pdf/reports/Potters%20Bar%20derailment%20-%20report%20and%20recommendations.pdf.
RAIL FRANCHISES
GNER's optimistic franchise repayments helped by 10% passenger increase in 2004
Keywords: [GNER]
 |
GNER has announced a 10% rise in passenger numbers, with 16.6m people using the service in 2004. This is an increase of 34% since it took over the service in 1996. It expects passenger numbers to rise by 30% over the next ten years. Now that GNER has a new franchise the Competition Commission has discontinued its partially complete FirstGroup Inter City East Coast franchise inquiry, which had wasted a considerable amount of money that First could have spent on the railway. |
RAIL SERVICES
'one' announces timetable chances effective from 12th June 2005
Keywords: [OneRailway]
On 26th April 'one' announced summer timetable revisions following its assessment of customer feedback and the survey work carried out by the Rail Passengers Committee as a result of December 2004's changes. It aims to make better use of rolling stock.
The Monday to Friday 07:19 Lowestoft to Norwich trains will depart 07:40, closer to the pre-December timetable, and the 07:43 service will depart at 07:58 ensuring that the busiest train from Lowestoft will have three carriages to cope with the demand, especially from school children.
All Ipswich to Cambridge train services on the hourly frequency Monday to Saturday service will call at Needham Market, Elmswell and Thurston. The 16:43 Cambridge to Ipswich service, used by school children, and commuters, will have two carriages train. Currently some trains are a single carriage requiring 'one' to provide buses or taxis.
The 06:33 Norwich to Cambridge service will arrive at 07:13 at Brandon to serve early-morning commuters. The 17:30 Norwich to Liverpool Street service will also call at Stowmarket on Mondays to Fridays providing a more frequent level of service for commuters working in Norwich.
Numerous tweaks are being made to Liverpool Street services for Colchester, Braintree, Clacton and Walton on the Naze to offer more journey opportunities at some intermediate stations. There are also extra calls at Stratford to aid connections.
The Bittern Line will also see extra stops for passengers at Salhouse, Gunton, Roughton Road and Worstead stations. Departure changes at Norwich and Sheringham are changing to aid commuters, students and local schools. The late evening services introduced in 2003 remain in the timetable.
Further details: http://www.onerailway.com.
Plans for liong-distance through services to Great Yarmouth in 2005 are abandoned
Wherry Lines Partnership Peter Lawrence has confirmed that the long awaited planned through Central Trains journeys to Great Yarmouth on Summer Saturdays will not go ahead in 2005. The intention had been for 'one' drivers to take over the trains at Norwich, go to Yarmouth, and then hand them back to Central on returning to Norwich. This would have avoided route knowledge problems for Central Trains' drivers and the need to hire extra drivers.
RAIL SERVICES
WAGN amongst TOCs to raise concerns about Grand Central's request for open access licence
Keywords: [GrandCentral]
No TOC seems to be happy with Grand Central's application to run open access trains between King's Cross and Sunderland/Bradford.
WAGN complained that the new services would have an overall adverse effect on the operational performance of its services by using spare capacity on the ECML south of Peterborough, and also prefers to see paths given to long trains. They are also concerns at the lack of platforms at King's Cross for the 06:00/14:00 from Sunderland and 10:00/18:00 from King's Cross. It is also concerned at the 30 minute turnaround which "presents a considerable risk of reactionary delay should there be anything but the smallest of delay to the services." The current Rules of the Plan states minimum turnaround times of 40/45 minutes at King's Cross and 35 minutes at the country end for long-distance services. WAGN is also concerned that its Hertford Loop services are more likely to be curtailed as GC would be given priority. It is also concerned that an application for Peterborough stops might be applied for in the future affecting its revenue.
GNER is strongly opposed as new services may remove capacity for its 12 additional trains between Leeds and London "from December 2007 (or earlier)". Loss of paths could, it claims, prevent electrification of the route between Leeds and Hambleton South Jn, together with a new Parkway station as they rely on GNER providing a record 80 trains per day between Leeds and London. GNER is also concerned about creating a performance risk to all existing operators on the route, and the use of stock that is not cleared for 125 mph operation. Sadly for a rail operator, GNER believes that a coach link on part of the route is likely to be significantly faster than any rail link.
