News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 345 - 31/12/2021
- RAIL MEETINGS [all issues]
- STATIONS [all issues]
- Soham station reopens
- Plans for Cambridge North area commercial development will see car park converted into a multi-storey
- First phase of Chisholm Trail opens linking Cambridge North station to Cambridge United Football Club and beyond
- Air quality at five East Anglia railway stations to be monitored
- Christmas Fayre held at Lowestoft station
- RAIL FARES [all issues]
- GUIDED BUSWAY [all issues]
- PRESERVED RAILWAYS [all issues]
Just a week after trains removed for the timetable as a result of COVID-19 suppressed demand were reinstated when the December 2021 timetable began, services were slightly cut back owing to the Omnicon variant of the virus. Greater Anglia (GA) removed some services following reduced demand after the government asked people to work from home, whist other operates had a signficant number of staff off work because they had contracted the virus or were isolating because a family member had. GA said these "mostly involve services where there is an alternative service not long afterwards. "COVID-19 also caused the Mid-Norfolk Railway to cancel the last five days of its Polar Express trains (with Saturday 18th December being the final day before curtaiment), primarily owing to several of the actors being unable to continue, along with some of the train crew as well, meaning that only half the train could be staffed, which was not viable. BBC Look East had filmed at the railway on Friday 17th December.
On Sunday 19th December 2021, Boris Johnson appointed Wendy Morton as a parliamentary under secretary of state in the Department for Transport (DfT), which covers rail, replacing Chris Heaton-Harris, who became minister for Europe.
Transport East has opened a public consultation on its new regional transport strategy for the East. The draft strategy has been drawn up together with councils, business leaders and other partners to help guide investment in transport up to 2050. Have your say at: http://transporteast.org.uk.
As mentioned in [Snippets 344] freight trains started using the Werrington dive-under in November 2021. However, the official opening ceremony was performed on 9th December by Rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris. He said, "Opening this new section of railway marks the end of a project which saw Network Rail engineers deliver an incredible feat installing an 11,000-tonne concrete tunnel, freeing up tracks and unlocking new opportunities for rail freight."
Greater Anglia (GA) has now accepted 44 of its new Alstom Class 720 suburban trains for passenger service, which is almost a third of then are in traffic (a total of 102 new trains in service out of the 191 to completely replace all its older trains). As the roll-out continued, GA stopped selling First Class tickets on its West Anglia routes between Cambridge, Bishops Stortford, Hertford East and London Liverpool Street on Sunday 12th December 2021, when First Class seating on its old trains were declassified.
The Katch electric taxi bus service that started in May 2021, connecting Wickham Market railway station to Framlingham Castle, has now extended to include the arts, heritage and retail centre Snape Maltings, which is home to independent shops and galleries and several performance venues, including the Snape Maltings Concert Hall.
Network Rail has started to engage with stakeholders about its Control Period 7 (CP7), which is the five-year funding window (2024-29) for operations, maintenance and renewals (OMR) that it will negotiate with government. It plans to stage stakeholder workshops in February/March 2022 to share its draft plans and will hold follow-up workshops in summer 2022 after it has further developed the plan. The draft Strategic Business Plan will be submitted to government for review in December 2022 and the final version will be submitted in April 2023. The government is not scheduled to make a final decision on the five-year funding until December 2023.
Between January and May 2022, Network Rail (NR) engineers will renew half a mile of track and eleven points at Bishop's Stortford, along with platform work. NR says that the work will ultimately reduce delays and improve reliability of rail services for passengers travelling between London and Cambridge, Stansted and King's Lynn. The work will be done at weekend, despite more passengers tending to travel then than on weekdays, as a result of greater working from home. There will be some disruption for passengers, the vast majority of whom will be making leisure journeys and are arguably the most sensitive people who might give up on rail if it is a bad experience for them.
The Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) is in the process of producing a 30-year Whole Industry Strategic Plan, which aims to provide clear, long-term plans for transforming the railways. As part of this, it is launching an eight-week call for evidence, asking stakeholders to provide their views on how rail can contribute to five strategic objectives set by government. These are: meeting customers' needs, delivering financial sustainability, contributing to long-term economic growth, levelling up & connectivity and delivering environmental sustainability. Andrew Haines, Network Rail CEO and GBRTT leader, said: "we want it to be informed by as many different perspectives as possible, to learn from the lessons of the past and to meet the challenges of the future. We hope a wide range of organisations and experts, both inside and outside the rail industry, will respond to our call for evidence." The call for evidence is now open here and will run until 4th February 2022. See news story.
