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East Anglia Branch News - Snippets Issue 190 - 15/05/2009

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News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.

Railfuture News Snippets 190 - 15/05/2009



BBC-2 will be showing a programme about the redevelopment of King's Cross station at 21:00 on Friday 15th May. It is called "Full Steam Ahead" and is part 4 of the "English Heritage" series.

The Politics Show on BBC-1 at 11:00 on Sunday 24th May will include an item about the governance of Network Rail and will feature interviews with Christian Wolmar and Louise Ellman MP.

There are still places at the Rail Improvement Confernece at the Barbican in London (Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS) on Thursday 21st May. The event is free, and it will include presentations from the sponsors such as 3M. Phone 01782 740088 or see for more information.

At the Railfuture AGM in Leeds on 9th May it was announced that two new directors were elected to the Board to serve for three years. They are Colin Elliff and Roger Blake. Clara Zilahi was returned for another three years whilst Ian McDonald and Trevor Jones filled the 1-year positions.

The Railfuture AGM also appointed Norman Baker MP, Lib-Dem transport spokesman, as a vice president. Former ATOC director Chris Austin, who recently retired and has expressed interest in becoming a vice chairman subject to understanding more about the role, was provisionally appointed should he wish to accept.

Network Rail has released its draft electrification strategy as part of the Network RUS. The document is at http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browseDirectory.aspx?dir=\RUS%20Documents\Route%20Utilisation%20Strategies\Network&pageid=4449&root=\RUS%20Documents\Route%20Utilisation%20Strategies. A summary of this 133-page document has been produced by RailNews at http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/business/2009/05/18-nr-electrification-programe.html.

From Monday 18th May Cambridge will see its first ever regular 12-car trains to King's Cross, with the 07:15 and 07:45 departures making use of the extended platforms at Cambridge and Royston. It is possible that some of the trains on Sunday 17th will also be formed of 12 carriages to carry Cambridge United fans to London for their match at Wembley. Network Rail rescheduled engineering works at the last moment to allow trains to run to King's Cross.

From 17th May, the start of the summer timetable on May 17, passengers will have to pay £2.50 per journey to reserve seats on NXEA's Norwich?Liverpool Street trains. A spokesman tried to justify the change saying "We find that people are often reserving multiple seats as they're not sure which train they are going to catch", although most passengers believe it is merely an attempt to raise revenue.

Volunteers organised by Fenland District Council, with permission from Network Rail and NatEx East Anglia, will be descending on March station on Saturday 23rd May from 10:00 until 13:00 to clear vegetation from the former Spalding line platforms (finishing what was started a few months back) and brightening up the station with hanging baskets of flowers etc. Volunteers can just turn up on the day.

By 30th April 2009 the tiny Whitwell and Reepham railway in Norfolk had attracted its 306th member. For more details see http://www.whitwellstation.com. It also attracted national attention in the Metro on 28th April - see http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=145128&in_page_id=34.

The North Norfolk Railway has so far raised £55,000 towards the £130,000 cost of reinstating the level crossing at Sheringham. See: http://www.nnrailway.co.uk/crossing.htm.

The introduction of light-weight Parry People Movers onto minor branch lines took a leap forward in mid-May when the Class 139 vehicle finally commenced full-time operation on the Stourbridge line in the West Midlands. The first paying passengers were carried on 29th March.


RAIL FARES
Train operators raise fares despite negative inflation rate for first timee in 50 years

With the Retail Price index now negative, and expected to sink to -3%, train companies will be increasing various fares from the summer timetale on 17th May.

The price of 16-25, Family & Friends and Senior Railcards will increase from £24 to £26, whilst a Network Railcard will increase from £20 to £25 with the £10 minimum fare increase to £13. However, there is animprovements to the 16-25 Railcard which will provide a 1/3 discount on First Class Advance fares.

The All-Live Rover, Britains least publicised rail ticket, used by Lord Adonis on his 2,200-mile railway tour of Britain last is to raise by 15% (£55) from £375 to £430 (Child £284). This is the highest increase since the railways were privatised. The other fares are:
* First Class 7 days: £650 (Child £429), Standard 14 days: £650 (Child £429), First 14 days: £990 (Child £653).


