News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 330 - 30/09/2020
- COVID-19 PANDEMIC [all issues]
- RAIL ROUTES [all issues]
- Public engagement opens for Ely Area Capacity Enhancements rail scheme
- Dates announced for East Coast Mainline enhancement work at King's Cross and for Werrington 'dive under'
- Remaining track and signalling infrastructure completed on King's Lynn eight-car project over August Bank Holiday
- East West Rail Company looks for support contracts and a partner for DCO application to build Bedford-Cambridge railway
- Track, crossing decks and platform surfacing renewals on the East Suffolk line
- STATIONS [all issues]
- Network Rail prepares to launch its second and final public consultation on Cambridge South station proposals
- Platform 4 at Cambridge station to be extended by 40 metres for new Greater Anglia commuter trains
- RAIL SERVICES [all issues]
- CrossCountry resumes services to Manea and Whittlesea stations
- Norwich to Liverpool service to continue as an end-to-end service beyond December 2021
- RAIL CARDS [all issues]
- ROLLING STOCK [all issues]
- DECARBONISATION [all issues]
- CAMBRIDGESHIRE AUTONOMOUS METRO [all issues]
- Lord Robert Mair CBE appointed chair of the delivery company for the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro
- PRESERVED RAILWAYS [all issues]
On 9th September 2020 the Department for Transport named the schemes that have failed to qualify in the first round of its 'Restoring Your Railway' railway funding competition. The rejected schemes included operating a regular public service between Dereham and Wymondham, on the Mid-Norfolk Railway, with trains continuing on to Norwich.
Greater Anglia (GA) was recognised at the 2020 National Rail Awards, held virtually, on Thursday 7th September. Norwich station, which has been "delightfully restored" and is "well maintained to a very high standard" providing "a fresh and welcoming environment for passengers" won the 'Large Station of the Year' award. It's the third time in four years GA has won this award (Cambridge in 2017 and Ipswich in 2018). GA was also Highly Commended with its partner Stadler in the Innovation Award for the accessibility features of the new Class 755 bi-mode trains, especially the benefits of the low floor combined with the retractable step.
COVID-19 PANDEMIC
In September Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris confirmed that the January 2021 fare rises of 1.6% would go ahead. Railfuture along with other organisations, had called for a fare freeze as any increase sends entirely the wrong message when trying to attract people back to the railway.
Like other train operators, Greater Anglia (GA) has agreed an Emergency Recovery Measures Agreement (ERMA) agreement with the Department for Transport (DfT). This continues the arrangement of the six-month Emergency Measures Agreement (EMA), whereby the government takes the revenue and cost risk of the former franchise (collecting the revenue, covering the costs) for a period of 12 months. GA will get a maximum of 1.5% of costs as a fee, reduced from the maximum of 2% under the EMA.
On 10th September 2020, two days after the Prime Minister announced that a maximum of six people can meet together from 14th September, the Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) announced that it had cancelled the Polar Express™ trains for 2020. It said that it would investigate an alternative steam-hauled Christmas train service that will comply fully with all social distancing regulations but still allow families to enjoy a festive train ride this Christmas. However, by the end of September, as the pandemic appeared to be on the rise again, the MNR had decided that it would not run any services in 2020.
RAIL ROUTES
Public engagement opens for Ely Area Capacity Enhancements rail scheme
Keywords: [ElyNorthJunction]
In mid-September 2020 Network Rail (NR) commenced its first round of public consultation (although 'engagement' might be a better term as there were no tangible proposals for the public to comment on) to upgrade the railway in and around Ely, which is known as the Ely Area Capacity Enhancement (EACE) programme. The enhancements, once they have been decided, designed and approved, will allow more trains to run through Ely, improving connectivity and reliability for passenger services and meet the demand for more rail freight between the Port of Felixstowe, the West Midlands and the north to support sustainable, long-term economic growth.
The so-called consultation will run for six weeks, allowing residents and businesses in and around Ely (i.e. the people who may have a statutory right to object) to learn more about the potential benefits and aspirations, challenges that would have to be addressed to increase capacity, and current funding position of the EACE programme. Because of the government guidance about face-to-face contact during the COVID-19 pandemic, NR is conducting this first round of public consultation remotely. Consultation materials will be available on its project web page www.networkrail.co.uk/ely until 1st November 2020. There will also be opportunities for the public to speak to project representatives via webchats (Mon, Tues, Thurs 10:00-16:00, Weds 14:00-20:00 - until 1st October) and by phone (0800 160 1780 on Mon, Tues, Thurs 14:00-17:00, Wed 17:00-20:00 and Saturday 10:00-13:00 - until 3 October). General comments on the programme can also be sent by email to: ElyAreaCapacityEnhancements@networkrail.co.uk.