The Whitwell & Reepham Railway has been promoting its facilities for parties, especially around Christmas time. It has The Sidings or a train carriage available for private hire, which make for a unique venue. For 2022 it will be operating a Steam Sunday on the first of every month (Sunday 2nd January and Sunday 6th February 2022).
The Cambridge University Railway Club (CURC) has announced its first three confirmed speakers for 2022. On Wednesday 9th February, Sir Peter Hendy, Chairman, Network Rail. On Wednesday 16th February, Matthew Lee, Commercial & Customer Experience Director of Lumo (East Coast open-access). Finally on Wednesday 23rd February the speaker is Philip Sheratt, Editor, Modern Railways Magazine. All meetings will start at 18:00 at a Cambridge college venue yet to be determined. Info at https://curc.org.uk/.
In mid-December it was announced (after much speculation over many months) that Stagecoach, which runs buses in parts of East Anglia (including Cambridge) and used to have rail several franshises has (subject to shareholder approval) merged with National Express, which used to operate train services in East Anglia, although it later pulled out of railways in Britain. National Express has 75% of the shares in the new "£1.9bn transport giant" with a fleet of about 40,000 vehicles and a workforce of around 70,000 people.
RAIL MEETINGS
Network Rail Ely Area Capacity Enhancement presentation at Railfuture meeting in Cambridge
Keywords: [ElyAreaCapacity]
People: [Matt Brennan] [Stephen Deaville]
Matt Brennan (Ely Area Capacity Enhancement project sponsor) and Stephen Deaville (who is running the public consultations) of Network Rail (NR) spoke to the Railfuture East Anglia meeting in Cambridge on Saturday 4th December 2021 just a week after EACE public consultation "2B" had ended. This focused on the second of three geographical areas (mainly around Ely North Junction) that form the scope of the project. NR had broken the consultation into 'smaller chunks'. After jointly presenting their standard slides (see [PowerPoint slides]) the speakers addressed the primary concerns of many responses received, including the [Railfuture response], which is that the proposals were not ambitious enough, and did not provide sufficient capacity for everything that had been promised (14 trains per hour needed rather than the 10 'off peak' supported by the modelling that NR has done to provide a resilient service).
The EACE improvements would deliver the long-promised half-hourly service to King's Lynn. NR did not believe that the 9.5-mile single-track section between Littleport and Downham Market (singled in the mid-1980s) would cause delays. A member of the audience pointed out that it was a 'single block' (i.e. no intermediate signal), which meant that a freight train could not follow a passenger train on that stretch. When asked about Wisbech-Cambridge, NR said that an additional signal might be required between March and Ely; however, this would not be provided by EACE in order to keep its project simple.
On the 10tph proposal, Network Rail said it is likely that 13 (perhaps 14) paths could be accommodated with further work, particularly if the bottleneck north of Cambridge could be remodelled and restrictions between Soham and Ely eased. The proposals for Ely area would allow an extra 'class 4' (i.e. fast) freight train per hour with the possibility for a 'class 6' (slow) freight train as well. However, it would see only another six freight trains per day in each direction (an increase from 21 to 27 trains per day) because of constraints elsewhere on the network, which could become 12 per day in each direction through Ely (21 to 33 trains per day) if these constraints were overcome. That would support an increase of 36 to 48 trains per day to/from Felixstowe Port via Ely or London, significantly helping to reduce the number of lorries on the A14.
Railfuture has been proposing a grade-separated railway at Ely North Junction (to maximise capacity by segregating rail traffic), but Network Rail has focused on road schemes (to minimise the road-rail interface). NR was asked whether their plans for roads, particularly if they were close to the junction, would prevent a future flyover at Ely North Junction. It responded that funds to look at alternatives was limited and it could not be seen to lots of spend lots of money on 'maybes'. The southern road options for the Queen Adelaide crossings could have an impact on a future rail flyover, although NR could provide space if it was not too expensive.
There are 123 level crossings (of all types) in the wider Ely area, and Network Rail has had to assess all of them, primarily on the basis of risk of an accident. Most of them will be left unchanged. Kiln Lane crossing, just south of Ely North Junction, needs to be addressed for capacity reasons, not just risk, as it currently requires trains to be 'double blocked', which restricts the number of trains that can be pathed.
The project is being managed using the new Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP), and it is currently at the "option selection stage", which is the equivalent of the old GRIP stage 3. Matt confirmed that he is currently focusing on the business case and would be submitting it to the Department for Transport (DfT) on Friday 8th March 2022. In the EACE proposals there is an unspecified "new service" to use the 10th train per hour. He said that this is nominally allocated to a Cambridge-Peterborough service. Many of those present inferred that this could become a Cambridge-Wisbech service if the March-Wisbech line had been reopened by then.