Hull Trains avoided charges of hypocrisy by welcoming more open access passenger services as being in the spirit of EU directive 2001/14. However, they also raised the issue of Mk 3a coaches that are compatible with the proposed locomotives have a maximum speed of 110mph, and how the stock would be stabled at the London end.
WAGN: http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/s17-gcen1_wagn_resp.pdf
GNER: http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/s17-gcen1_gner_resp.pdf
HULL: http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/s17-gcen1_hull_resp.pdf.
ST.IVES LINE
Cambridgeshire County Council's costs for progressing guided busway are double anticipated amount
A Railfuture member used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the costs incurred by Cambridgeshire County Council to progress the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway to the public inquiry stage. These show that £2.2m has been spent to date. The information was issued in a press release by CAST.IRON and generated an basic article in the Cambridge Evening News. The Hunts Post acted upon the press release and contacted Bob Menzies, head of delivery for the guided busway, at the county council for a quote.
He revealed that the inquiry cost more than twice the amount it had budgeted for because nearly 2,750 people raised objections - significantly more than TWA Order applications. It spent £1.675 million on lawyers (including £405k for Birham Dyson Bell and £338k for Bobyn Purchas QC and his team) and consultants, compared with a budget of £800,000 for the year. The extra £875,000 has been funded from other parts of the integrated transport budget. This has delayed implementation of a real-time information system for bus passengers. The council is now trying to persuade the Government to increase its contribution to the £86.4 million busway part of the scheme beyond the £65 million promised when the cost was estimated at £73 million. It hopes that government will pay at least £78.4m (£13.4m more), so that it still only has to find £8m.
The CEN website held an online poll asking if too much money had been spent on the guided busway: 81% of respondents voted 'Yes'.
CEN Article: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/region_wide/2005/05/05/41851e42-8aa0-45ba-b76e-d7795a113618.lpf.
CAST.IRON highlights near redundancy of guided busway once A14 widening is complete
Keywords: [CASTIRON]
Prior to the general election CAST.IRON issued a press release explaining that the Highways Agency's plan for the A14 means the guided bus scheme will produce even fewer journey-time benefits than the County Council were willing to admit at the Public Inquiry thus severely affecting its modelling. The plans also support a number of the objections raised at the Public Inquiry, which were dismissed at the time by the Council.
Objectors told the Inquiry that the A14 upgrade would improve journey times by up to 20% for both existing bus services and private cars, with the guided bus giving negligible journey time savings for both public and private transport users even without the upgrade. The County claimed the A14 upgrade would only benefit long-distance, rather than local, traffic since "local traffic will be catered for with the provision of a [single carriageway] local access road with at-grade junctions and roundabouts" and that "local traffic in the corridor will use little, if any, of the improved A14". However, detailed drawings from the Highways Agency, completely contradict the County Council's claims as local traffic will be able to easily get onto the fast A14 road.
Atkins is the Highways Agency consultant for the A14, as well as being the guided bus consultants where they claimed to be unaware of the details of the proposed A14 upgrade plans. "The public can draw its own conclusions as to what Atkins knew about the A14 upgrade when it gave evidence to the guided bus Inquiry2 said Tim Phillips of CAST.IRON. "The important point is that these details from the Highways Agency, withheld until after the Inquiry ended, show clearly that the case for the guided bus is much poorer than the County Council claimed during the Inquiry. In fact, as their case has always been at best marginal. This development defeats it entirely."
CAST.IRON has since written to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, copying to the Secretary of State for Transport, laying out this new evidence, which it feels should have been made available at the public inquiry. The inspector's report is now unlikely to be revealed before July.
When Parliament reassembles on 17 May, Lord Berkeley of the Rail Freight Group will be putting down a written question: "To ask HMG whether it considers that the recently announced upgrade of the A14 by the Highways Agency destroys any case for the guided busway between Cambridge and St Ives."
