News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 341 - 31/08/2021
- COVID-19 PANDEMIC [all issues]
- Co-ordinated national rail marketing campaign launch to attract passengers back after COVID-19
- Pleas for holiday makers to visit in a sustainable way
- RAIL ROUTES [all issues]
- Wisbech incinerator a potential threat to Wisbech line reopening
- Various engineering works across East Anglia (and towards London)
- March-Peterborough line shut to allow line repairs after freight train hits tractor on level crossing
- STATIONS [all issues]
- Environmental impact assessment for proposed Beaulieu station submitted to Chelmsford City Council
- Councillors approve plan redevelop car park at Cambridge station
- Cambridge South station design inadequate to cope with likely number of passengers
- Murals installed at Hitchin station
- Construction works continue for Soham station to open as planned in December 2021
- RAIL FRANCHISES [all issues]
- ROLLING STOCK [all issues]
- RAIL DEPOTS [all issues]
- GUIDED BUSWAY [all issues]
The North Norfolk Railway (NNR) has announced that it will repeat its highly successful 'Norfolk Lights Express' illuminated trains from 15th November 2021 until 3rd January 2022. It will cost £18 per person. To book, see https://www.nnrailway.co.uk/. Story from https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/norfolk-lights-express-to-return-north-norfolk-railway-8265058.
After three years as Deputy CEO at GTR, Steve White will be moving to a new role as Managing Director of Southeastern in October 2021. Current Southeastern MD, David Statham, will become Strategy Director for Go-Ahead.
The Rail Haverhill AGM will be held at the Town Hall Arts Centre in Haverhill on Monday 20th September 2021 starting at 19:00.
The East West Rail Alliance (EWRA) will hold a public event at Winslow (at its B3 compound in Furze Lane) on Saturday 25th September from 13:00 to 16:00. This will offer people a chance to talk to the delivery teams, ask questions about the progress of the project and find out more about the compounds, bridge repairs, highway works and utilities diversions. It is intended for people in Winslow although anyone with an interest in East West Rail is welcome to attend.
As mentioned in
According to the latest newsletter from the Melton Constable Trust, which promotes the Norfolk Orbital Railway scheme, the purchase of a further strip of former railway land between the North Norfolk Railway's terminus at High Kelling (called "Holt") and Holt is progressing (at solicitor stage). This has been funded by subscriptions from supporters and also interest-free loans, but the Trust is asking for more donations to help it build up reserves, which will be depleted by the purchase. It has also been concerned by the actions elsewhere of highways England where it considers bridges to be 'unsafe', as one of the 134 bridges under threat is bridge number 1711 near Fakenham.
Research into zero-carbon transport and modal shift strategies gained through the development of the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro (CAM) concept is to be incorporated into an updated Local Transport Plan for the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough region, according to new Mayor Dr Nik Johnson. He was elected in May 2021 on a manifesto that included cancelling CAM, and on 28th July the Combined Authority board approved the suspension of work by delivery body One CAM Ltd until a 'comprehensive review' is carried out.
COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Co-ordinated national rail marketing campaign launch to attract passengers back after COVID-19
On 16th August 2021, exactly four weeks after COVID-19 restrictions finally ended in England (after the 21 June 'reopening' was delayed to 19 July following a significant rise in Covid-19 infections), the rail industry launched its first co-ordinated national marketing campaign since the start of the coronavirus pandemic back in March 2020. Train operators had been discouraged (prevented?) by the Department for Transport (in England) from trying to attract passengers back for much of this time. Some media sources claimed that 'cautious' civil servants at the DfT had "overridden the enthusiasm from ministers to spend on promotional activities" in early summer.
Branded "Let's get back on track" (hashtag #LetsGetBackOnTrack), the campaign is primarily aimed at leisure travellers, encouraging people to travel by train for days out and weekends away. According to the press release it does this "by featuring moments of joy made possible by rail, such as grandparents meeting their new grandchild for the first time and a couple being reunited after months apart during lockdown." It uses many 'channels', including television, radio, video on-demand advertising, social media, billboards and posters at railway stations, bus shelters and shopping centres. The campaign is also expected to boost local businesses as leisure rail passengers travelling spend on average £107 per trip on shopping, restaurants and hotels, generating £46bn for those businesses. The biggest spending is on food and drink at £15bn per year (an average of £33 per trip), followed by £12bn for shopping (£31 per trip), £10bn on accommodation (£21 per trip), and £5bn on entertainment and culture (£12 per trip).
