News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 256 - 31/08/2014
- RAIL ROUTES [all issues]
- Atkins report for East West Rail Consortium calculates that a reopened Oxford-Cambridge route could boost regional economy by £750m
- Rejuvenation of Barrington freight-only rail route hits a snag when works train derails
- ROLLING STOCK [all issues]
- Govia Thameslink Railway announces how it will shuffle its rolling stock to meet demand
- Greater Anglia's independently-powered electric multiple unit (IPEMU) train now under tests
- GUIDED BUSWAY [all issues]
- WEBSITES [all issues]
A reminder than the Railfuture autumn conference will be in London on 1st November 2014. Next year the autumn conference will be in Bristol on 7th November 2015. Go to www.railfuture.org.uk/conferences to book attendance and see a list of future and past conferences.
David Statham, Managing Director of First Capital Connect and a speaker at the Railfuture conference in Cambridge in June 2014, announced in mid-August that he has been appointed as managing director of Southeastern trains from 15th September 2014, the day after the FCC franchise ends. He will remain as MD of FCC until then. Railfuture East Anglia wrote to him to offer congratulations.
On one Sunday each month guided walks between stations on the Norwich-Sheringham "Bittern" and Norwich-Great Yarmouth/Lowestoft "Wherry" lines take place. There is a small charge but it is free to anyone with a rail ticket. Full details can be found on the Community Rail Partnership websites www.bitternline.com and www.wherrylines.org.uk. In addition users of the Angles Way countryside footpath in south Norfolk, which runs in the Waveney Valley between Thetford and Gt Yarmouth, are being encouraged to use the train with posters being dispayed at nearby railway stations, such as Great Yarmouth.
The next meeting of the Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group will be on Wednesday 24th September 2014 starting at 19:30 in Foxton Village Hall.
RAIL ROUTES
Atkins report for East West Rail Consortium calculates that a reopened Oxford-Cambridge route could boost regional economy by £750m
Keywords: [EastWestRail]
On 18th August the East West Rail Consortium published a report by Atkins stating that a reopened rail link between Cambridge and Oxford could boost the region's economy by more than £750 million over a 60-year period. Growth in smaller towns and knock-on business expansion would be on top of that figure. It suggested that trains travelling at 125mph could reduce journey time between the two cities to just an hour.
Railfuture had advance notice of publication of the report and was able to issue a press release quickly - read it at www.railfuture.org.uk/Press+Release+18th+August+2014.
There is still no indication of the official preferred route out of Cambridge going eastwards (Railfuture has suggested a route via Cambourne and St Neots). However, there are many development proposals that may influence the route. On the same day as the Atkins report was published, the Cambridge News revealed plans for a new Jesus College science park that could create 5,000 jobs and lead to 1,250 new homes being built.
Rejuvenation of Barrington freight-only rail route hits a snag when works train derails
Keywords: [BarringtonBranch]
As stated in [Snippets 255] the freight-only railway line between Foxton and the former CEMEX cement works in Barrington is being reinstated over a period of five months after having closed around 2009. Unfortunately on Thursday 7th August a wagon carrying replacement rails derailed at the Glebe Road crossing in Barrington when one of the wheels on the small shunter fell off. As Glebe Road is a residential cul-de-sac it could have caused serious inconvenience but the crew managed to move the wagon that was completely clocking the road within 30 minutes with the minimum of fuss. The mishap did not have any impact on the project timescales.
News item: www.royston-crow.co.uk/news/barrington_light_railway_work_hits_the_buffers_as_train_derails_1_3725448.
ROLLING STOCK
Govia Thameslink Railway announces how it will shuffle its rolling stock to meet demand
Keywords: [Class377]
The new Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which will replace First Capital Connect as train operator in September 2014, has announced that it plans to redeploy the Class 377 trains, which are currently used on the Thameslink route, to serve Cambridge and King's Lynn from 2016. This will allow the new Siemens class 700 trains to operate on the through-London services. The older Class 317 and 321 trains will be cascaded to other franchises, whilst FCC's class 365 trains will continue to be used by GTR.
Editor's note: GTR changed its plans and introduced newer Class 387 trains on Great Northern and these commenced in 2016.
Greater Anglia's independently-powered electric multiple unit (IPEMU) train now under tests
A Greater Anglia Class 379 Electrostar has been modified to temporarily become an independently-powered electric multiple unit (IPEMU) prior to testing on one of its branch lines in early 2015. Six battery rafts have been installed on the train at Bombardier's facility in Derby, where the first on-track test runs are now taking place. The unit contains, according to an article in Rail Technology Magazine, "a battery box, isolation switch, power distribution control panel, battery charging inverter, batteries and battery monitoring system, all mounted within a bespoke, purpose-built rig." Once the initial testing is complete and any issues reoolved, the train will undertake high-speed tests at one of Network Rail's Rail Innovation and Development Centres. See [Snippets 247] for previous news story about the IPEMU.
News item: www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Inbox/testing-begins-on-battery-powered-prototype-train-/83096.
GUIDED BUSWAY
Cambs County Council spends almost £320,000 identifying faults on guided busway
Various faults have already had to be fixed on the guided busway, which opened on 7th August 2012, and since then £319,000 has been spent by the council just to investigate what repairs need to be carried out. This figure was obtained by the Cambridge News using a Freedom of Information request. This figure represents only the charge by its consultants for investigation (BAM Nuttall has refused to carry out the investigations itself, according to the council) and does not include the cost of legal advice in building a case against BAM Nuttall to force it to fix the defects for free. The court case that was settled in 2013 covered only the original cost overrun. It resulted in BAM Nuttall paying significant compensation to the council but no where near enough to cover all of its costs, which have been passed onto council taxpayers.
It cost the council £521,407 in 2013 to operate the busway. These costs including maintaining all the facilities (ticket machines have been raided for cash on several occasions) including car parking, plus monitoring and all administrative requirements. The council aims to cover this cost from the busway access charges levied upon the bus operators, who still have to cover their own costs of operating the buses.
WEBSITES
Superb new website has impressive online rail map aiming to show every line that has ever existed
The 'Rail Map online' www.railmaponline.com website is highly recommended. It aims to show every railway line in Great Britain and Ireland that has ever existed. It includes lots of little tramways as well, including some in the fens. Unlike most railway maps it can also be superimposed on geographical data, although this is still being developed. The website gives contact details in order to supply corrections.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 256 - 31/08/2014
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