It would be possible for NR to complete some minor improvements without a Transport & Works Act Order (TWAO) but it would need TWAO powers to close a level crossing, build a new bridge and acquire any land for some of the things that it is proposing. NR is exploring whether it can start some improvements before receiving the order, subject to receiving funding, although nothing would be done until the full scheme had been fully designed and submitted. NR said that if the work was staggered, it would like to prioritise renewing the two underbridges north of Ely station (Cutter and Common Muckhill) as they have significant speed restrictions. An audience member was concerned if anything happened to them, like the June 2007 bridge failure just east of Ely that was closed for six months before a new bridge was in place.
Railfuture asked Network Rail whether it is linking Ely Area Capacity Enhancements work with relevant aspect of the Cambridge Area Re-signalling scheme. For example, this will see the closure of the signal box at Bury St Edmunds, which would be a golden opportunity to restore the centre road at Bury St Edmunds station to allow the freight trains to maintain line speed through the station and overtake stopping passenger services — this would increase the Mid-Anglia route's capacity for freight services taking up more of the opportunities created by the Ely works. However, NR said that work at Bury St Edmunds was not in scope for the Ely Area Capacity Enhancements and that the doubling of the Soham to Ely Dock Junction was much more important to further increasing capacity. However, doing the work once and doing it right made sense. It is worth remembering that Beccles loop had been campaigned for ever since the East Suffolk Line was singled (in 1984) but was only deemed affordable in 2012 when the line was being re-signalled.
A list of key questions and answers about EACE from this meeting will appear in an article in RAIL EAST issue 193.
Click [slides] to see the PowerPoint slides presented by Railfuture at the meeting. This shows the various activities undertaken by Railfuture and some brief rail news updates.
STATIONS
Soham station reopens
Keywords: [SohamStation]
People: [Ellie Burrows] [Jamie Burles] [Nik Johnson]
Soham station reopened on Monday 13th December 2021, with the first train at 06:49 going towards Ely — its first timetabled passenger train for 56 years. It would have opened on the Sunday, but the line was closed because of planned engineering works. Greater Anglia advertised the station on its customer information screens at stations — this was not done when Cambridge North opened, although the new screens had not been installed back then.
As well as the platform and its facilities, two TVMs under cover, footbridge, entrance and square, there are 50 car (four accessible), ten motorcycles and 30 cycle parking spaces, plus a taxi rank and pick-up/drop-off area were included in the £18.6m station (some newspapers incorrectly stated £22m).
A local woman was heard commenting: "John Powley [former MP for Soham] said it would never be opened. A pity that he is no longer around to see it." Speeches were made by the new Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) Mayor, Dr Nik Johnson, Ellie Burrows, Network Rail's Anglia Route Director and Jamie Burles, Managing Director of Greater Anglia, who all stood in front of the unveiled station plaque for photo opportunities. The Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, the Hon Frances Stanley, was also in attendance, along with John Murphy, Chief Executive of J Murphy and Sons (Network Rail's main contractor for the building of the station). Nik Johnson's speech made no mention of his predecessor, James Palmer, who championed the station, and was present at the ceremony.
Network Rail recorded the construction during 2021 using a timelapse camera. A video of the complete timelapse sequence can be viewed [here]. It lasts 1 minute 55 seconds. Other videos had been uploaded, such as the [footbridge installation] on 25th-26th September 2021 — it shows that the merging of the two tracks into one is located underneath the footbridge and therefore immediately before the new platform.
The construction of Soham station was given the 'green light' on 29th June 2020, which means that it only took 18.5 months from then to opening. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) authorised the opening of Soham Station, having met the appropriate railway standards, on 10th December (see letter).
NR Soham page: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/anglia/improving-the-railway-in-anglia/reconnecting-soham/.
News story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-59628145.amp.
