News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 316 - 31/07/2019
- ROLLING STOCK [all issues]
- Greater Anglia ramps up publicity for its new trains as first train finally carries paying passengers
- East West Rail to begin a formal rolling stock procurement process in late 2019
- STATIONS [all issues]
- Development of plans for Cambridge South station moving at a smail's pace as Network Rail dithers
- Greater Anglia's "frantic search behind the sofa for pennies" to balance the books
- RAIL ROUTES [all issues]
- RAIL FARES [all issues]
- GUIDED BUSWAY [all issues]
In mid-July 2019, three members of Railfuture East Anglia, including Vice Chair Peter Wakefield, attended the Great Eastern Mainline (GEML) Task Force conference in Chelmsford. The papers presented by the speakers can be read at https://newanglia.co.uk/great-eastern-rail-campaign/.
As part of the cabinet and ministerial reschuffle by Boris Johnson when he became Prime Minister, the following MPs have a transport brief:
- Grant Shapps - Secretary of state for Transport
- Christopher Heaton-Harris - 'rail' [franchising]
- George Freeman - transport technology and innovation, decarbonisation and environment, devolution and housing, and East-West connectivity
- Nusrat Ghani - accessibility (all modes)
- Paul Maynard [a previous rail minister] - Northern Powerhouse Rail, HS2, Crossrail, East-West Rail, Trans-Pennine route upgrade
- Baroness Vere - security, taxis and buses, light rail, community transport.
As mentioned in [Snippets 314], the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority has launched a 12-week public consultation on its draft Local Transport Plan (LTP) by publishing a questionnaire. It can be found at https://cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk/about-us/programmes/transport/ltp-questionnaire/. The questionnaire is short but the draft LTP is very long.
The extension of platforms at Waterbeach and Littleport stations, along with new sidings at King's Lynn to stable passenger trains, was last mentioned in [Snippets 314], when contractor VolkerFitzpatrick's appointment by Network Rail was announced. In August 2019 both companies will be holding drop-in sessions to answer questions about the work. This will be:
- Waterbeach: Tuesday 13 August 2019 from 16:00 to 20:00 at the Waterbeach Baptist Church Hall, Chapel Street, Waterbeach CB25 9HR
- Littleport: Wednesday 14 August 2019 from 15:00 to 21:00 at Littleport Village Hall Day Centre, Victoria Street, Littleport CB6 1LU
- King's Lynn: Wednesday 21 August 2019, from 17:00 to 20:30 at The Board Room, King's Lynn Football Club, The Walks Stadium, Tennyson Road, King's Lynn PE30 5PB.
Whittlesea and Manea railway stations will have new platform waiting shelters. Fenland Distract Council set-up an online survey to ask passengers what type of shelter should be provided: Accoya (wood), Paragon (stainless steel with glazed panels) or Voyager (stainless steel with aluminium extrusions).
The Mid-Norfolk Railway, based in Dereham, will have a Beer & Music festival, over the four days of the August bank holiday. There will be 40 beers and ciders to choose from to taste in the tent and there will be live music under the platform canopy in the evenings (except Monday).
ROLLING STOCK
Greater Anglia ramps up publicity for its new trains as first train finally carries paying passengers
Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]
On Monday 29th July 2019 the first of Greater Anglia's new trains went into passenger service. It was a single Class 755 bi-mode rural train, and operated on some Norwich to Lowestoft/Great Yarmouth services, with the inaugual passenger train being the 07:47 Lowestoft to Norwich service. Greater Anglia uploaded a YouTube video of short interviews with very satisfied passengers, with its press release that described the "low key entry into service" as "the start of the visible transformation of train services across our network."
A couple of weeks earlier Greater Anglia released a video on Facebook showing the inside of a new bi-mode train including a good shot showing the space for the cycle carriage highlighting that six bikes can be carried, three on either side of the aisle. View video at: https://www.facebook.com/GreaterAnglia/videos/370717173858404/.