News: https://www.railbusinessdaily.com/public-consultation-opens-for-ely-rail-capacity/.
Dates announced for East Coast Mainline enhancement work at King's Cross and for Werrington 'dive under'
Keywords: [EastCoastMainline]
As previously announced, there will be no trains in or out of London King's Cross station, or on Thameslink services to or from St Pancras International via Finsbury Park, on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th October 2020, as Network Rail works continue on the East Coast Upgrade, which will increase capacity and create paths for additional intercity services. Over that weekend, Network Rail engineers will test new signalling and replace overhead wires in and around King's Cross station. LNER services to/from the north will start/end at St Neots. Rail replacement coaches will run between St Neots and Bedford, where passengers can use Thameslink or East Midlands Railway services to/from London St Pancras. Limited replacement bus services will run between Potters Bar and St Albans, where passengers can link with Thameslink services to/from London St Pancras. Buses will also run between Potters Bar and Cockfosters to connect with London Underground services to/from central London. Railfuture and other groups such as the Fen Line Users Association were dismayed that the "railway" advised people not to travel "to London", ignoring that the services to Liverpool Street were running normally, and had substantial capacity to take displaced passengers. Perhaps Network Rail and Greater Anglia (GA) were concerned that too many people would board GA trains to maintain social distancing but based on current low patronage this really did seem like an absurd fear.
Network Rail (NR) has announced that the King's Cross Remodelling Programme, which is part of the East Coast Mainline Upgrade, will mean the temporary closure of individual tracks and platforms at King's Cross for three months between Monday 1st March and Friday 4th June 2021. During this period, in which King's Cross station will remain open but with reduced capacity, NR will carry out the largest and most complex part of the King's Cross Remodelling Programme, in which the 1.5 miles of existing track on the approach to the station will be replaced and re-laid in a new layout. There will also be a series of much shorter, weekend full closures between September 2020 and March 2021. The current schedule for these is Saturday 5th/Sunday 6th September, Saturday 17th/Sunday 18th October, Saturday 21st/Sunday 22nd November and Friday 25th to Wednesday 30th December 2020, Saturday 30th/Sunday 31st January, Friday 26th to Sunday 28th February and Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th April 2021. Some of these weekend closures will affect overhead powerlines and therefore also prevent any Thameslink trains running between Finsbury Park add St Pancras. Once completed, most of the changes will be seamless to passengers, apart from the re-opening of the third tunnel, which closed in the 1970s, to create six tracks into the station, instead of the current four.
Work to construct a new tunnel and 1.9 miles of new line at Werrington, north of Peterborough, will cause disruption between 16th and 24th January 2021, with reduced long-distance services and longer journey times. Once the project is complete, freight trains will be able to head towards Lincoln without having to cut across the East Main Line, helping to unlock capacity on the route.
Remaining track and signalling infrastructure completed on King's Lynn eight-car project over August Bank Holiday
Keywords: [FenLine]
Over August Bank Holiday 2020 Network Rail completed the final section of track-related infrastructure works on the £29 million upgrade of the rail line between Cambridge and King's Lynn. The project cost increased by £1.7 million, which is being blamed on less-efficient working practices, and supply-chain issues, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although this work had been delayed by several months, the longer trains will enter public service with the December 2020 timetable change, which was always the commitment, although not the aspiration. Both Railfuture and the Fen Line Users Association are disappointed that the platform extensions cannot be used until then, not even the Waterbeach platforms for the King's Cross-Ely trains, which are already eight cars long. Great Northern insists that it needs until December for "essential" track, safety and train testing to take place, alongside driver training. However, GTR flatly refuses to give any information whatsoever about what driver training is actually needed.
The most significant work completed in late August was the new siding for a single train located outside King's Lynn station, parallel to the track for the Middleton Towers branch, which will be used to store an eight-carriage train overnight. The lengthened platforms at Littleport (platform 2) and Waterbeach (platforms 1 and 2) were complete back in May 2020. The new stairs and ramp built on Littleport's southbound platform 1 are in passenger use but still need further work as does the new mini-car park.
