News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 164 - 02/05/2007
- ROUTE UTILISATION STRATEGIES [all issues]
- STATIONS [all issues]
- RAIL SERVICES [all issues]
- RAIL FRANCHISES [all issues]
In the nine months since their launch in June 2006, 'one' railway has sold more than half a million advance rail tickets. These offer one-way journeys to or from London for as little as £5. Theo Steel, the Sales and Marketing Director for 'one', claims that sales had far exceeded their expectations.
ROUTE UTILISATION STRATEGIES
Network Rail publishes draft Anglia RUS with a 10-year growth agenda
On 18th April Network Rail published the draft of its Anglia RUS. There is a 12-week consultation period, during which organisations such as Railfuture will comment, and then Network Rail will revise the document for delivery to the Office of Rail Regulation in the autumn.
Network Rail's analysis looked at the forecast growth in population, employment and housing, and then estimated rail usage over the next decade, which is the lifetime of the RUS. Obviously growth will vary across the rail network, with commuting into London expected to see the highest growth. For example, it expects a 17% rise for jounreys into Liverpool Street by 2016.
To provide capacity for the growth Network Rail suggested the usual solutions of longer trains (up to 12 cars long), expanding station car parks, increasing the gauge so that freight trains can operate between Felixstowe and Nuneaton rather than through London, and removing freight speed restrictions along that route. For more information, see the briefing to stakeholders that was reported in [Snippets 162].
STATIONS
Redevelopment around Cambridge station on hold whilst a new, more acceptable, proposal is produced
Keywords: [CambridgeStation]
The £725 million plans for revamping the Station Road area of Cambridge have been shelved by developer Ashwell Property Group, as they have decided not to appeal against Cambridge City Council's decision to refuse planning permission for the 'cb1' scheme, which would have seen a transport interchange, 1,400 flats, a hotel, offices and a multi-storey car park. The council had criticised the developer's failure to meet the needs of rail users, public transport users, taxi users, pedestrians and cyclists. The company is now working on a new proposal for the 21.5 acres around the station.
Meanwhile, direct bus services seving Cambridge staiton have been cut back. Stagecoach has stopped running buses between the station and the Grtafton shopping centre from 10:00 to 15:00, and from 09:45 to 15:10 on Sundays.
RAIL SERVICES
First Capital Connect aims to introduce improved timetable to benefit peak-time commuters
Keywords: [FirstCapitalConnect]
First Capital Connect (FCC) is hoping to introduce 16 extra carriages (cascaded from another operators) and 1,200 more seats from May 2008 to increase rush hour capacity on the King's Cross to King's Lynn services, which are currently one of the most overcrowded in Britain.
On 9th and 10th May FCC will be holding a series of meetings with local authorities, MPs, rail user groups and other stakeholders in Cambridge to discuss its proposed draft timetable, which has been provisionally approved by the Department for Transport. The proposal has not yet been made public, so presumably attendees will have no knowledge of it prior to the first meeting. However, South Cambridgeshire MP Andrew Lansley, has seen the document and belives the changes would only be a short-term measure, because additional housing (508,000 new homes set to be built in the region over the next 20 years) is increasing demand. He believes the trains would be back to the level of overcrowding they are at now.
More investment in East Anglia rolling stock is planned with 'one' railway intending to invest £60 million to upgrade its fleet of Class 315 trains. The work will improve the passenger environment and reliability of the trains. There will be new windows, seat covers, flooring and an improved door mechanism on the trains. The refurbishment of all 61 trains should be complete by early 2008.
'one' press release: http://www.onerailway.com/templates/NewsArticle.aspx?id=3589.
RAIL FRANCHISES
GNER attempts to continue involvement in East Coast Mainline operations with joint venuture
Keywords: [GNER]
GNER effectively handed in the keys to the East Coast mainline franchise, for which it agreed to pay a huge premium, because it could not meet its financial obligations owing to the financial difficulties of its parent, Sea Containers. It is currently on a temporary management agreement until the new franchise is awarded. It has now agreed a partnership bid with Virgin Trains and Stagecoach, which would give GNER a 10% stake in the operation. Its partners are obviously hoping that the GNER reputartion will help them win based on quality, and would avoid the costs of rebranding as well as retaining good will. The Department of Transport has approved GBNER's involvement.
BBC news item: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6533269.stm.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 164 - 02/05/2007
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