News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 258 - 31/10/2014
- RAIL ROUTES [all issues]
- Govia Thameslink Railway offers 15,588 more seats on Great Northern trains each week from December 2014
- Abellio Greater Anglia encourages support for Great Eastern Taskforce report demanding significant rail improvements
- RAIL AWARDS [all issues]
- GUIDED BUSWAY [all issues]
- Cambridgeshire County Council intends to 'hold BAM Nuttall to account' for £31m defects in guided busway
- Passengers injured on Cambridgeshire Guided Busway when driver performed an emergency stop
- WEBSITES [all issues]
An hourly Sunday service started operating on the Norwich-Sheringham "Bittern" line on Sunday 5th October 2014, which is the first time such an intensive service has operated during the winter timetable. It still only consists of 13 trains a day, with a late start and early last train unlike the weekday service.
There will be a presentation by Patrick Griffin of Crossrail entitled "Crossrail - Moving London Forward" in Cambridge at the Engineering labs in Trumpington Street on Thursday 20th November 2014, 18:30-20:00 with tea from 18:00. Free to attend. Details at http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/53725.
RAIL ROUTES
Govia Thameslink Railway offers 15,588 more seats on Great Northern trains each week from December 2014
Keywords: [TSGN]
From the start of the timetable change on 14th December 2014, GTR's Great Northern service will have an extra 15,588 off-peak seats each week on its services in an attempt to both reduce overcrowding and also improve services. However, the fact that these are all off-peak improvements shows that they are simply using more of the existing train fleet rather than expanding it, so it is hardly investment. These 'seats' will be spread across the Cambridge, King's Lynn and Peterborough services and also the Northern City Line services that go to Moorgate station. In fact, the latter accounts for many of the 'seats' created as trains on the branch will be lengthened to six carriages by coupling up two Class 313 trains.
More than 950 additional seats will be created on the new King's Cross to Cambridge fast service for evening passengers leaving at 20:44, which fills a gap in the timetable. It means that Cambridge will now have half-hourly express services from London to Cambridge in each direction for 17 hours per day Monday to Friday. There will also be a new semi-fast Cambridge to King's Cross service leaving 17:17 on weekdays. Sunday services between London and Cambridge will run with a minimum of eight coaches, creating nearly 2,000 additional seats.
The train service to King's Lynn will be improved on Saturday evenings with a consistent hourly service between London and King's Lynn.
News item: http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/new-great-northern-timetable-creates-15588-more-seats-a-week.
Abellio Greater Anglia encourages support for Great Eastern Taskforce report demanding significant rail improvements
Keywords: [GreatEasternMainline]
People: [Jamie Burles]
At the end of October 2014 the Great Eastern Rail Taskforce handed a copy of its study that outlines the strong economic and business case for investment in the Great Eastern Mainline to the transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, and Chancellor George Osborne. The report calls for faster and more reliable service; more seats and more carriages; a better quality travelling experience; and a significant investment in track infrastructure. It has been endorsed with the signatures of prominent business leaders along with individuals, such as rail passengers, who have signed online. More than 1,000 businesses, universities and colleges - representing over 85,000 employees and students - have backed the campaign.
Jamie Burles, managing director of Abellio Greater Anglia is encouraging all passengers to lend their support as to the Great Eastern Rail Campaign, describing the submission of the report to government as "a crucial opportunity to influence investment and upgrades in services on the Great Eastern Main Line over the next decade" emphasising that "It is important that we make the strongest case possible to government, to ensure we secure the necessary support for major improvements to both infrastructure and rolling stock." To encourage as much passenger support as possible, on one particular day in October special leaflets were placed on every seat on every train departing Norwich between 05:30 to 09:00. All members of the Taskforce agree that it is vital to outline the key rail investment requirements needed to improve the GEML in time for the new long-term tender for the rail franchise that will commence in October 2016.
Abellio Greater Anglia is continuing to invest to improve the intercity service on the Norwich to London route. However, the significant re-fresh of the intercity trains that it is undertaking in the next two years is only a stop-gap and it wants entirely new trains on the line.
News item: http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/passenger-support-sought-ahead-of-geml-investment-report.
RAIL AWARDS
Abellio Greater Anglia wins prestigious 'Passengers Matter' Community Rail Award
Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]
On Thursday 2nd October 2014 Abellio Greater Anglia received national recognition at the 10th annual Community Rail Awards in Scarborough, which was attended by transport minister Baroness Kramer. Along with its partners Suffolk County Council and the East Suffolk Line Community Rail Partnership, it won the prestigious Passengers Matter award. The organisations have worked together to make sure that the new hourly service on the Ipswich to Lowestoft line works for passengers with a sustained programme of route improvements (including ticket machines at stations, integrated bus links and better station facilities). There has been a further 11% increase in passenger numbers (now almost 92% up on four years ago). Abellio said thanked the station adopters who had improved the presentation of a number of stations along the line.
GUIDED BUSWAY
Cambridgeshire County Council intends to 'hold BAM Nuttall to account' for £31m defects in guided busway
Cambridgeshire County Council says that BAM Nuttall, which built the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, is to be "held to account" for the cost of fixing problems with the guided busway, which has been in use since 7th August 2011. At a meeting of the General Purposes Committee on 7th October 2014, councillors debated 'legal and technical expert advice which suggested that BAM Nuttall should be held to account for around £31 million of defects' and that any refusal to fix the defects free of charge would be a breach of contract against which the Council has a 'good case.' The council says that there are no safety issues but, if left, the beams could move and the ride quality would deteriorate further. Council officers are recommending that a programme of works should be started (potentially done in stages with sections of the busway closed at a time and bus services able to join and leave unaffected stretches of guideway).
The report claims that some parts of the busway were either not built to the agreed design or don't comply to national standards specified in the contract. The documented defects include:
- Shims and neoprene pads were put in without being fixed so they now slip and cause movement of the beams, effecting ride quality
- Foundations were not deep enough as outlined in national guidelines on certain sections so they could move in the clay conditions
- Inadequate drainage at two locations
- Joints between the guideway beams that were too narrow to allow for thermal expansion of the beams
- Some bearings were identified as being out of position
- Beams not being restrained enough by brackets so they move
News article: http://www.heart.co.uk/cambridgeshire/news/local/whos-responsible-for-defects-on-the-guided-busway/.
Passengers injured on Cambridgeshire Guided Busway when driver performed an emergency stop
Keywords: [BuswayAccident]
On the afternoon of Thursday 2nd October 2014 a bus driver was forced to perform an emergency stop on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway at Histon to avoid colliding with a cyclist carrying his bike across the tracks. According to the Cambridge News, a passenger was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital with back, head and leg pains, and a number of other passengers suffered more minor injuries.
WEBSITES
Government closes 'TransportDirect' website as "plenty of alternatives"
Snippets normally advises readers of new websites. This time it is the opposite. The government has closed down its Transport Direct website, which provided information about how to make a journey using all modes. It believes that plenty if other websites and mobile phone apps provide the same information in a more usable form. In addition, the AA Route Planner, Google Maps and others provide a wealth of information.
Video shows re-construction of Broadway Railway Station on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
It's actually a YouTube video rather than a website. Click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_dBaTRINak to watch a video taken by a drone that shows how skilled volunteers have since 2009 been rebuilding from scratch a station that was completely demolished in November 1963. Recorded by Keith Edwards on Saturday 4th October 2014 it shows an aerial view of work being carried out at the Broadway station site.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 258 - 31/10/2014
[Prev Issue (257)] [Snippets Issues] [Next Issue (259)] [Category List] [Keyword List] [People List] [Story List] [Branch Dashboard]