Despite the platform extensions at Waterbeach not being in use, the lights and speakers are enabled. This has led to some residents close to the northbound line complaining about the noise from the PA system. It has now been reduced by 40%. These types of complaints have become more common since COVID-19, which has (temprarily) led to less noise from other traffic and more peope working from home (close to the railway).
The Department for Transport (DfT) only funded works directly relating to the platform extension, meaning that there was no budget to rectify problems at the station, even though it would have been cheap to do those minor works at the same time. Examples include a lack of seating on existing platforms and at Littleport the semi-derelict station sign plus the paint badly peeling off the underside of the levle crossing bridge, which is now used as the entrance to platform 1. Great Northern (GN) has explained that the council remains repsonsible for the state of the bridge, and for failing to removal the redundant road height restriction signs now that vehicles can no longer go under it. The council also owns the station car park, and GN has agreed to ask for the signage to it to be improved.
Other East Anglian rail upgrades were completed over the August Bank Holiday weekend. These included track maintenance at Cantley (on the shared part of the Wherry Lines) to reduce the number of track faults, and installation of over half a mile of track, drainage and overhead wire and structure works at Needham Market to improve reliability on that stretch of the Great Eastern Mainline.
East West Rail Company looks for support contracts and a partner for DCO application to build Bedford-Cambridge railway
Keywords: [EastWestRail]
The East West Rail Company will need to apply for a Development Consent Order (DCO) — introduced under the 2008 Planning Act — to build the new stretch of railway from Bedford to Cambridge (known as the Central Section), rather than apply for a TWA Order, which Network Rail obtained for the Bicester to Bletchley section. Development work is also said to cover the existing route between Bletchley and Bedford, implying changes to the existing branch line to allow it to operate as part of a cross-country link between Oxford and Cambridge. The company has advertised for a technical partner covering the scheme development phase. It says it is looking for industry partners who can provide engineering and environmental services, land and property services, and commercial management services. The partner, or partners, will also provide management and technical resources to augment the East West Rail in-house team through the project development phase.
Track, crossing decks and platform surfacing renewals on the East Suffolk line
Keywords: [EastSuffolkLine]
Network Rail will be renewing worn out jointed track on the East Suffolk line with new continuously-welded rail, which will give passengers a more comfortable journey. Three kilometres of track (comprising almost 3,500 steel and 700 concrete sleepers) in the vicinity of Brampton station is being replaced and the level crossing on Station Road in Brampton will also receive an improved deck for road vehicles as well as additional works to install tactile paving, handrails, fencing and signage for pedestrians. Three pedestrian foot crossings in the Brampton area will also receive new decks to improve the surface for those crossing the railway. Platform resurfacing at Brampton station will be done at the same time.
The work will take place between Saturday 24th October and the early hours of Monday 2nd November, with train services suspended (and replaced by buses) for the whole of that period between Lowestoft and Saxmundham to allow engineers a safe working environment. Network Rail explained that it is less disruptive for passengers to close a line for 10 days rather than closing the railway over many weekends.
News: https://www.railbusinessdaily.com/track-renewal-works-on-east-suffolk-line-to-improve-reliability/.
STATIONS
Network Rail prepares to launch its second and final public consultation on Cambridge South station proposals
Keywords: [CambridgeSouthStation]
Network Rail is due to launch its second round of public consultation about Cambridge South station on Monday 19th October 2020 for six weeks until 29th November. This follows first consultation and in early 2002 and the announcement in June 2020 that the new station would be built at the public's favoured location, which was the northern-most site, close to the guided busway bridge, and the location that Railfuture had preferred as it was closest to the Biomedical Campus. This final round of consultation is focused on the station facilities and station access arrangements, to make sure that the proposals that have been developed cater for future station users.
In a press release, James Palmer, Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority, said: "I'm proud that persistent lobbying by the Combined Authority has brought this new Cambridge station within reach and now, the people it will serve get their say on how it evolves. Cambridge South will be a keystone of Cambridgeshire's future improving connectivity across our whole county, increasing everyone's opportunity for sustainable travel, paving the way for good growth, linking people to the kind of jobs they want, and getting them there in a cleaner, greener way."
The project website page www.networkrail.co.uk/cambridge-south-station/ has information about the proposals and details on how to take part in the consultation. Details of Network Rail's proposals will be covered in [Snippets 331].
