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East Anglia Branch News - Snippets Issue 332 - 30/11/2020

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

Railfuture News Snippets 332 - 30/11/2020



On Thursday 26th November 2020 Greater Anglia finally ran the first passenger services of its much-delayed new Class 720 suburban trains manufactured by Bombardier in Derby, which are part of a £1.4 billion new trains programme. Two services operated: the 16:10 Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street service and the 17.25 return. The trains are the first in Britain to have underfloor heating, which works with an overhead heating and ventilation system, increasing foot room for passengers sitting in window seats. The roll-out of the Class 720s on routes from London to Essex and Ipswich will continue in 2021 and begin on the West Anglia route in the second half of 2021.

During the early hours of Sunday 8th November 2020, the new 400-tonne 40-metre-long Chisholm Trail pedestrian and cycle bridge across the River Cam was craned into place. It sits beside the two-track railway bridge immediately south of Fen Road in Cambridge, close to Cambridge North station. When the bridge is opened in early 2021 it will bring hundreds of homes in Cambridge within a ten-minute walk of the station, and hopefully leading to more passenger journeys once the coronavirus pandemic is over. The Chisholm Trail, which is scheduled to open in autumn 2021, is a mostly off-road pedestrian/cycle link between Cambridge North and Cambridge stations.

Railfuture has submitted a response to Network Rail's Ely Area Capacity Enhancement consultation. The response states that "while all passenger services call at Ely station because of its pivotal role in the passenger rail network, the exact opposite applies to freight services for which Ely station is nothing but an unavoidable and unwanted impedance to their progress" the optimum solution requires "traffic separation", i.e. freight trains ideally having their own Ely station avoiding route. Railfuture is concerned that studies pay too much attention to present day business cases and too little to future-proofing the network. See www.railfuture.org.uk/display2495. According to Network Rail (NR), feedback was "overwhelmingly positive" with 71% of respondents in favour, but did not indicate if the feedback was skewed by location. There was local concern around level crossing closures. NR has said that it hopes to phase in the additional train paths in stages with the half-hourly King's Lynn trains a priority. Greater Anglia had a franchise commitment for an hourly Ipswich-Peterborough service and there is a requirement to run 54 freight trains per day each way. NR cannot, at this stage, consider phasing the work since they need to know the full scheme before doing anything - e.g. no point in replacing the existing bridges over the river (which is within the railway's boundary) without knowing if it would remain a two-track railway line.

Great Northern (GN) has confirmed that the eight-car service to King's Lynn will commence on Sunday 13th December 2020, and that on weekdays just three trains in each direction each day will be formed of four cars. These will be the lightly-used 05:50, plus the 08:09 and 16:20 trains leaving Cambridge for King's Lynn and the return services. The 16:20 leaves just 15 minutes before the next train. GN says that the May 2022 timetable change will give an opportunity to take out the extended dwell times at Cambridge station, although there may be an opportunity to reduce it before then.

In 18th November 2020 Greater Anglia launched a 12-week public and stakeholder consultation on the December 2021 timetable, when it is looking to adjust the timetables on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML), the Southend Victoria line and the routes that connect into them, to take advantage of the improved performance capabilities of its new trains and reduce journey times be between two and seven minutes. Railfuture will be responding to the consultation (see: www.greateranglia.co.uk/december21tt.

The Fen Line Users Association held its first-ever virtual AGM on Saturday 14th November 2020 (using Zoom). Five representatives from the rail industry answered questions: Angie Palmer - GTR (Stations), Alan Neville - GA (Stakeholder Manager), Charles Baker - NR (Public Affairs Manager), Charles Salter - GTR (Strategic Planning Manager for Great Northern) and David Hughes - GTR (King's Lynn to Shepreth stations).


RAIL SERVICES
Changes to rail services whilst half of King's Cross station platforms closed in 2021

Keywords: [EastCoastMainline] [GreatNorthern] [KingsCrossStation]

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has announced that in spring 2021 during the seven weeks that King's Cross station will be restricted to just five platforms instead of 12, only platforms 7-11 (i.e. two long and three short platforms) will be in use. LNER's services will terminate at Peterborough and passengers will transfer to GTR's Great Northern trains to King's Cross. These peak-time trains be lengthened to 12 carriages, coupling up some of the Class 387 trains that would have gone to King's Lynn. The shortage of units also means that there will not be any 12-car trains between King's Cross and Cambridge. Four-car Ely starters will not be able to run as they would have formed a 12-car service from Cambridge station. Squeezing trains into fewer platforms means that some turnaround times at King's Cross will reduce from 34-40 minutes to 20 minutes.