The promotion was picked up by local newspapers including the Lynn News, which quoted former FLUA secretary Andy Tyler (click HERE to read it).
The rail industry confirmed, yet again, what Railfuture had identified during numerous journeys, that leisure travel has recovered quickly than other types of travel, with young people the keenest. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) revealed in August 2021 that revenue was at 56% of pre-pandemic levels, with leisure traffic up 10% since 'Freedom Day'. Passenger levels across Britain averaged at 60% of pre-COVID patronage, with leisure at 70% but commuter journey still only at 30%. Total railcard sales are up 6.5% compared to 2019, thanks to strong sales of 26-30 and 16-25 railcards, both of which are ahead of industry expectations. August Bank Holiday weekend was particularly encouraging with the RDG announcing that ticket sales to seaside destinations that weekend has surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
In August LNER announced that it would make available 200,000 bargain single fares for as little as £5 up to £20 (£40 for First Class) for journeys between King's Cross and Edinburgh. These are for travel between 6th September and 15th October 2021. The Seat Sale was live on the LNER website and app until 1st September 2021.
Greater Anglia will run more trains from Monday 13th September 2021 in anticipation of more passengers because commuters are being encouraged to return to the office and new school and college terms start. It will operate an extra 12 Norwich to London Liverpool Street intercity services every weekday and eight at weekends, with the two 'Norwich in 90' express services being reintroduced. The full timetable is being restored on the Great Eastern mainline service between London Liverpool Street and Southend Victoria, Braintree, Colchester, Colchester Town, Clacton/Walton, Harwich and Ipswich. Five additional West Anglia mainline (London Liverpool Street and Cambridge and on to King's Lynn) services are being added as well.
The return to commuting may be further impacted by any fares rises announced by the government, which have traditionally been set based on the Retail Prices Index (RPI) figure for July, which was announced as 3.8%. For more than a decade, Railfuture has been calling for the lower Consumer Prices index (CPI), but if the government repeats its practice in 2021, it will impose an increase of RPI+1% in 2022. Railfuture issued a comprehensive press release on 18th August 2021 explaining that the total revenue achieved is based not on the fares but the number of passengers travelling, hence lower fares may result in higher revenue overall.
Railfuture has also been critical of the implementation of the government's new 'flexi-season' fares for part-time commuters, which offer only a modest discount and are only worthwhile (or worth taking the risk) in limited circumstances, and has suggested some simple 'sticking plaster' fixes such as extending the validity from 28 to 31 days. The Rail Delivery Group, which will cease to exist once Great British Railways (GBR) is up and running, has said that it will "continue to push for improvements to the 'flawed' flexible season ticket offer and remind government that the time is right for a wholescale review of the fares system."
Pleas for holiday makers to visit in a sustainable way
East Anglia coastal businesses have hoped for increased trade thanks to COVID-driven staycations in summer 2021, however there is a fear that the vast majority of holidaymakers will arrive by car. East Anglia's six Community Rail Partnerships, Greater Anglia, Visit East England, the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, and the University of East Anglia, which leads on climate change research, have issued a joint plea for people to visit sustainably, saying "we can all reduce emissions, improve air quality and decrease congestion by choosing sustainable transport options as we begin to travel again."
Concerns remain around a 'car-led recovery', as predicted by Railfuture because of the demonisation of public transport during the pandemic, with a recent VisitBritain survey finding that two-thirds of people taking holiday breaks in the UK in summer 2021 say they will do so by car, compared to just 16% who will take the train.
To try to encourage people to leave the car at home, Greater Anglia and the CRPs have produced a series of tourism videos (which will be promoted on social media) to demonstrate how easy it is to reach some of the region's most delightful tourist hotspots by train. The videos showcase the sights and attractions that can be found along the rural branch lines of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and beyond.