Plans for Cambridge North area commercial development will see car park converted into a multi-storey
Keywords: [CambridgeNorthStation]
Railfuture attended a public consultation at Cambridge North Novotel on 9th December 2021, to see the plans by Brookgate to develop the former rail sidings area close to Cambridge North station, and chatted at length with their representative. Information gathered is as follows:
- There is no belief that the post-COVID19 'new normal' will reduce medium- to long-term demand for office space in Cambridge, and particularly at Cambridge North (despite the current difficulty in letting the new buildings on the Science Park)
- The entire 428-space ground-level car park will go — it is seen as poor land use — there will be three large buildings in its place: the one closest to the Novotel will be a multi-storey car park; behind it will be two buildings containing labs (unclear why labs would be there rather than on the Science Park or Bio-medical Campus, which both already have labs)
- The multi-storey car park will have 628 spaces for station users (precisely 200 more than at present) plus 403 spaces for commercial developments; it was unclear how these would be divided, but a possibility might be low level for station users (i.e. the general public) and an access-card protected upper level (or basement) for businesses
- Vehicle access to the car park would be close to the Novotel (the entire car park would be occupied by buildings, so no other way to get to it)
- All three buildings would be constructed at the same time, meaning that the entire existing car park would close; a temporary car park would be provided to the north of the current car park (possibly where the trees are at the moment)
- The first phase would also include commercial buildings in a) the triangle between the car park and the road; and b) the work compound for the building currently being constructed
- The area of land between the work compound and the rear of the business park would be residential only, and form the second phase of the development; final design and application for permission of the second phase would not be applied for until permission was obtained for the first phase, not least because conditions placed on the first phase may affect the design of the second
- The planning application for the first phase would be submitted around March 2022; approval would not be received before autumn 2022; construction would not start before spring 2023; therefore the current car park would remain in use until then
- None of the construction would be complete (i.e. buildings in use) before December 2025; therefore, apart from the single building that will open in 2023, patronage at the station would not benefit from any new demand drivers until January 2026, although patronage would obviously still grow as a result of a) being part of the recovery from COVID-19; b) other developments in the area and c) opening of Cambridge South station (e.g. rail journeys from North to South)
First phase of Chisholm Trail opens linking Cambridge North station to Cambridge United Football Club and beyond
Keywords: [CambridgeNorthStation]
On Thursday 23rd December 2021 the first phase of the pedestrian and cycling Chisholm Trail opened. This now provides a direct route from Cambridge North station (via a very short stretch of the river Cam towpath) south past Cambridge United Football club amd will, when phase 2 opens, provide a route to Cambridge station. Being able to cross the river Cam so close to Cambridge North avoids using roads into Cambridge or using a bridge further down the river, and therefore reduces the time for many Cambridge residents to access the new station. The trail will play a small part in increasing rail patronage.
News story: https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/first-stage-of-chisholm-trail-walk-and-cycle-route-across-ca-9232415/.
Air quality at five East Anglia railway stations to be monitored
Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]
Greater Anglia will be monitoring the air quality at five of its stations (Cambridge, Ely, Ipswich, Norwich, and Stansted Airport) as part of a national Stations Air Quality Monitoring study involving 100 others in Britain. It is organised by the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) and funded by the Department of Transport, and will help to set a baseline for air quality levels that will be used to prioritise any necessary improvements.
Christmas Fayre held at Lowestoft station
Keywords: [EastSuffolkLine]
On Saturday 18th December 2021 the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership (CRP) held its first-ever Christmas Fayre, which drew around 2,000 people to Lowestoft station, with stalls in the Parcels Office Public Exhibition Space and gazebos on the concourse, music from the Loddon Town Band and food ranging from Norfolk Burgers to Belgian waffles. Twice an hour a Greater Anglia bi-mode train arrived, bringing some of the visitors and two Father Christmasses appeared to complete the picture.
Meanwhile At Oulton Broad South station, the East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership has paid for signs to promote the Carlton Marshes nature reserve, a short walk away. A map and interpretation panel are also planned in time for spring/summer 2022. The more people who visit this interesting site (run by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust) by environmentally friendly means the better.
RAIL FARES
Railfuture says rail fare increase from March 2022 "just does not make sense at this time"
The Guardian newspaper revealed on 1st December 2021 that government ministers had postponed the announcement of the 2022 fares increase after the backlash to the Integrated Rail Plan announced on 18th November. The leak said that increase was likely to be 3.8% (the July 2021 RPI figure) effective (in England) from 1st March 2022. This was prove correct, when it was confirmed on Friday 17th December (the day that the government lost the North Shropshire by-election — 'a good day to bury bad news').
Railfuture East Anglia was asked for a comment by the Cambridge Independent newspaper. Branch Vice Chair Peter Wakefield was quoted as follows:
"We are deeply disappointed at the increase in railway fares announced by the Department for Transport / Treasury. Note that all the fare revenue now goes directly back to them. They surely realise that the increase will make it all the more difficult to attract passengers back to the railway post-lockdown at a time we urgently need to decarbonise our transport network by decreasing the use of motor vehicles.