In order to maintain the eight-car services to King's Lynn, some of those services will occasionally use eight-car Class 700 trains. Apparently, this needs 16 pairs of 387s and they only have 13, hence use of GN units. On Wednesday 4th November 2020 a Class 700 ran to King's Lynn, stopping at every station platform, for 'gauging' tests, to check it would fit. Photos can be seen at www.flua.org.uk/picture_library/KLN700.html.

Following the seven-week work, the other half of King's Cross will close with only platforms 0-6 in use. As this gives seven (rather than five) platforms in use there will be greater flexibility and opportunity to run LNER services into the station again. Great Northern says that it has tried to even route the reduction across all routes.

GTR has made changes to the customer information screens (CIS) at King's Cross station to support the new eight-car service to King's Lynn. For example, it now informs passengers to sit in the front eight carriages of 12-car trains that split at Cambridge and to sit in the front four carriages for Watlington.


RAIL ROUTES

As reported in [Snippets 330] track renewals took place on the East Suffolk Line during a nine-day closure from 24th October to 2nd November 2020. Network Rail confirmed that these were completed on time, with its press release stating that "it also used this closure to complete other key improvements to level crossings and the station to avoid separate future closures."

At the end of November 2020 Network Rail started to replace a mile of track (installing 2,420 concrete sleepers and 6,240 tonnes of ballast) at Somerleyton, on the line between Norwich and Lowestoft. It will also be installing handrails and fencing at two user-worked crossings.

Despite the DfT announcing after the August Bank Holiday that the King's Lynn eight-car project had been completed, some snagging at the new siding has been rectified. The surfaces of the original platform extension at Waterbeach were also replaced, apparently because it didn't give an adequate image on the CCTV when an eight-car is in the platform, though not a problem with four-car trains.

Network Rail improves track and electrification between Alresford and Great Bentley in preparation for resignalling

Keywords: [ClactonBranch]

Network Rail (NR) has replaced nearly 1,200 metres of track, 740 sleepers and 3,720 tonnes of ballast on the Clacton branch line between Alresford and Great Bentley. It also installed 13 new overhead line structures and foundations — supporting 6000m of new overhead electric cables — and a new power supply as part of major upgrade works to the signalling system in the Clacton-on-Sea area. As mentioned in [Snippets 329], there will be a new computer-based signalling system, which will be controlled from a power signal box at Colchester control, to improve the movement of trains more effectively and also provide better live passenger information. NR will be carrying out intensive works on the project for 23 days from Saturday 20th February to Sunday 14th March 2021, during which a rail replacement bus service will be in operation.

East West Railway Company begins second phase of rolling stock procurement and launches new environmental surveys

Keywords: [EastWestRail] [ETCS]

The East West Railway Company, which acts as the Department for Transport's sponsor issued a Prior Information Notice (PIN) on 13th November 2020 to resume engagement with possible train suppliers. The PIN includes a set of technical specifications taking account of feedback from the market gained during the initial procurement phase that concluded earlier in 2020. The EWR Company is looking for an interim solution of a small fleet of self-powered trains for the Western Section of East West Rail (between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Aylesbury) so that services can be up and running as quickly as possible. The procurement (tendering expected in March 2021 with contract award by November 2021) has an estimated value of £44m aims for the wet lease (i.e. with full maintenance package) of 12 or 14 three-car multiple-units with ETCS Level 2 and Driver Controlled Operation (DCO) capability. The trains would be used for between four and six years.

On 18th November 2020 the East West Railway Company announce that new environmental surveys will be undertaken, and it has written to more than 600 landowners near to the route to ask for access to their land throughout 2021 in order to help understand local environmental conditions. It will gather data on plant and animal life, environmental features like rivers and streams, and historical features. The company has published on its website a set of initial baseline maps developed using open-source data from national and local government agencies such as the Environment Agency, Natural England and Local Authorities. The maps have been released ahead of a non-statutory public consultation planned for early 2021, when the public will be asked for their views on the railway.