As well as the bi-modes, Stadler is also delivering ten 12-car Class 745/0 FLIRT inter-city trains for the London-Norwich route, which will go into public service in autumn 2019 (several months late). As started previously in Snippets, although there will be three more carriages (offering 752 seats instead of 614 on the trains they replace), the train length will not be much longer, as the articulated vehicles will be shorter than the 23-metre Mark 3 carriages that they replace although, of course, there will be no locomotives. At the start of July 2019 Greater Anglia released photos of the interior of these trains, taken aboard one of the three units that had been delivered in order to undergo testing.
These photos showed that the new Intercity trains will, like their predecessors, have 2+2 seating in Standard Class and 2+1 in First Class (the only new GA trains to have first class accommodation; even the Class 754/1 Stansted Airport fleet will not). The seats have lumbar support and the maximum padding allowed under new stricter fire regulations (which is thicker than passengers on GTR's Class 487s and 700s experience), a mixture of tables and seatback tables and USB and plug points for each pair of seats. An essential requirement for accessibility is push-button doors, which are situated in the centre of carriages. The floor level around the doors is lower than on existing trains, with a retractable step to bridge the gap between the train and the platform. However, the floor level above the bogies is slightly higher. Like the rural trains there will be room for six bikes, with straps to secure them while the train is travelling, and fold-down seats for extra seating if there are no bikes on board.
The inter-city trains will have a café bar area, which will serve hot snacks. Each train also has air conditioning, free Wi-Fi and a passenger information screen in each carriage.
News: https://www.railbusinessdaily.com/take-a-look-inside-greater-anglias-new-intercity-trains/.
In parallel with the Stadler bi-mode and inter-city trains, Greater Anglia is also receiving a fleet of 111 Aventra commuter trains from Bombardier in Derby. They have been going through a series of safety and performance tests at the Railway Innovation and Development Centre test track at Old Dalby in Leicestershire since early summer 2019, prior to entering passenger service in late 2019, with the full fleet in service by the end of 2020. The testing takes place at speeds of up to 110mph, even though they will only carry GA passengers at a maximum speed of 100mph because of the standard requirement to test at 10% above limit. The test track, which has greater clearances than much of the railway network, is used to check how much a train sways when travelling around curves.
Like the Stadler trains, the Class 720 Bombardier trains will also have USB and plug points, Wi-Fi, air conditioning, passenger information systems and accessible seating areas and toilets. They will be the first trains in Britain to have underfloor heating
News: https://www.railbusinessdaily.com/full-speed-ahead-for-greater-anglias-bombardier-trains/.
With the PRM-TSI accessibility legislation coming into effect on 1 January 2020 (a date arbitrarily chosen by the UK government), many train operators in Britain have ordered vast numbers of new trains and delivery of most of them is late, some incredibly late. Greater Anglia is not alone. It has a franchise commitment to put its entire new fleet into passenger service by the end of 2019 and it will be at least 12 months late in doing so. The elephant in the room is whether all of its trains will meet PRM-TSI by the deadline, because much of its current fleet does not and needs to be replaced. Whether sufficient numbers of new trains will be in service to allow all non-compliant trains to be withdrawn remains to be seen. The government can, of course, deploy the nuclear option of postponing compliance, which will be controversial.
East West Rail to begin a formal rolling stock procurement process in late 2019
Keywords: [EastWestRail]
The East West Railway Company, which is responsible for delivering the new rail link between Bedford and Cambridge plus operating the full Oxford-Cambridge service, has been looking at the types of trains needed since November 2018. It has announced an intention to begin a formal rolling stock procurement process later in 2019 and lodged a Prior Information Notice (PIN) on Friday 05 July, which then appears in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Interested parties are required to refrain from further interactions with the company until the formal process begins. Some people may question why rolling stock is being considered when the full line is unlikely to open before 2027, although it is unclear whether these new trains would also be required for the Oxford-Bedford service due to commence around 2024.