RAIL ROUTES
Businessmen suggest Cambridge-Norwich high-speed link

George Freeman, founder of 4D Biomedical, and Nigel Brown, chairman of the Greater Cambridge Partnership, have suggested that a high-speed link between Cambridge and Norwich should be built. However, they are do not have the money themselves and are looking at how to raise the necessary £4,000 million. The idea has been picked up by the local media.


RAIL SERVICES
ESTA concerned about National Express East Anglia's modification to Service Level Commitment

Keywords: [NationalExpressEastAnglia]

Earlier this year NXEA's announced that it wished to modify the Service Level Commitment which it agreed to when it was awarded its franchise. ESTA's has written to Lord Adonis, Minister of State at the Department for Transport, because NXEA is believed to want to changes is services between London and Lowestoft. Although NXEA has not indicated what those changes might be. ESTA Chairman Trevor Garrod has pointed out to the Minister that the current through trains between East Suffolk Line stations and the capital are popular and help the railway compete effectively with the A12. ESTA is concerned that there should be no withdrawal of, or reduction in, these trains. NXEA has promised a consultation exercise, probably starting in mid-June.


STATIONS
First Capital Connect continues car park expansion programme

Keywords: [FirstCapitalConnect]

FCC says that the expansion of the car park at Royston (on the western side), which will provide 205 new spaces and include CCTV linked to a manned control centre, is due for completion in June. The £3.7 million railway underpass, which is being managed by Hertfordshire County Council, is planned for 2010.

Further north, works to provide car parking at Watlington could commence in August 2009 if land issues can be resolved.

FCC says that it is improving the lighting at a number of stations including Littleport, St Neots, Meldreth, Welwyn North, Stevenage and Baldock. CCTV and Help Points have already been installed at St Neots and Huntingdon.

Railfuture counts 452 passengers during all-day station count at Newmarket

Keywords: [NewmarketStation]

Railfuture members performed a station count at Newmarket station for the first train of the day to the last on Thursday 23rd April. The busiest train saw 54 people board to Cambridge at 07:51, whilst the 17:04 and 18:04 to Ipswich had 30 people alight. The service ran to time throughout the day.

Southend Airport station due to open in December 2009

Keywords: [SouthendAirportStation]

Following its £21m acquisition of Southend Airport in 2008, the Stobart transport firm has announced that the £12m railway station that it is constructing at Southend Airport should open in December 2009. However, neither Network Rail nor NXEA have confirmed the date. When the service commences, trains should take 49 minutes to reach Liverpool Street station, with no need to change at Rochford to access the Airport by train. Stobart has plans to extend the runway and build a new terminal building adjoining the station.


GUIDED BUSWAY
Driver training starts on Cambridgeshire Guided Busway

Following the start of training for drivers on the new guided busway, on 16th April the media were invited onto a guided bus to experience the ride and to film it. Members of the public were also invited to a one-day-only chance to travel on the busway between Cambridge Regional College and Park Lane in Histon.

Stagecoach, which has bought a £3m fleet of 10 double-deckers and 10 single-deckers, does not intend to keep its new buses idle. From mid-April some of them have been used on the existing 15, 45 and 55 bus routes between Huntingdon, St Ives and Cambridge.


PRESERVED RAILWAYS
Mid-Norfolk Railway signs major contract with Network Rail and hires contractors to improve trackwork

Keywords: [MidNorfolkRailway]

The Mid-Norfolk Railway has won a contract from Network Rail for on-track machine training to last for around a year. To prepare for this work the MNR is using outside contractors, assisted by its own volunteers, to perform some upgrades to the permanent way infrastructure as follows:
* resleepering at Wymondham Abbey;
* extension of the Wymondham run-round loop headshunt under the old A11 bridge;
* crossover at south end of run-round loop at Wymondham relaid with long timbers;
* laying of track panels at the south end of Thuxton loop;
* installing the north end point of Thuxton loop with track panels from it into the platform.

Once the new track has been ballasted and tamped, NR trainees will learn how to operate track machines for a number of weeks at a time.

The Network Rail vehicles will generate even more use of the MNR's mainline connection, which was used by more than 50 trains in 2008.


WEBSITES
Website launched to dispel myths about public transport

Profilic writer about the railways Ted Gibbins, who spoke at the Railfuture national AGM in Leeds has launched a website http://www.transportmyths.co.uk consisting of various articles he has written to counter the arguments of groups such as TransportWatch. His site also attempts to counter arguments in favour of guided busways. It also contains information about the books he has written on these subjects.


Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 190 - 15/05/2009

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