Greater Anglia (GA) has launched a new online 'green hub' which includes a new carbon calculator to help travellers see how much they could help the planet by switching from car to train (see: www.GreaterAnglia.co.uk/GreenerAnglia).
GA's carbon calculator calculations are based on DEFRA CO2e emissions factors (with distance calculated using Google Distance Matrix) as follows:
- Train: 0.04115kg CO2e / passenger km. This is derived from the factor for electric trains
- Car: 0.18084kg CO2e / passenger km. This is derived from the factor for an average petrol car
- Plane: 0.25493kg CO2e / pass. km. This is derived from the DEFRA CO2e emissions factor for a domestic flight
RAIL ROUTES
Wisbech incinerator a potential threat to Wisbech line reopening
Keywords: [WisbechBranch]
Fenland District Council's planning committee oppose the building of a mega incinerator after agreeing it offered "absolutely no benefits" to the district, with no Section 106 money on offer. MVV Environment Ltd's planned to build a 54-megawatt waste burner on a site off Algores Way in Wisbech, just 750 metres away from a local school and also be close to businesses, with hundreds of lorry movements a day. However, district and county councils have no rights to decide on whether an incinerator that is in excess of 50MW decide gets the go-ahead or not. Instead, the Secretary of State, through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects' process, to determine whether or not the MVV's plans are given planning permission under a Development Consent Order (DCO).
It has a bearing on the plans to reopen the Wisbech railway line as the proposed EFW (energy from waste) also includes a combined heat and power pipeline that will run along the Wisbech railway track. It is unclear whether Network Rail (or the Combined Authority) is objecting.
Various engineering works across East Anglia (and towards London)
Network Rail has announced that it will perform engineering work between Chelmsford and Colchester on four weekends starting 25th-26th September 2021, with rail replacement buses operating. Thankfully it has left this work, which will include seaside resorts such as Clacton-on-Sea, until after the holiday season.
Over the August Bank Holiday weekend (Saturday 28th to Monday 30th August 2021) Network Rail worked on the railway between Finsbury Park and Moorgate stations as part of the "East Coast Digital Programme" which will see a gradual conversion of the East Coast Main Line to ERTMS, incorporating ETCS Level 2 in-cab signalling, create the first intercity digital railway in Britain. When implemented signallers will communicate with trains continuously rather than only at fixed signal points, responding in real time, benefiting passengers through reduced delays and significantly improved performance. Services were diverted into London King's Cross during the engineering works and will be repeated on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd August. In is also intended to try running the Class 717 trains on the Thameslink 'core' section, which has an earlier version of ETCS Level 2 to prove that the trains are backwardly compatible (trains with version 3.4.0, known as Baseline 3, running on track with version 2.3.0d, known as Baseline 2 and dating back to 2008). The Moorgate branch will not be fully digitally signalled until 2023, and will require trains to be upgraded with an even later version (3.6.0, or perhaps higher).
March-Peterborough line shut to allow line repairs after freight train hits tractor on level crossing
The March to Peterborough rail line reopened on the morning of Tuesday 24th August 2021 following the completion of repair works following a freight train hitting a tractor that was on Kisbey level crossing (in Cambridgeshire, between March and Whittlesea stations) just after 09:00 on 19th July. Before repair works to the track, signalling equipment and the level crossing, all of which had been damaged, could be carried out, the freight train (three freight wagons had derailed) and tractor has to be removed.
It is understood that the foreign tractor driver, who was at fault, speaker did not understand the level crossing signage. A FLUA committee member told Railfuture: "I drove passed the Sugar Beet factory at Wissington the other day and all the signs to lorry drivers are in several different languages, either five or six, but that does not excuse an employer who, knowing an employee doesn't speak English, from making sure they understand how to use level crossings."
Story and photo: https://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/articles/network-rail-repairs-due-after-train-and-tractor-collision.