CEN Article: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/region_wide/2005/04/28/0d1a5d69-a233-4ad6-9872-e5066e23f0f8.lpf.
Election candidates criticise guided busway
Senior rail manager Jonathan Chatfield stood unsuccessfully as a Liberal Democrat against Conservative Jim Paice for the South-east Cambridgeshire. His election literature said: "Lorries need to be taken off the roads in far greater numbers with freight companies given proper incentives to use rail-based alternatives. The possibility of this happening will take a massive step backwards if the [Cambridgeshire] guided bus goes ahead. That's why the Liberal Democrats have led a campaign to oppose its introduction."
His Labour opponent Fiona Ross also opposes it saying "The guided bus strategy has serious floors (sic) and I have concerns regarding technical issues - i.e. it may not work. In short, I am opposed to the guided bus scheme."
Conservative Jim Paice was less overtly critical of the guided busway.
Shona Johnstone, cabinet member for Transport and Environment at the County Council, who advocates the guided busway say here majority drop from 1668 in 1668 to just 186. (Note: constituency boundaries had changed.) Many observed the cruel irony that had a Green candidate, who scored 475 votes, not stood against her, she could have been defeated by a Lib Dem who opposed covering 70 acres of the countryside with concrete.
CAST.IRON appeals to members to renew membership to help it top up funds
Keywords: [CASTIRON]
CAST.IRON executives have announced that "Membership renewals and further donations at this point in time are welcome and indeed encouraged." This will help to fund a legal fight against the guided busway or, hopefully, enable CAST.IRON to commence its acquisition and renovation of the railway line. An application form is available at http://www.castiron.org.uk/Membership.php.
STATIONS
SRA says that Whittlesea station will not close
Keywords: [WhittleseaStation]
On Thursday 12th May an article in the Peterborough Evening Telegraph included comments from branch secretary Nick Dibben talking about the Railfuture AGM and the possible closure of Whittlesea station as part of a route utilisation study. However, the SRA say that their report on Eastern Region capacity is due out in the summer but will not include closing the station.
Fires affect both Littleport and Huntingdon station
Keywords: [HuntingdonStation]
An arson attack on a listed Victorian waiting shelter at Littleport in early April saw it completely destroyed, whilst a fire in the coffee kiosk on the up platform at Huntingdon caused damage to the roof. Train services were disrupted on both occasions.
RAIL SAFETY
Cambridge Evening News highlights level 3 SPAD at Cambridge station in March
Keywords: [CambridgeStation]
In mid-May the Cambridge Evening News published an article about a level-3 SPAD that occurred at Cambridge station on 24th March when a 'one' driver drove an empty train from a siding to platform 4 passing a red signal by 800 yards. Fearing a sensationalist news story CAST.IRON refused to be publicly quoted. Railfuture did not comment either.
TRANSPORT CONSULTATIONS
A14 widening public consultation starts, is postponed for election, and resumes
The A14-upgrade public consultation launched 30th March was almost immediately suspended as the General
Election was called for 5th May - hardly unexpected. Coun. Derek Holley, leader of Huntingdonshire District
Council, protested "This is not a political issue. The people manning the exhibition are professional
engineers, not politicians." New exhibition dates have been set (all 12:00-20:00 unless stated), with
those on 23rd May onwards being in a travelling bendy bus:
* Buckden Millennium Community Centre, Burberry Road, Buckden - 17th May
* Cambridgeshire Moat House, Bar Hill - 18th May
* Brampton Memorial Centre, Thrapston Road, Brampton - 19th May
* Hinchingbrooke Country Park, Brampton Road, Huntingdon - 20th-21st May (10:00-16:00 on 21st)
* Tesco, Cambridge Road, Milton - 23rd May
* The George PH, High Street, Fenstanton - 24th May
* The Market Square, High Street, Huntingdon - 25th May
* Car Park, A1 Autocare Garage, High Street, Offord Cluny - 26th May<
* Godmanchester Primary School, Park Lane, Godmanchester - 27th May.
For latest information see: http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/a_roads/a14/ellington_fen_ditton.
