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East Anglia Branch News - Snippets Issue 296 - 30/11/2017

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

Railfuture News Snippets 296 - 30/11/2017



According to offical figures Cambridge North, which is Britain's newest railway station, has been used by "over 75,000 people" in the six months since it opened on 21st May 2017. It is also claimed that "almost 5,000 people passed through during the week commencing 24th September", which was the most yet and almost double that of its opening week. Greater Anglia's Managing Director, Jamie Burles, said in their press release, "Cambridge North is proving popular beyond our initial expectations". Railfuture notices that in both statistics quoted it refers to "people" rather than "journeys" but it is unclear precisely what these figures mean in order to compare it against a) estimated patronage for the new station and b) current patronage at Cambridge station.

The new digital railcard for 26-30 year olds (downloaded onto a mobile device and usable straight away) will be piloted to people living in the Greater Anglia area from 6th December 2017, although it gives a third off fares on journeys throughout Britain. See the dedicated website https://www.26-30railcard.co.uk/ for details of the new "card" that will last for a one-year period. There will be a limited number available (costing £30, like other rail cards) in the trail. If deemed successful it will be available across Britain.

Over Christmas 2017 Network Rail will be replacing just over 10km of overhead wire at Ilford as part of a £250m upgrade project on the Great Eastern mainline, which should reduce delays caused by overhead line failures. The work begins on Saturday 23rd December for a 10-day period.


RAIL ROUTES
Chancellor confirms funding for the Western Section of the East West Rail Link

Keywords: [EastWestRail]

Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has confirmed the government's commitment to completing the western section of East West Rail by 2024 (possibly with some services starting in 2023) and will commit £1 billion for phase two of the scheme (principally from Bicester to Bedford, and Milton Keynes to Princes Risborough), which includes new and upgraded stations, along with the services on the routes between Oxford and Bedford and Aylesbury and Milton Keynes. The Budget document produced by the Treasury confirmed that a new "non-departmental public arm's length body" East West Rail company, which would leverage private investment, will accelerate the delivery of the central section of the scheme between Bedford and Cambridge, aiming for completion "by the mid-2020s". The government also committed £5m to develop plans for a Cambridge South station, which would be on the central route.

The National Infrastructure Commission recently published a report looking at the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford growth corridor that urged the DfT to press ahead with the East West Rail central section, as well as developing detailed plans for the central section. There could be up to one million new homes build on the route by 2050.

ROLLING STOCK
Final Thameslink Class 700 train rolls off production line

Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]

Greater Anglia (GA) has won six rail industry awards for the £23 million of improvements to its outgoing trains that increase reliability (i.e. the trains go further without developing faults), having made them the most reliable trains of their category in Britain. The Norwich-London Intercity and Stansted Express services recently recorded 56,312 miles and 93,329 miles respectively before developing faults that needed fixing, earning these trains a 'golden spanner' award from Modern Railways magazine. Four other sets of trains earned a 'silver spanner'. The investment may seem foolish when every train will be replaced by the end of 2019, but the costs for train failures are high, with GA facing higher penalties since the start of their long franchise in October 2016.


Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 296 - 30/11/2017

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