News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 337 - 30/04/2021
- STATIONS [all issues]
- New bus interchange proposed next to Biggleswade railway station
- Greater Anglia deploys robot cleaner at Stansted Airport station
- Liverpool Street platform work completed ready for longer trains
- COVID-19 PANDEMIC [all issues]
In late April 2021, following up on his article of RAIL EAST issue 189 a month earlier, Peter Wakefield, vice chair of Railfuture East Anglia wrote a two-page (see Railfuture article) for the Cambridge Independent newspaper about the need for East West Rail to enter Cambridge from the south to serve Cambridge South station and proceed to Ipswich and Norwich without the need to reverse. Also in late April, the East Weest Rail company responded to varius quesitons, which were also covered in a Cambridge Indepdendent EWR Co article.
Railfuture East Anglia branch has responded (see submission) to Network Rail's consultation on re-signalling routes in Cambridgeshire.
Congratulations to Railfuture East Anglia branch committee member, Phil Smart, who has joined the Rail Freight Group (RFG) as its new Assistant Policy Manager. On his appointment in April 2021, Phil said: "I am delighted to be joining the RFG team at an exciting time for the sector. With the growing emphasis on decarbonisation, there is an increasing role for rail freight in the UK supply chains and a greater need for local and national policies to support this objective." He will remain active with Railfuture.
In April 2021, Railfuture was one of the 15 rail businesses, and industry and campaign groups that signed an open letter to the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps MP, calling for a programme of rail electrification to begin as soon as possible to meet the Government's legally-binding net-zero commitments.
The University Boat Race 2021 was staged on Sunday 4th April (Easter Sunday) over a 5km stretch between Queen Adelaide and Littleport bridge. It was relocated from its normal west London route because of the reconstruction of Hammersmith bridge and also COVID-19. The latter meant that spectators along the banks of the River Great Ouse were not allowed, hence the large number of passengers taking the train to Littleport that would be have been seen in normal times did not occur.
Network Rail has fitted new equipment at three level crossings in Woodbridge on the East Suffolk Line. The crossings at Haywards (on Tide Mill Way) and Ferry Lane now have full barriers whilst Jetty Avenue (on Jetty Lane) now has miniature stop lights and an audible warning system. The full barriers prevent vehicles from weaving around them, although it now means that road traffic (which includes pedestrians and cyclists) are delayed for a much longer time. These barriers use obstacle detection, which automatically detects anything on the crossings, such as a pedestrian or a car, before lowering them and setting the protecting signal to green. The newer signalling equipment at all three crossings helps signallers understand where trains are in relation to the level crossings, which reduces the duration of the level crossing alarms at Haywards and Ferry Lane from around 70 seconds to approximately 20 seconds long, pleasing nearby residents.
Greater Anglia says that it installed more than 1,000 new cycle spaces across its station network in the 12 months to April 2021. These included Audley End, Bishops Stortford, Diss, Dullingham, Elsenham, Manningtree, March, Marks Tey, Newmarket, Saxmundham and Whittlesford Parkway railway stations. The extra spaces have been partly funded by local authorities including Essex County Council, Fenland District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council.
Ground preparation work has continued for the new Soham station. In mid-April a trench was dug parallel to the railway line, presumably for the footings of the new platform. The line is closed on Sunday 2nd May 2021 to allow close access to the line.
On 30th April 2021 GB Railfreight officially opened its new three-storey headquarters (including its 24-hour control centre and a training facility) in Peterborough, which was mentioned [Snippets 323]. The building has solar panels on the roof
Railfuture discovered that Greater Anglia had to replace one of its year-old customer information system screens on platform 1 at Cambridge North station because it was not waterproof. One hopes, obviously, that this is not a widespread problem.
At 23:59 on Saturday 24th April 2021 King's Cross Power Signal Box (PSB), which opened on opened in September 1971, was permanently taken out of service, with operations moving to York Rail Operating Centre (ROC). On Monday 26th April the first passenger train ran through the Gasworks Tunnel east bore (at 04:50), which is open again after 44 years of being closed, whilst the first LNER Azuma service arrived into Platform 0 at 07:01. From that date until Thursday 3rd June 2021, platforms 7 to 11 at King's Cross station will be closed to enable Network Rail to renew the track and overhead wires for the second half of the remodelling project. The entire station was closed from Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th April, with trains from Cambridge and beyond operating to St Pancras on the Friday but terminating at Letchworth Garden City over the weekend.