PROMOTING RAIL TRAVEL
TransportWatch attacks Railfuture's "Case for Rail" booklet
Railfuture gained some useful credibility when Paul Witherington of Transport Watch recently attacked the 'Case for Rail' booklet written by Norman Bradbury in late 2003. "The Case for Rail by Railfuture ? A critique by Transport-Watch", written on 4th April 2005, can be read on http://www.transwatch.co.uk/transport-case-for-rail.htm. Railfuture claims that this critique is deeply flawed misunderstanding data, especially the figures for coach use in the USA, which are actually a daily not hourly rate!
RSPB produces series of leaflets encouraging visitors to arrive by bus and train
The RSPB have produced a series of leaflets for the 205/6 season encouraging their visitors to arrive at their centres by bus and/or train such as "Come to Sheringham Park by train and bus!" and similar leaflets for West Runton & Beeston Regis, Sutton Hoo, Wicken Fen, North Walsham and Blicking. Copies can be obtained from RSPB East Anglia Regional Office, Stalham House, 65 Thorpe Road, Norwich, NR1 1UD.
RAIL FARES
GNER allows passengers to obtain cheap tickets as soon as they become available
Keywords: [GNER]
Some passengers know months in advance that they want to travel on a particular day but are unable to book a ticket until nearer the time (due to Network Rail's reluctance to finalise the details of engineering works), unlike most airlines. However, GNER will now notify prospective passengers by email when booking opens for a particular period. To register to be notified about booking release dates enter details at http://fs3.emv2.com/uk/gner/join/webform.html.
Meanwhile GNER has hired Manugistics, a specialist research company, to carry out a study of passengers. Its information will be used to help produce for its new pricing structure, which is looking to cut the number of unsold seats from 50% to 40%.
AIR TRAVEL
Conservative party support for aviation tax
In a pre-election interview with the Guardian, then shadow transport secretary, Tim Yeo, gave support for a Europe-wide tax on aviation fuel. He said "Aviation has to take account of its environmental impact to a greater extent than it has done in the past." However, this was predicted to add a mere £7 to the cost of airline tickets, which is unlikely to affect Britain's boom in low-cost air travel. Airlines currently pay less than 20p a litre for jet fuel.
Mr Yeo did question the justification for flying between London and Scotland. Unfortunately rather than recommending rail travel he said "If you are going to go from London to Glasgow the environmental impact is often less if you drive." He also said he would impose stringent financial obstacles to the construction of a new runway at Stansted airport.
RAIL FREIGHT
More freight trains from Felixstowe Port expected in next 15 years
Keywords: [FelixstowePort]
Peter Lawrence reported to the Railfuture AGM that "On Thursday 5th May it was announced that Hutchinsons, owners of Felixstowe Port wished to increase the number of Freight trains between Ipswich and Felixstowe by 12 trains a day by the year 2020 [avoiding more than 500,000 road freight journeys a year]. This would involve doubling the present single track between these points and also three additional sidings in Ranelagh Road marshalling yards at Ipswich."
Leaflets have been delivered to the 900 affected residents. A consultation process will last until the end of July 2005.
BBC News story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/4516035.stm.
PRESERVED RAILWAYS
North Norfolk District Council hosts tourism event at North Norfolk Railway
Keywords: [NorthNorfolkRailway]
On Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd April 2005 North Norfolk District Council's Tourism Promotions department organised a "Day Out In Norfolk Event 2005" exhibition hosted by the North Norfolk Railway at Holt Station. Friday's event was for business visitors only but Saturday's was open to the public.
Mid-Norfolk Railway forced to postpone launch of steam services
Keywords: [MidNorfolkRailway]
The Mid-Norfolk Railway steam operations scheduled to take place during the whole of May have had to be postponed. No official reason was given. although not all of the infrastructure work required had been completed. The new dates will be announced on http://www.mnr.org.uk.
WEBSITES
Tricks of the trade for travel companies available on the web
The http://www.atoctraveltrade.org area of the Association of Train Operating Companies is specifically aimed at the travel trade. Sections include "How do I sell rail tickets?", "Applying for a licence" and the process for dealing with refunds.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 148 - 12/05/2005
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