STATIONS
Environmental impact assessment for proposed Beaulieu station submitted to Chelmsford City Council
Keywords: [BeaulieuStation]
The proposed £157m Beaulieu station outside Chelmsford (part of a £218m regeneration project) edged forward when an environmental impact assessment application was submitted to Chelmsford City Council in August 2021. The city council, which is the local planning authority in this instance, along with the public now have the information about the likely impacts and effects to the local area caused by the new station at this early stage of the project. Feedback will influence on the final plans submitted for the station. The three-platform station, which would sit on the Great Eastern Main Line, has a proposed opening date of 2025.
News: https://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/articles/chelmsford-beaulieu-railway-station.
Councillors approve plan redevelop car park at Cambridge station
Keywords: [CambridgeStation]
The railway-owned car park on the north-western side of Cambridge station has almost 400 ground-level parking bays. With land values in Cambridge commanding a premium, there have been several plans over the replace it with a multi-storey car park occupying less land, and redevelop the remainder. Having had its previous proposals turned down twice, in June and October 2020, it was third time lucky for developer Brookgate, which has been responsible for creating the Station Square and the buildings around it. Cambridge City Council's planning committee voted on Friday 30th July 2021 to approve the 'Devonshire Quarter' on the car park land following revisions that provided at "separated and safe cycle route" through the site and an "improved design" for the aparthotel and car park that is "further away from the Carter Bridge". The development will complete the northern quarter of the CB1 masterplan.
Once implemented station car parking spaces will be reduced to just 201 spaces (all within a new multi-storey car park), as part of the council's policy to reduce car traffic in the city centre by encouraging more active travel to stations, with a 141-room aparthotel cafés and restaurants (all above the new car park), and 50,000 sq ft of office space in a separate building.
Meanwhile, in August 2021, work finally started on extending platform 4 at Cambridge station to allow a pair of Greater Anglia five-car class 720 trains to use it. The work was supposed to have commenced in December 2020 and be finished in April 2021 but was delayed without an explanation being given. Railfuture had hoped that platform 5 could be extended at the same time, with the track connected up to carriage sidings just north of the platform to provide the space, but this idea has not been taken forward by Network Rail. Also, in the same month, work on the slow-moving project to provide additional carriage sidings and a new washer north of Mill Road bridge moved forward, with the frame for the carriage washer being constructed. According to https://www.cambridgeraildepotupgrade.co.uk/, which has not been updated, the FAQ said, "train wash operational - December 2020/January 2021."
Cambridge South station design inadequate to cope with likely number of passengers
Keywords: [CambridgeSouthStation]
The public inquiry into the Transport & Works Act Order application for Cambridge South station was announced two days after the statutory six-week consultation period closed, although the rules allow the DfT four weeks. The reason was that numerous objections had been expected so the inquiry was a foregone conclusion. Whether the rest of the process will be as slick remains to be seen, but Network Rail has recently told stakeholders "We're still exploring ways in which delivery can be accelerated".
In [Snippets 332] it said "Although the Biomedical Campus's own estimate of future rail passengers was around four million, the DfT estimated just 1.8 million annual patronage in the initial years (based on the government's Green Book, which has under-estimated Cambridge growth in recent decades)." Railfuture was alarmed by the incredibly low estimate for patronage and was not alone. In August 2021 an article in the Cambridge Independent referred to the objection from "volunteer-run think tank and campaign group" Smarter Cambridge Transport, which thoroughly supports the station in principle but says the proposal "lacks sufficient capacity for a realistic level of usage" and "provides no room for future expansion" amongst other concerns. Essentially said it shouldn't be built to the flawed (cheap skate) specification and it would be worth a delay to get it right. Their objection (10 pages of text and five of graphs) to the TWA Order application can be read at https://www.smartertransport.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Cambridge-South-station-2021-07-1e.pdf.
Murals installed at Hitchin station
Keywords: [HitchinStation]
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has installed a pair of dramatic murals to brighten Hitchin station's subway for passengers. Each mural is 15 metres long and tells the town's history since the mid-19th century using around 200 photographs from the North Herts Museum's collection. Hitchin is one of 19 stations where GTR has commissioned artworks from community and environmental charity Groundwork East.
