News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 310 - 31/01/2019
- STATIONS [all issues]
- RAIL ROUTES [all issues]
- Delays to £68m re-signalling scheme keep Norfolk railway line closed
- East West Railway Company seeks specialist partners to deliver the Bedford-Cambridge section
- ROLLING STOCK [all issues]
- RAIL FRANCHISES [all issues]
- RAIL FREIGHT [all issues]
Despite the usual unwelcome RPI-based annual fare rises there is some good news on the fares front for passengers. Great Northern has abolished the afternoon-peak restrictions leaving London (introduced in 2006 after First Capital Connect took over the franchise) on the Cambridge-London King's Cross Monday-Friday Off-Peak Day Return fare. Railfuture had called for the abolition years ago when 12-car services were introduced. There will now be no more hanging around until 19:12 if you miss the 16:12 or having to go via Liverpool Street instead. At the same time, Great Northern has introduced a "super-off-peak" fare with evening restrictions for some flows, such as Ely to London but these are a miniscule saving on the off-peak fare.
The good news from Great Northern was short-lived when Greater Anglia (GA) increased the price of its (unregulated) Anglia Plus day ranger by 25% up from £19 to £24, with the three-day Rovers up to £48. GA has increased the Wherry and Bittern line rangers by 22% to £11. The increase has occurred despite not offering anything new such as additional bus service validity. A GA spokesman said "We have increased the price of our Anglia Plus Ranger and Rover tickets to more accurately reflect the great value of these passes."
After a nine-month national trial, the rail industry launched its seventh National Railcard for 26-30-year-olds on 2nd January 2019. This follows a trial on 6th December 2017 that was limited to 10,000 railcards on Greater Anglia's network only, and was later extended nationwide to another 10,000 people on 13th March 2018. Although this trial was scheduled to last until 12th March 2019 because of the level of demand (the 26-30 Railcard website received 12 times the normal number of visitors) it was made permanent three months before the trial was scheduled to end.
On Sunday 20th January Stadler moved into Coldham's Lane depot at Cambridge to use it as a base for commissioning its Class 755 bi-mode "FLIRT" (Fast Light Innovative Regional Train) trains. On that day one of the units was hauled from Norwich Crown Point depot to Cambridge for staff familiarisation and crew training.
At the Railfuture East Anglia meeting in Bury St Edmunds Meeting on Saturday 23rd February 2019, guest speaker Martin Halliday, of the East Suffolk Line and Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnerships, will talk about how the exiting heritage project to convert the former parcels office at Lowestoft station into a new community exhibition and meeting space is approaching completion. The proactive initiative is a great example of partnership working with support from Greater Anglia, Network Rail, the Railway Heritage Trust and the Association of Community Rail Partnerships. See https://www.railfuture.org.uk/East+Anglia+Meetings+and+Events.
The Whitwell & Reepham Railway will be celebrating its 10th anniversary with an evening mail on 28th February 2019. See https://whitwellstation.com for more details.
The Railfuture response to the Railfuture response to ORR Disabled People's Protection Policy (DPPP) consultation on changes to guidance for train and station operators can be read at https://www.railfuture.org.uk/display1989.
Felixstowe Travel Watch's next meeting is at 14:30 on Tuesday 12 February 2019 at the Salvation Army Church, Cobbold Road, Felixstowe. Guest speaker will be James Bradley, Lead Strategy Planner at Network Rail. This will include an update on the Felixstowe Branch improvement work. Its AGM will be at 19:30 on 7th May 2019 and the autumn meeting at 14:30 on Tuesday 15th October - all at the same venue.
The Cambridge University Railway Club (CURC) has some top-rate rail industry speakers lined up for its Lent term (January to March 2019) meetings, which are open to the public as well as current and former students. These are:
- Geoff Marshall and Vicki Pipe, of YouTube and "All The Stations" fame, at 18:00 on Friday 25th January 2019 in the Knox-Shaw room at Sidney Sussex College
- Sir Peter Hendy, Chair of Network Rail, at 18:00 on Wednesday 13th February in the Bowett Room at Queens' College
- Joe Whalen, MD of Railway Project Services, at 18:00 on Friday 22nd February in the William Thatcher room at Fitzwilliam College
- Andy Cooper, MD of CrossCountry at 18:00 on Wednesday 27th February in room DD48 at Queens' College
- Paul Cooper, Hitach Rail Europe, at 18:00 on Friday 1st March in the Knox-Shaw room at Sidney Sussex College
- David Horne, MD of LNER, at 20:30 on Tuesday 5th March in the Green room at Gonville and Caius College
The public exhibitions on the 'East - West Rail' scheme, will take place as follows:
- ST. NEOTS: Monday 11th February, 15:30-19:30, The Priory Centre, Priory Lane, St. Neots
- BEDFORD: Friday 15 February, 15:30-19:30, Scott Hall, Barford Avenue, Bedford
- BASSINGBOURN: Saturday 16 February, 10:00-14:00, Bassingbourn Community Primary School, Brook Road, Bassingbourn
- POTTON: Tuesday 19 February, 15:30-19:30, Potton and District Club, 34, Station Road, Potton, Sandy
- CAMBRIDGE: Friday 22 February, 15:30-19:30, The University Centre, Granta Place in Cambridge
- ORWELL: Tuesday 26 February, 14:00-18:00, Orwell Village Hall, 32-66 High Street, Orwell, Royston
- SANDY: Friday 1 March, 15:30-19:30, Sandy Village Hall, Medusa Way, Sandy
- CAMBOURNE: Saturday 2 March, 10:00-14:00, Cambridge belfry, Back Lane, Cambourne.