EWR Company's Chief Executive, Simon Blanchflower CBE, said "We've taken a purposeful approach to procurement, using this engagement period to effectively de-risk the project by working with the market to understand what's available to meet our entry into service requirements, before defining our specifications."
News: https://www.railbusinessdaily.com/ewr-co-gears-up-for-rolling-stock-procurement/.
STATIONS
Development of plans for Cambridge South station moving at a smail's pace as Network Rail dithers
Keywords: [CambridgeSouthStation]
Back in November 2017 the Department for Transport (DfT) published a Strategic Outline Business Case for a new railway station south of Cambridge station to serve the internationally significant Cambridge Biomedical Campus (expected to house the largest concentration of biomedical expertise in Europe by 2020), which will soon boast an international conference centre and high capacity hotel, plus the Southern Fringe development areas of Cambridge (an estimated 4000 new homes by 2031). The new station is vital because Cambridge has grown to become one of the UK's most successful and fastest growing cities with 3750 new jobs are expected to be created by 2023.
This future growth in Cambridge is expected to place significant pressures on the railway system, but worryingly it could take Network Rail, which has been awarded £10m by the DfT to develop detailed proposals, until 2027 to open the vital new station. There has been £5m from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, the Greater Cambridge Partnership and AstraZeneca Ltd. The Cambridge South Infrastructure Enhancement Project will focus on developing plans for the new station and associated infrastructure but, frustratingly for a station that has been seen as essential for several years, the plans are still at an early stage of design as Network Rail develops several options to, as some would argue, deliver the least it can get away with. It will then lunch a public consultation planned, probably in 2020, to help it decide a "preferred option" to present to the DfT and other funding partners in spring 2021. None of this 'death by study and consultation' would have been necessary in the British Rail days, particularly in the 1980s when a dozen stations were rapidly opened in a single year.
News: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/anglia/cambridge-south-station/.
Greater Anglia's "frantic search behind the sofa for pennies" to balance the books
Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]
Greater Anglia (GA) is in the process of installing parking ticket machines at many smaller stations in order to impose parking fees, in the desperate aim to reduce the heavy losses being borne by its parent companies in the Netherlands and Japan. GA is imposing this without any consultation as it has the right to do so. Railfuture, rail user groups and Community Rail Partnerships are concerned that this will lead to unintended consequences such as annoying local residents with more street parking (a big problem in unsuitable narrow streets) and discouraging modal transfer (car to train) in a fragile market (e.g. £3 a day imposed at Newmarket car park on top of a £8 return fare to Cambridge).
The charges, which some have described as "a frantic search behind the sofa for pennies", seemingly offer nothing for the user of the car park, such as properly-lined spaces, good surface to the car park, lighting, CCTV etc. There may be good reasons for car park fees. For example, car parks at several stations are being used by non-rail users thus keeping out rail users. But no discount for rail users has been introduced and no public written explanation has been offered so far. The GWR franchise recently went through a similar car park exercise. It consulted. It explained frankly why it was imposing fees. It amended plans after consultation. It introduced the fees over several years little by little so as not to introduce too pain all in one go.
This latest cost-driven change comes on top of the poorly-managed "cheapest tickets only online" debacle; withdrawal of free drinks for weekend first upgrades; cutting staff members; not staffing all ticket windows at larger statinos at busy times (leading to long queues); not providing seat reservation during the changeover of its train fleets and so on. User organisations (or the users themselves) have not been consulted on these matters.
RAIL ROUTES
Level crossing upgrade work on the Felixstowe branch completed
Keywords: [FelixstoweBranch]
Network Rail completed the upgrade of four level crossings on the Felixstowe branch in July 2019, which should make crossing the railway safer, and all roads have reopened. The crossing at Westerfield has been closed for seven weeks. The other upgraded crossings are Morston Hall, Thorpe Lane and Levington. All now have full barriers compared to half barriers previously. Obstacle detection systems have been installed at three crossings and the fourth now has CCTV monitored from the signalling centre.