News: https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/public-consultation-on-cambridge-south-station.
Platform 4 at Cambridge station to be extended by 40 metres for new Greater Anglia commuter trains
Keywords: [CambridgeStation]
In mid-September 2020 Greater Anglia announced that platform 4 at Cambridge station will be extended by 40 metres to allow its new Class 720 Bombardier Aventra commuter trains to use that platform. This is necessary because the five-car trains are the equivalent if a six-car train — each carriage is about four metres longer — and therefore a pair of units coupled up are as long as a 12-car train. Currently platform 4 is around 10.5 carriages long, hence the extra 40 metres. The platform extension, which will be built using EPS modular expanded polystyrene platform lightweight system blocks, will have full facilities, including public address speakers, CCTV cameras. There will also be fencing, drainage and platform end steps, rather than the traditional slope.
The platform 4 extension (the adjacent platform 5 is not being extended a all) will cost £4 million, which equates to an eye-watering £100,000 per metre! Of course, the cost has more to do with moving adjacent track, point-work and a signal — there will also be circuit signal rehabilitation works; buffer stop relocation on the main tracks; overhead line strengthening — but the 'per metre' argument has used by opponents of the £1.5 billion upgrade of the A14. In this case, the realigned track will, Railfuture hopes (although it has not been confirmed), also provide easier train movements, primarily those using platforms 5 and 6, where there is a three-minute timetabling buffer for trains arrving form the sourth into platform 4.
The work, which is being led by Greater Anglia's 'New Train East Anglia' (NTEA) team, is due to start in December 2020 and finish in May 2021, and during this period the platform will remain open, since the extension can be installed in standard engineering access hours as well as possessions, and deep or piled foundations are not required. Engineering firm Dyer & Butler, a part of M Group Services, has been awarded the contract to undertake the work on behalf of Network Rail. Between January 2019 and August 2020, Dyer & Butler's Rail team has completed 26 platform extensions across 17 stations.
RAIL SERVICES
CrossCountry resumes services to Manea and Whittlesea stations
Keywords: [ManeaStation] [WhittleseaStation]
CrossCountry's reduced service introduced because of COVID-19, allowing it to run longer trains so that social distancing could be maintained, saw the suspension to calls at both Manea and Whittlesea stations, leaving Greater Anglia to provide the only service. The Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, James Palmer, had met CrossCountry management on Friday 11th September to demand that 'lifeline' trains to call at key times, primarily for students and commuters, and this resulted in a decision by CrossCountry, announced on 16th September to reinstate early morning and late afternoon stops from Monday 21st September 2020.
The Mayoral Combined Authority continues to invest in the Fenland stations to upgrade them and has been calling for more frequent trains and more frequent stops.
Norwich to Liverpool service to continue as an end-to-end service beyond December 2021
Keywords: [EastMidlandsFranchise]
in early September 2020, East Midlands Railway (EMR) provided stakeholders with an update on its franchise agreement with the Department for Transport (DfT) that proposed transferring the Liverpool to Nottingham section of the current Liverpool to Norwich services from EMR to Transpennine Express. It announced that the work to plan and deliver this split and transfer has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it would not be possible to split the service from December 2021 as planned, and therefore EMR would continue to operate this service. The DfT will revisit this transfer at a point in the future when the level of risk and uncertainty has reduced.
RAIL CARDS
Govia Thameslink Railway enhances its 'Key' smartcard to support railcard discounts
Keywords: [TSGN]
On of the annoying problems with transport smartcards, particularly those offering Pay as You Go (PAYG) fares, is that they often do not take account of railcards held by by the owner. As a result, travellers often continue to buy paper tickets. The good news is that Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) now enables railcard discounts to be obtained for pay-as-you-go travel when using its 'Key' smartcards. After the smartcard holder has entered their Railcard details onto their online keyGo account, journeys made are then automatically assessed at the end of each day, and if they meet the railcard conditions the fare will be automatically discounted.
GTR's Managing Director, Tom Moran, said that "Coupling keyGo with discount Railcards is a game-changer, with so many more people now able to take advantage of tap-in, tap-out travel." It's something that Railfuture and RUGs have been asking for. Indeed, since the nationwide launch of the 26-30 Railcard in January 2019, the calls for it to work with smartcards has grown. The 'key' will work with all rail cards used by a single person: 16-17 Saver, 16-25, 26-30, Senior, HM Forces, Annual Gold Card, Disabled Person's (Adult and Child), Network and Job Centre Plus Travel discount card. However, group railcards such as Family & Friends and Two Together cannot be added to the smartcard. Currently 'keyGo' cannot be used on TfL services or those run by another train operator.