STATIONS
Network Rail shows what a new Soham station could look like as it consults the public about station design
Keywords: [SohamStation]
In January 2019 - a decade after it started looking at reopening Soham station in East Cambridgeshire and having now been formally commissioned by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority develop options and assess what is required to deliver the railway station - Network Rail published computer-generated images (for illustrative purposes only) to show what Soham's new train station (which would be built on the existing site of the old station, which closed in 1965) could look like. The proposals, which are in development and due to be completed in July 2019, include a single 102-metre-long platform initially, footbridge and car park facilities, along with the waiting shelters, public-address system and information screens that all stqations are expected to have. The station would be on the single-track line but would be future-proofed for a second track to meet the increased demanded for container traffic to and from the Port of Felixstowe.
Community drop-in events to explain the proposals will be held by Network Rail the Ross Peters sports centre in Soham on Tuesday 26th (16:00 - 20:00) and Wednesday 27th February 2019 (10:00 - 14:00). The Network Rail plans can also be viewed at https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/anglia/reconnecting-soham/.
News: https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/pictures-reveal-what-sohams-first-15725734.
RAIL ROUTES
Delays to £68m re-signalling scheme keep Norfolk railway line closed
Keywords: [WherryLines]
The £68m re-signalling project on the railway line between Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft that was due to be completed by 31st March 2019 no longer has any chance of being met and could be delayed by a year. This means that the Reedham to Great Yarmouth via Berney Arms, which shut in October 2018, will remain closed indefinitely in order to allow for more testing to take place.
The new "state-of-the-art" (what isn't these days?) signalling system across the whole Wherry Lines (Norwich to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft) replaces the "Victorian era" signalling system with 66 new colour light LED signals, 22 power-operated points, and a remote computer-based signalling control system. The work will also deliver a new track layout at Reedham Junction.
East West Railway Company seeks specialist partners to deliver the Bedford-Cambridge section
Keywords: [EastWestRail]
In mid-January 2019 the government's East West Railway Company (EWRC) published a Prior Information Notice (PIN) that it is seeking specialist partners to deliver the 'central section' of its new Bedford to Cambridge railway line, which it hopes to open by the late 2020s, about four year after the western section between Oxford and Bedford opens. The EWRC's chief executive Simon Blanchflower said: "It's a unique opportunity to be involved in shaping the project from the outset. we are kicking off genuine engagement with the market – not just briefing them on our plans but listening to them about how we can best unlock their expertise to support our project."
Also in January 2019, the EWRC issued a map showing five route options for the new railway. Railfuture will be giving its views in the format public consultation.
ROLLING STOCK
Greater Anglia starts testing its new Stadler bi-mode trains during the night when no other trains are running
Greater Anglia (GA) has started to test its brand new Class 755 bi-mode trains on the routes between Diss and Norwich and Norwich and Great Yarmouth in the early hours of the morning when trains would normally never run to avoid disrupting other trains, particularly if there is a risk that the train may interfere with the signalling systems or the train's pantograph might bring down the overhead wires. Drivers of cars and other vehicles plus cyclists and pedestrians might assume that it is safe to cross the railway, particularly on occupational crossings, so GA has publicly warned road-users in that part of Norfolk to remain vigilant.
On the Great Eastern Mainline the train will travel at speed but on test runs between Norwich and Great Yarmouth it will stop at all stations and technicians will be checking facilities such as the train's Automatic Selective Door Operation, which will be used if the train is longer than the platform it is calling at.
RAIL FRANCHISES
Samaritans receives Delay Repay donations from Greater Anglia passengers thanks to Railfuture suggestion
Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]
Greater Anglia took up a suggestion from Railfuture to encourage its passengers who were delayed by late or cancelled trains to have their Delay Repay claim paid to the Samaritans instead. Railfuture's hoped to create a virtuous circle whereby preventing suicides on the railway would reduce the number of delays to train services. The charity provides training for Greater Anglia staff to help them support people in crisis who might be suicidal
In 2018 more than £s;8,000 was paid to the Samaritans through the compensation scheme with passengers being offered the chance to do so when claiming online. Currently GA only offers refunds when passengers are delayed by at least 30 minutes, but it will soon be offering Delay Repay for delays of 15 minutes, which the government is gradually rolling out across Britain when it reaches a financial agreement with the train operator.
RAIL FREIGHT
Freightliner plans new maintenance facility at Ipswich
Keywords: [Felixstowe2Nuneaton]
In mid-January, Freightliner, which is the main container rail-freight company in Britain and now a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. in the United States, announced its intention to build a state-of-the-art locomotive and wagon maintenance and fuelling facility at its existing freight yard, situated off Ranelagh Road, in Ipswich.
The multi-million-pound investment will create around 20 skilled/semi-skilled jobs for the procurement of materials and equipment. After evaluating various sites in Britain, Ipswich was chosen as it was close to the Port of Felixstowe, the UK's largest maritime port and from which Freightliner operates 22 trains a day. Freightliner's existing Ipswich had sufficient unused space in which to build the new 54-metre-long steel-framed maintenance facility, which will include an inspection pit, two overhead cranes, wheel lathe and an extended on-site staff car park. It has written to local residents to give them full details of its plans and invited them to contact our project team with any questions. It has lodged a planning application Ipswich Council to develop its Ipswich site.
News: https://www.railbusinessdaily.com/freightliner-plans-new-ipswich-maintenance-facility/.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 310 - 31/01/2019
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