The upgrades, mentioned in [Snippets 313], were done as part of the programme to increase capacity on the Felixstowe branch line to allow more freight trains to operate. Obviously an increase in rail traffic increased the risks of incidents at the crossings so it made sense to coincide the work, also to mitigate increased congestion at the crossings as road vehicles waited for the additional trains to pass.
In October 2018 a driver was ironically caught on a television camera driving through the flashing red lights at Westerfield while a journalist was reporting on Network Rail's safety campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of misusing level crossings. Anyone caught failing to comply with signs at a level crossing can face a fine of up to £1,000 and three points on their driving licence, with nine points if found guilty of careless driving, and a maximum penalty of two years in prison if convicted of dangerous driving.
RAIL FARES
Success for Railfuture! Fares from all stations to Cambridge North now same as to Cambridge station
The opening of Cambridge North station has shown the railway at its worst in so many ways. It shouldn't be difficult to open a new station, but it has taken two years for some fare anomalies, which were created when the station was opened, to be resolved. Railfuture East Anglia can fairly take credit for this after much communication at various levels with Greater Anglia (and even Transport Focus) in getting this resolved. Experience has shown that acknowledging an error is much easier than resolving it.
Fares shown on National Rail Enquiries from Newmarket and Dullingham to Cambridge North have been reduced to be the same as to Cambridge station. Fares including return fares and season ticket prices from all stations including Shelford, Whittlesford Parkway, Great Chesterford, Audley End, Newmarket and Dullingham to Cambridge North are now the same as to Cambridge. Where the fares to Cambridge North were higher they have been reduced to be the same as to Cambridge.
Easement 700714 issued by the Rail Delivery Group on 10th May 2017 states "Tickets to/from Cambridge are also valid at Cambridge North and tickets to/from Cambridge North are also valid at Cambridge. This easement covers all tickets, including season tickets, except Advance tickets". Therefore Greater Anglia had no choice but to implement this corrections to the erroneous fares. However, why it took nearly two years after Railfuture informed Greater Anglia is very disturbing and many passengers will have been 'ripped off' in the meantime.
GUIDED BUSWAY
Stagecoach launches online public consultation on future busway services
Stagecoach, which has always provided the majority of the bus services on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, launched a public consultation on the future services. The online-only consultation had a deadline of 21st July 2019. Like may such consultations, which tend to be designed for minimum effort on their part with computers simply adding up results, there is no opportunity to leave comments, so it offers little more than to agree or disagree with a particular proposal. Some might argue that consultations are framed in a way that just allows the company/organisations hear what they want to hear. However, Railfuture, which had wanted the railway line to reopen but now promotes good integration between busway services and the railway, sent a detailed response to Stagecoach.
Railfuture East Anglia wants to see a half-hourly bus service on the busway between St Ives, Northstowe (Longstanton) and Cambridge North Station from early morning until late evening seven days a week to provide transport to and from Cambridge North Station for people living along the busway route. Railfuture also wants a half-hourly bus service between Huntingdon Railway Station, Huntingdon Bus Station and St Ives from early morning until late evening seven days a week to connect with the train services at Huntingdon Railway Station.
Railfuture believes that, despite the capital cost, there must be ticket vending machines (TVMs) at every bus stop on the route and these should sell bus tickets, rail tickets and combined bus and rail tickets so that rail passengers can buy their rail and bus tickets at the bus stop and can save time by not having to buy tickets at Cambridge North Station. Even with the move towards smartcards on all modes or transport, TVMs are still necessary to top-up smartcards. Not everyone will use a smartphone instead of a smartcard.
Once fully built, Northstowe will have a population a third larger than Ely and will have no railway presence. There will surely eventually be as many long-distance travellers from Northstowe etc as Ely where there are ticket machines and a manned office. Waterbeach will be larger than Northstowe and is getting a new station with no doubt a bank of machines.
News: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/east/busway-public-consultation .
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 316 - 31/07/2019
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