"It is doubly difficult to understand this fare increase when those who drive those vehicles have had the duty on the fuel they burn frozen for no less than 12 years. Train users will note this and feel they are being unfairly penalised. The DfT/Treasury are clearly not heeding the warnings from the Glasgow climate change conference. Train users will note that their journey on the train emits little CO2 but because road transport fuel duty has been frozen, over those 12 years there's been a three per cent rise in transport emitted COCO2. If the road fuel escalator had been used as originally planned over those years, there would have been a cut in COCO2 emissions of no less than 13 per cent.
"This fare increase just does not make sense at this time."
GUIDED BUSWAY
Busway track next to cyclists and pedestrians to temporarily close on southern seciton for safety reasons
There have been two fatal accidents on the southern section of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway where a guided bus has hit a person (pedestrian Kathleen Pitts on 26th October 2021 and cyclist Steve Moir in 2018). Both deadly incidents are under investigation have been investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which is carrying out a continuous review of safety on the busway. There is no protective fence (or anything else) to prevent people getting too close to buses, despite calls for one (Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner has said: "many will continue to wonder why proper segregation wasn't achieved at the outset"), although it is possible that it may be added in the future. In the meantime, Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) will from mid-January 2022 be temporarily closing the inbound only track of the busway between Cambridge Railway Station and Addenbrooke's hospital, with buses use Hills Road on the return journey back to Cambridge. This track will be out of use until a review CCC commissioned is completed, which is in February in 2022, and recommendations are received. The outbound track is unaffected.
PRESERVED RAILWAYS
East Anglian heritage railways announce plans for 2022
Keywords: [MidNorfolkRailway] [NorthNorfolkRailway]
The North Norfolk Railway has revealed some of the special events it will stage in 2022 to cater for the line's wide audience of locals, holidaymakers, families and enthusiasts. There will be steam trains every day for the half-term week in February, and they will continue each weekend until the end of March, before a daily service starts from April to October. There will be Steam Galas on 1st-3rd April and 27th-29th August, and a Mixed Traction Gala featuring steam and diesel locomotives on 10th-12th June. The Early May Bank Holiday weekend of 30th April-2nd May will see a return of the popular "Dad's Army Live" event at Weybourne Station: itself a location for the filming of the classic BBC situation comedy. There will be "Sixties Weekend" on 22nd-24th July and "Steam Back to the Forties" on 17th and 18th September. The Beer & Cider Festival which will take place on 24th-26th June. Lastly, there will be a event at Hallowe'en event before the line's immensely popular Norfolk Lights Express and Santa Specials held in November and December.
In early December 2021, the Mid-Norfolk Railway also announced its plans for 2022, although it is possible that the curtailment of the highly-profitable Polar Express trains (announced on 20th December) may restrict funds avaiable for some of the planned events. The railway's operating season will start on 6th March 2022 with the first steam running day on 27th March and the first special event at Easter. In June, the railway will be holding a Queen's Platinum Jubilee event, running dates to be confirmed nearer the date. The railway is planning to hold a Steam Gala over 1st to 3rd July visiting steam engines will be announced in due course. On 6th and 7th August, the annual 1940s Railway at War weekend will be held once again with re-enactors setting up displays all along the line and visitors encouraged to dress accordingly. The Diesel Gala will run from 23rd to 25th September. The MNR is planning for the first time to be open for the Norfolk school's autumn half-term break from 24th to 28th October and the Polar Express will run during November and December. The railway will continue to run the 'Kids Go Free' group tickets that was successfully introduced in 2021. These tickets will be available for all standard running days but do not include special events or special trains.
MNR programme: https://www.midnorfolkrailway.co.uk/post/programme-of-events-for-2022.
Bure Valley Railway conducts more tests on bio-coal
Keywords: [BureValleyRailway]
There is a danger that heritage railways may be seen negatively by those concerned with the environment (matters are not helped by many visitors arriving by car) because of their use of coal when running steam engines. In the scheme of things, adding all of the railways together will produce negligible environmental harm, not least becuase they often operate just one locomotive for only a few days a year. However, Britain's heritage railways are trying to put their house in order in advance of criticism.
The Bure Valley Railway had performed tests using bio-coal in June 2021 under its normal operating conditions. The team wanted to see how the bio-coal would work in different situations and on different locomotives. On Tuesday 23rd November and Wednesday 24th November morning departures to Wroxham burnt the Welsh coal from Ffos-y-fran as a base comparator, and the afternoon's burnt a variant of Ecoal50 developed by Coal Products Limited (CPL) based on the feedback from the June trials. A conclusion was that "there is a great opportunity for manufactured smokeless fuels made using biomass materials to replace traditional coals used in steam engines."
News: https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/railway-puts-bio-coal-under-arduous-mainline-tests/.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 345 - 31/12/2021
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