News: https://www.railwaygazette.com/uk/railcard-discounts-now-available-on-gtr-smart-cards/57281.article.
ROLLING STOCK
Govia Thameslink Railway starts five-year modernisation of its Electrostar fleet
Keywords: [TSGN] [Class377] [Class387]
GTR has commenced a £55 million five-year modernisation programme of its entire 270-strong Bombardier Electrostar fleet, which is being funded by the train owner, Porterbrook. This comprises the class 387 (introduced from December 2014) and 377 trains (up to 20 years old) that are used across its network, with both types being brought up to the same standard by GTR's team at Selhurst Depot. The 387s are now also used on the Great Northern route (including to King's Lynn).
The modernisation will provide passengers with USB/power sockets and on-board real-time information through media screens, whilst new energy-saving LED lighting to make them more environmentally friendly. These are features that passengers called for in research led by Transport Focus. Additional passenger-counting technology will also be fitted. The work will see the latest "smart" on-board diagnostic systems installed, plus forward-facing CCTV cameras that will help GTR and Network Rail (NR) investigate incidents. The CCTV images will also be used by NR for preventative maintenance such as removing encroaching vegetation.
The work, which will see the first train back into service in autumn 2020 later ramping up to one train a week being released, will be performed on the oldest trains first: the 214 class 377s that provide suburban and commuter services on the Southern network between London, Surrey, Sussex and the south coast. The 56 class 387s working on Great Northern or Gatwick Express routes will be update last.
DECARBONISATION
Network Rail publishes interim Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy with proposals to electrify East Anglia routes
On 10th September 2020 Network Rail (NR) has published its interim Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy, setting out preliminary recommendations for meeting government ambitions to decarbonise the rail network. It considers the three main solutions: electrification, batteries and hydrogen fuel cells. Electrification has a high capital cost, is the only practicable solution for both long-distance high speed and freight services, which have higher energy needs than batteries or fuel cells can provide.
Across Britain, NR has 15,400 non-electrified track kilometres. It primarily recommends electrification of 11,700km, battery operation on 400km and hydrogen on 900km, with 2,400km where it has no strong view (although further operational and economic analysis has indicted a split 1,340km electrification, 400km battery and 400km hydrogen, with the remaining 260km still to be considered).
Whilst electrification is clearly needed for the Felixstowe to Nuneaton corridor (via Ely and Peterborough) and Norwich to Ely, both ends of which are electrified, makes sense, most of the rural East Anglia lines (operated by Greater Anglia's bi-mode trains) would fall into the battery and hydrogen categories. Railfuture supports Network Rail's view that the best way of achieving decarbonisation targets would be through a long-term, stable and efficient programme of electrification, although NR proposes this over at least 30 years.
CAMBRIDGESHIRE AUTONOMOUS METRO
Lord Robert Mair CBE appointed chair of the delivery company for the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro
The Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority has approved a recommendation to appoint renowned civil engineer Lord Robert Mair CBE — recognised internationally as an authority on major infrastructure projects involving tunnelling, such as London's Jubilee Line Extension, HS1 and Crossrail — as chair of the delivery company for the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro (CAM). The company, which is a special purpose vehicle (SPV), has been incorporated with the name One CAM Limited. Business case work completed on CAM so far has proposed tunnels under Cambridge city centre for the new bus-based public transport network.
Since the late 1990s there has been an obsession by local authorities that "innovative" bus-based schemes for Cambridge and the surrounding area. The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway has failed to live up to the hype, and many believe that the CAM will not either. Railfuture supports a light-rail system, as proposed by Cambridge Connect, integrating with a larger railway network.
PRESERVED RAILWAYS
Mid-Norfolk Railway receives second Pacer train
Keywords: [MidNorfolkRailway]
In September 2020 the Mid-Norfolk Railway received its second Pacer train (unit 142061), which had previously been used by Northern Trains. Together with Pacer unit 142038, it is intended to be used on services during the 2021 passenger operating season, after refurbishment. Using Pacers will enable the MNR to operate cost-effective trains at times of lower passenger damand.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 330 - 30/09/2020
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