Bim Afolami, MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, visited the station on Friday 6th August to see the mural and meet its creators. Hitchin station has recently been provided with new information screens and secure cycle parking.
News: https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/hitchins-history-on-show-in-station-subway-murals/.
Construction works continue for Soham station to open as planned in December 2021
Keywords: [HitchinStation]
Over the August bank holiday weekend, Soham station (which has been under construction since late 2020) was connected to the wider signalling network during a possession. A construction timelapse video for activity from January to August 2021 can be viewed at https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/kcyqe6ong4.
Railfuture understands that there will be a formal opening ceremony on Monday 13th December 2021, the day following the timetable change, when the first Greater Anglia trains (on its Ipswich to Peterborough service) will call at the station after a gap of 56 years. MARPA will be the local rail user group for the station.
News: https://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/articles/soham-set-benefit-new-station-after-56-years-without.
RAIL FRANCHISES
Office of Rail and Road publishes annual summary of key statistics for each passenger operating company
In August 2021 the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) published its annual summary of key statistics for each passenger train operating company. The statistics, which can be accessed from the ORR data portal cover passenger usage, performance and complaints alongside data on route kilometres operated and stations managed. Data for TOCs serving East Anglia are:
- GA: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1977/greater-anglia-key-statistics-2020-21.pdf
- GTR: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1975/govia-thameslink-railway-key-statistics-2020-21.pdf
- EMR: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1974/east-midlands-railway-key-statistics-2020-21.pdf
- XC: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1973/crosscountry-key-statistics-2020-21.pdf
ROLLING STOCK
Greater Anglia's Class 720 trains carry passengers on the West Anglia line for the first time
Keywords: [Class720]
Greater Anglia has been operating electric high-density Alstom (previously Bombardier) Class 720 trains in passenger for some time, but only in the east of the region (Great Eastern mainline between London Liverpool Street and Southend Victoria, Southminster, Braintree, Clacton, Ipswich and Colchester Town). In August 2021, despite only having 25 five-car units in passenger use, they operated in public service in Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire for the first time. The first train on the West Anglia line was the 05.58 from London Liverpool Street to Cambridge on Wednesday 25th August 2021. I then made several trips between Cambridge, Cambridge North and London. Another train went into passenger service on the Hertford East branch line after early morning journeys from Cambridge to Stratford and between Broxbourne and Liverpool Street.
The new trains have longer carriages so a five-car unit is length of 1.5 four-car Class 379s that they replace. They have all of the facilities that modern trains have with the addition of underfloor heating (the first British trains to do so), which works with an overhead heating and ventilation system. This was necessary to provide adequate foot room for passengers sitting in window seats, which is cramped because of the 3+2 seating throughout.
RAIL DEPOTS
Depot doors can be more complicated than one might think as Crown Point upgrade shows
Keywords: [CrownPointDepot]
Crown Point Depot in Norwich has been upgraded to support Greater Anglia's new train fleet, with Taylor Woodrow Contractors beginning construction of a series of extensions, upgrades and refurbishments in 2018. In [Snippets 339] the new bogie drop was mentioned. In August 2021, a press release mentioned that Jewers Doors (based in Bedfordshire) had installed several depot doors. The first were two sets of Swift-SEW doors for the depot openings at 'Road 16 & Road 17' on an old existing shed, providing an opening 4.6 metres wide x 6.4 metres high (to support overhead electrification wires), which are electrically operated in four leaves, with two leaves folding to each side clear of the opening. Jewers were involved in the design of a further door to Road 14. Being too wide for a Swift-SEW door, they proposed a bi-parting top-hung Osprey folding door in eight leaves, which was delivered and installed earlier in 2021.
GUIDED BUSWAY
Cambridgeshire Guided Busway has been operating for 10 years - was it worthwhile or misguided?
Saturday 7th August 2021 was the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway (CGB), which is known by some as the mis-guided bus (MGB). The first bus ran in public service on Sunday 7th August 2011. To say that it was controversial is an understatement, and Railfuture naturally wanted to see the St Ives railway line reopened (one of its key campaigns over decades).