Network Rail given permission to close Cambridgeshire level crossings five years after submitting application

Keywords: [EastWestRail]

Often the railway is accused of having such a bureaucratic system that it takes many years to do little productive work, but occasionally it is the planning system and the government that is to blame. A perfect example of this was confirmed in November 2020 when the Secretary of State for Transport gave Network Rail (NR) the powers to close or modify 16 level crossings across Cambridgeshire. These are located at: Chittering Footpath (CB5 9LR), Nairns (CB6 3LG), Coffue Drove (CB6 1RX), Silt Drove (PE15 0DB), Eastrea Cross Drove (PE7 2HG), Prickwillow [1 and 2] (CB7 4UP), Newmarket Bridge (CB7 4EX), Cross Keys (CB7 4UE), Black Horse Drove (CB6 1EH), Cassells (CB8 0UN), Westley Road (CB8 0UB), Jack O'Tell (CB25 9PW), Fysons (CB25 9PW) and Ballast Pit, CB25 9QQ), whilst Littleport station private access level crossing has already been closed as part of a separate process. Network Rail will now work with landowners and Cambridgeshire County Council to agree how to implement the changes before proceeding with work on any level crossings. NR aims to keep disruption to a minimum while the works are completed.

In 2017 Network Rail had applied for a Transport and Works Act Order — which led to a 22-day public inquiry — to obtain the powers to close or modify 25 level crossings in Cambridgeshire in order to reduce the risks for people using them and creating a safer, more reliable railway by reducing the number of points where people can come into contact with trains. Users will be diverted to an existing nearby alternative or along a new public route to a nearby alternative.

Nine of Network Rail's proposed closures were rejected. The Cambridgeshire Ramblers were instrumental in the decision by the inspector that closing some of these (Byway 33 Downham at Furlong Drove crossing, Leonards crossing at Soham, Clayway crossing at Littleport, Byway 30 at Willow Row Littleport, and Footpath number 4 at Harston) would impact the public sector equality duty as they are used as part of a scheme of health walks.


COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Following the Prime Minister's announcement that 'Lockdown 2' would take place in England from Thursday 5th November to 2nd December 2020 (inclusive), passenger rail services has reverted to being for essential travel only. The legal reasons for leaving home are to obtain essential supplies, medical reasons, caring duties, education (schools and universities remain open this time) and daily exercise. Although one should exercise locally, it is acceptable to travel in order to exercise, and whilst the government is encouraging 'active travel' (walking and cycling) it has not ruled out using a train to go somewhere to exercise. Unlike the first lockdown, train services have not been reduced. There are several reasons according to train operators. These include a) the intended lockdown is for a short period (just 28 days) and not worth the effort of changing timetables and b) the schools and universities remain open so there are a lot of students travelling.

A member of Greater Anglia staff displayed an unauthorised notice at Stowmarket station telling people that they may only come to the station if they are travelling and any non-travellers will be asked to leave. Although targeted at trainspotters, which is not an illegal activity during lockdown, Railfuture expressed concern that 'meeters and greeters' would be affected, and that frail or nervous travellers value the presence of family (in their household or bubble) to see them off. Fortunately, Greater Anglia management instructed that the notice be taken down soon after it was reported to them.

All heritage railways have closed to the public during 'Lockdown 2'. The Whitwell & Reepham railway remained open at weekends only, from 10:00 until dusk, to sell hot and cold snacks and drinks to people who are walking/cycling along the Marriott's Way. Its car park was open but the toilets were closed. Just as lockdown was about to end, the W&R announced that from Saturday 5th December it would be open every day allowing people to sit outside at its tables again (but not inside) and the toilets would be open. With the government allowing get-togethers for five days over Christmas, they were also offering a full Christmas Day meal. On Sunday 6th Decemebr steam trains will run from 10:30 to 16:30 running every 20 minutes with bubbles of no more than six passengers.