The 12th series of Michael Portillo's "Great British Railway Journeys" BBC-2 TV proramme revisits East Anglia from Monday 3rd to Friday 7th May 2021, stopping off at Saxmundham, Cambridge and King's Lynn. Having covered most of the railway in Britain, he is now travelling on routes from previous series but visiting different places of interest close to the stations.
STATIONS
New bus interchange proposed next to Biggleswade railway station
Keywords: [BiggleswadeStation]
Central Bedfordshire Council intends to invest £2.3 million in a new rail and bus interchange next to Biggleswade railway station. It has submitted a planning application that covers improved pedestrian access to the station and the interchange (including a re-configured road layout), improved bus links, enhanced public space and real-time bus and rail arrival/departure information, Network Rail and Govia Thameslink Railway intend to provide accessible, step-free, access to all platforms at the station via new lifts and ramps (under the Access For All scheme), plus accessible toilets (with baby change facility) and improved secure cycle parkingal, to be delivered by 2022.
Greater Anglia deploys robot cleaner at Stansted Airport station
Keywords: [StanstedAirportStation]
Greater Anglia has invested £23,000 in an 'Eco Bot 50' robotic machine to quickly and efficiently clean and dry platforms and concourses at Stansted Airport railway station. The machine is environmentally friendly and recycles water through an in-built filtration system. It does not require any human intervention and it automatically returns to its charging point when the battery is running low.
Liverpool Street platform work completed ready for longer trains
Keywords: [LiverpoolStreetStation]
In April 2021 platforms 16 and 17 at Liverpool Street Station had (finally) been extended, to allow for the nine-car 205-metre-long Crossrail trains, and platform 18 has been taken out of use as an operational platform (necessary to create the clearance for the tracks to the longer platforms). Additionally, the number of ticket gates between platforms 11-17 is to be increased, which should ease crowding at busy times. In particular the number of wide aisle gates double from four to eight and made automatic, so passengers can operate them using their tickets without requiring any assistance from station staff, who would normally also ensure that people do not tailgate.
COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Number of passenger train services increased as COVID-19 lockdown restrictions relaxed on 12 April 2021
From 12th April, non-essential retail, personal care and hospitality businesses reopened in England and overnight stays along where permitted again. As a reuslt more train services were reinstated, providing almost 18,000 daily train services across Britain, up from 16,900 in mid-February 2021, and higher still from 8th March when schools reopened.
Greater Anglia has said that further rail services will be added when the summer timetable commences on Sunday 16th May, although it will be only about 85% of the usual summer timetable.
GTR recently revealed that it has been running more trains on a Saturday than on weekdays, overturning practice for more than a century. Apparently the reason is that the timetables changed so many times to match demand during COVID-19 that it wasn't worth the effort to plan and implement changes the separate timetable on Saturdays.
Ticket checks on board trains resume following easing of COVID-19 restrictions
Following the easing in England of COVID-19 restrictions on Monday 12 April 2021, some conductors on Greater Anglia's bi-mode trains started to pass through the train to check and sell tickets. Railfuture members reported their first ticket check on 19th April. However, on some trains Railfuture tried in late April, the conductor still stayed put in the rear cab. Several train operators have announced that from 17th May checks will be done on every train where staff are present.
Easty Anglian heritage railways resume train services after easing of COVID-19 restrictions
On 12th April 2021 the North Norfolk Railway relaunched trains, initially with four non-stop return trains a day between Sheringham and Holt. Takeaway tea, coffee and cake was available from the railway's refreshment room at Sheringham. An enhanced timetable will be introduced from Monday 17th May 2021, which is the government's next date for easing of COVID-19 lockdown in England, when inside catering will be allowed.
The narrow-gauge Wells and Walsingham Light Railway, which runs through four picturesque miles of north Norfolk and is known as the 'world's smallest light railway', has announced that it will reopen and resume its services on Saturday 1st May. However, it will commence with the same 'COVID-lite' services as it ran in summer 2020, departing Wells only and travelling half-way to Walsingham and back, every hour from 10:00 until 16:00. The railway will operate daily until the end of 2021. Bookings are not needed.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 337 - 30/04/2021
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