With a decade of operation, and plenty of time to prove itself, has the guided busway been worthwhile or misguided? Below is a bullet point list of some key aspects of it post-opening (i.e. ignoring very delayed opening and construction going dramatically over budget):
- Recognition / Impressions
- If you asked people in Cambridge to name 10 good things about the city would the guides busway be one of them?
- If you asked people across Britain to say where the world's longest guided busway was, would many name Cambridgeshire?
- Patronage
- The 3.6 million target after three years was only just met, despite the historical target not taking account of sustained growth in the corridor, but gives a false impression of success as many of these passengers may have undertaken a journey entirely off the busway (e.g. on Cambridge streets, or between St Ives and Huntingdon) since the operator counts ticket sold or used on busway buses, not where the journey took place - see https://www.railfuture.org.uk/article1598-Lacklustre-Busway
- In August 2018, the Cambridge News reported "The Guided Busway from Huntingdon to Cambridge was expected to take 20,000 people a day, but it has now emerged only 11,000 a day are using it", citing Cambridgeshire County Council figures of 4.1 million journeys in the year to May 2018
- Integrated fares / Value for money
- Busway services accept DayRider and MegaRider tickets, providing fare integration with Stagecoach's services but the lack of discounts makes an off-peak Cambridge to St Ives journey much more expensive than the similar distance Cambridge-Ely rail services, which is cheaper still if a rail card is used (just £1.55 return)
- Commercial success
- Stagecoach has operated services profitably (helped by local authority funding of free bus travel for seniors, plus free to park and ride) and acquired many new buses but...
- Its only rival operator, Whippet, withdrew all services on the northern section of the busway in 2018, leaving just the short southern section
- In the five years since the Stagecoach and Whippet monopoly ended, no new operator has sought to run services on the busway
- Multi-operator smartcards have been withdrawn
- Lack of improvements / Decline
- An advantage of the busway over the railway was the ability for buses to leave the busway to travel through Northstowe. No part of this busway loop has been constructed
- No new facilities (such as retail outlets) have been added to the busway park and rides, although a privately-owned café opened in the former Histon Station building in July 2021
- No new stops on the busway have been introduced
- The busway was extended to Cambridge South station (albeit unguided) but nowhere else, so far, although proposals have been developed
- Bus speed limits have introduced at various crossing points, because of safety concerns, lengthening journey times
- Some end-to-end services have been curtailed at Cambridge station to enable more double deck buses rather than single deck to operate on the northern section, giving the benefit of increased capacity but necessitating an interchange for some passengers
- All ticket vending machines (TVMs) have been taken out of use in 2019, having been converted to card-only in 2014 following vandalism; by comparison, TVMs have not been removed from railway stations
- Much of the busway infrastructure looks in a sorry state e.g. busway beams are quite dirty, vegetation not managed, and sound bunds north of Histon are falling apart
- Maintenance-free infrastructure / disruption-free services / safety
- The busway was supposed to be maintenance-free for 30 years but issues around its construction led to numerous closures for remedial works
- The section between Histon and the A14 bridge was closed for many months to allow road widening works
- There have been a large number of incidents where vehicles have ended up on the busway, something not envisaged in evidence to the public inquiry, which caused the busway to be closed and buses taking a route detour to avoid the blockage
- Buses have been involved in several accidents of varying seriousness, including two fatal collisions with pedestrians or cyclists
- Active Travel
- The undeniable success of the busway is the parallel route for pedestrians/joggers, cyclists and horse riders, something that would have been perfectly possible if the railway had been reopened
- Replication
- The South East Hampshire, Luton-Dunstable and Leigh guided busways opened one, two and six years respectively after the Cambridgeshire guided busway, but all had been proposed for many years; no other guided busway has been developed in Britain, and the short Edinburgh guided busway was converted into a tramway as intended. Alternative bus-based systems have been proposed but none have reached construction stage.
View by Smarter Cambridge Transport: https://www.smartertransport.uk/has-the-guided-busway-been-a-success.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 341 - 31/08/2021
[Prev Issue (340)] [Snippets Issues] [Next Issue (342)] [Category List] [Keyword List] [People List] [Story List] [Branch Dashboard]