Greater Anglia said that during the second lockdown patronage (November 2020) has been about 23% of the equivalent period in 2019, down from the 34% it had recovered to during summer, but that is considerably more than the 7.7% of normal passenger numbers carried during the first lockdown (from 23rd March 2020) when all but essential travel was banned and schools and colleges were closed. The second lockdown allows people to use trains to get somewhere to exercise. When it ends in December, it is expected that people will take the train to travel to do their Christmas shopping.

Greater Anglia and GTR trains test negative for COVID-19

Both Greater Anglia (GA) and GTR, which operates Great Northern and Thameslink trains in East Anglia, have had a random sample of their trains independently tested for the presence of COVID-19 to check the efficiency and effectiveness of their new cleaning and sanitising regimes across their networks (GA's processes were mentioned in [Snippets 326]), and every test has come back negative.

Assessments for biological residue were performed 40 times on GA's trains departing or arriving from Liverpool Street. The areas that were swabbed were high-touch-points such as push buttons, tables, toilet doors, toilet flush buttons, grab handles and the inside of driver cabs. Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) swabs taken from GTR's trains (randomly nominated carriages from all eight of its train fleet) three weeks after being treated with a long-lasting viruscide showed no trace of COVID-19 when microbiological tests were performed in a laboratory.

Government behind schedule on agreeing ERMA 'break' terms with train operating companies

Keywords: [ERMA]

It was announced by the Department for Transport (DfT) on 21st September that it had signed new Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements (ERMAs) with GTR, Greater Anglia and East Midlands Railway, but not CrossCountry Trains, which has been given a new three-year direct award as its franchise was about to expire. The ERMAs required the TOCs to agree terms with the DfT for cancelling their franchise and eventually moving to a new concession style Direct Award Franchise Agreement. The DfT had set a deadline of 14th December 2020 to reach agreement, but it is understood that having so far failed to present each TOC with its estimate for the 'termination sum' (due within seven days of notification) that owning groups have now been given until mid-December to make their final representations. The DfT's discussions are likely to continue until mid-January 2021 before an agreement must be reached. If it is not then the Secretary of State may terminate the ERMA automatically reverting the franchise to the previous financial terms and almost certainly causing them to collapse as a result of vastly reduced ridership. Because of the large sum likely to be demanded, it has been reported that several owning groups may be exploring legal options such as a judicial review of the conclusions reached by DfT.


STATIONS
Marks Tey among several Greater Anglia stations to receive improved cycle parking facilities

Keywords: [MarksTeyStation]

As reported in [Snippets 328], Greater Anglia (GA) is providing better cycle parking facilities at several of the stations that it manages. GA has now provided more details about the improvements, which will deliver almost 1,000 additional cycle parking spaces.

At Marks Tey station, by the end of 2020, an additional 200 cycle parking spaces will be provided in a new covered area, increasing the current 60-space cycle parking capacity by over 300%. CCTV and lighting will also be installed to aid security. Works are also progressing at Audley End, Diss, Manningtree, March, Newmarket and Elsenham stations plus at Braintree, Rochford and Southend Victoria, which are outside the Railfuture East Anglia branch area. Further locations are planned for 2021.

Additional spaces have already been installed at Bishop's Stortford, Dullingham and Whittlesford Parkway stations, which total 290 extra spaces.

Many Greater Anglia stations awarded "Safe and Secure" status

Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]

It was announced in November 2020 that 63 stations across the Greater Anglia network have received the "Safe and Secure" award, which is part of a project involving the British Transport Police. The award acknowledges safety measures such as good lighting, wide CCTV coverage, secure cycle storage and good access to rail staff, either in person or through help points. The award was given to both mainline staffed stations such as Ipswich, Colchester, Stowmarket, Bury St Edmunds and Manningtree but also those on branches such as Clacton, Harwich, Saxmundham, Woodbridge and Lowestoft.

Major construction work around Cambrdge North station limits access for cyclists and bus users

Keywords: [CambridgeNorthStation]

Construction of the 217-room four-star Novotel hotel adjacent to Cambridge North station has been completed, with the disabled car parking, taxi rank and short-term parking returned to their original state before construction started in 2018 (following a recent closure to allow sewerage pipes to be laid). However, on the other side, construction has started on an office block in the triangle of land bordered by short-term parking, busway road and the connecting road between the busway road and the main road into the station. Deep excavation is taking place for an underground car park for employees (base is six metres below ground) and four-metre piling beneath it. As a result, the road is busway road is narrowed around the works.

A works compound has been setup on the opposite side of the connection road and, to allow unhindered access to/from it and the triangle, gates has been installed at both ends of the connecting road. This means that the Citi 2 buses can no longer reach the bus stop beside the station square. A separate bus stop has been created, to be used for two years, at the far end of the 428-space car park, with a shelter erected and a turning circle for buses constructed just beyond it. This was all done within a month. Creating a bus stop in the car park, close to the hotel would have been an option; however, that would necessitate the height-restriction bar at the entrance to be removed and result in the car park being occupied by travellers. The temporary bus stop has been used since from 25th November 2020.

Cyclists have been discouraged from using the cycleway parallel to Cowley Road and diverted to the busway route instead. This is done by partial fencing at the entrance on Milton Road and signage saying 'cycle route closed'.


CAMBRIDGESHIRE AUTONOMOUS METRO
Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro mission strategy wins backing of Combined Authority's transport committee

As a result of feedback from the public consultation held between May and July 2020, the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) has refreshed its 'CAM Sub-Strategy' document, which was approved in draft form in March 2020 and sets out the strategic vision for the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro (CAM). It provides detail outlined in the Local Transport Plan, describes the economic, social and environmental objectives of the CAM.

The four key CAM policies contained in the document are:

  • Promoting growth and economic opportunity through better connectivity to increase productivity and capacity
  • Supporting accelerated delivery of new housing
  • Ensuring the CAM is affordable and accessible for all, integrating with rail, buses, and active travel including cycling and walking
  • Promoting sustainable growth and development including via zero emission vehicles, avoiding encouraging unsustainable development, supporting biodiversity net gain and preserving the natural character and heritage of the region.

It was presented to a meeting of the Combined Authority's Transport & Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday 4th November 2020 and received a recommendation for approval and adoption at the full Combined Authority Board, which met on 25th November and gave its approval.

Combined Authority issues Invitation to Tender for Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro conceptual design

On 5th October 2020 the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) issue a Standard Selection Questionnaire, as part of its initial procurement phase, to potential suppliers (including consortiums) for technologies, innovations, designs, operational systems and commercial ideas that could provide an in-the-round design solution to the CAM's delivery. Responses were required by 4th November and the Mayoral Combined Authority has since invited 10 suppliers to respond to its Invitation to Tender by 4th December 2020, from which it will award contracts to the three top scoring tenderers to develop the conceptual designs by March 2021.

The conceptual design will consider the type and size of the proposed autonomous metro vehicles could be suitable, what infrastructure the vehicle would run on, how it will run, what the customer experience should be like and opportunities for revenue streams.

Combined Authority sets up 'One CAM Limited' company to deliver Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro

The Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) has set up a separate delivery company called 'One CAM Limited' to provide the dedicated resource and expertise needed for the effective delivery of the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro (CAM). With renowned tunnel engineer Robert Mair CBE as chair, it has appointed five Non-Executive Directors (Godric Smith CBE, Baroness McGregor Smith CBE, Pam Alexander OBE, Terry Hill CBE and Jim Cohen). A further non-executive director and a CEO are being sought.


GUIDED BUSWAY
Double-deck bus trapped under bridge as bus driver forgets that southern route only allows single-deck buses

One of several cost-reduction decisions made by Cambridgeshire County Council when it promoted the controversial guided busway was to avoid raising Hills Road bridge in Cambridge, which meant that double-deck buses could not use the southern route (unless they avoided the decided route adjacent the power signal box at Cambridge station. On the morning of Friday 13 November (an appropriate day!) a driver had attempted to drive their double-deck bus under Hills Road bridge. The result was that the top of the year-old bus became trapped under the bridge for three hours, closing that part of the busway, until the emergency services cut off the top of the bus to free it. Only one passenger was on board. A photo showing the 'topped' double-deck bus, taken by Councillor Kate Thornburrow, can be viewed at https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Emslb33WMAAcwWj?format=jpg.


Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 332 - 30/11/2020

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