News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 360 - 31/03/2023
- RAIL ROUTES [all issues]
- STATIONS [all issues]
- Trimley station gets renovated footbridge and new lighting on the platform
- Project to create western entrance at Peterborough moves forward
- Brandon station building declared unsafe forcing platform to be closed to passengers
- TRAIN OPERATORS [all issues]
- ROLLING STOCK [all issues]
The BBC East 'Politics East' television programme on Sunday 5th March at 10am included a feature about lobbying for rail improvements in East Anglia. Specifically investment in Ely and Haughley junctions. Railfuture's Phil Smart was interviewed by the BBC presenter, Andrew Sinclair, on a journey from Stowmarket to Ely. Phil had prepared some briefing notes, mainly about freight, including times of freight trains due through Ely North Junction between 13.00 and 14.30 (the duration of their time in Ely) to assist him with filming. Also interviewed was James Palmer, former Mayor of Cambridge and Peterborough combined authority. Railfuture has uploaded an extract of the programme to its YouTube account - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc6ukqjTofU. BBC Politics East on Sunday 19 March featured East West Rail, although Railfuture was not involved in that edition.
Slides from Railfuture's national conference held in Leeds on Thursday 30th March 2023 can be viewed on the Railfuture website at https://www.railfuture.org.uk/display3297.
The Spring Budget presented by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on 15th March 2023 included deeper devolution deals for Greater Manchester and the West Midlands and confirmation that the route for the Bedford-Cambridge section of East West Rail (EWR) would be announced during May 223. However, the rail industry responded with disappointment to the absence of overt references to the rail sector, which is suffering from a lack of new schemes. The Chancellor froze did not end the temporary 5p (+1p VAT) reduction in fuel duty, so it will last at least one more year, and froze the fuel duty for the 13th consecutive year, whereas the government imposed a 5.9% increase in rail fares from March 2023. Critics say that the unintended consequence has been to make a low-carbon form of transport relatively less attractive.
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has announced some changes amongst its senior management. When Patrick, Verwer joined as CEO in 2018, he established two separate business units (Southern/Gatwick Express and Thameslink/Great Northern), each covering a pair of its brands with each unit led by a Managing Director. There will a new Chief Customer Officer (CCO), who reports to him.
The Hereward Community Rail Partnerrtship (CRP) has launched a winter-themed video to promote travel on the Hereward Line, which covers the line between Peterborough and Ely. It can be vieeed at https://herewardcrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/the_hereward_line-360p-1.mp4. It was funded by a a grant from CrossCountry's Community Engagement Fund. The CRP plans a further video for summer 2023.
On 13th March 2023, the Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) launched a Back On Track Emergency Appeal with a target to raise £l95,000. This will be used to meet the costs of repairing Crownthorpe bridge, which cannot current support trains running across it, which means that trh epassenger service will only run between Dereham and Thuxton. In the mid-1990s the MNR took over the line, which had not been maintained since the 1960s and it is now reaping the consequences.
In the evening of Sunday 12th March 2023 the Nene Valley Railway's Orton Mere signalbox was badly damaged in an arson attack (one of several attacks in the area, mainly on cars). The fire brigade extinguished it within an hour. Two twelve-year-old enthusiasts have setup an appeal to raise money for the railway, reaching £7,000 just three days later. See www.gofundme.com/f/nene-valley-railway-signal-box and www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/sarah-walker-788.
Greater Anglia (GA) is to run a Class 321 Farewell charity charter train on Saturday 29th April 2023, to mark its upcoming withdrawal of the trains, which will be replaced by Class 720 trains. The event, aimed primarily at rail enthusiasts, will raise funds for three charities relevant to its operating area: East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH), Havens Hospices and the Railway Mission. The train will run from London Liverpool Street to Clacton, Walton, Harwich Town, Stowmarket, back to Shenfield, to Southend Victoria and finally back to London Liverpool Street, covering many of the core routes with which the Class 321s have been closely associated for much of their life. The trip (which costs £70) will also include journeys over a number of loops and sections of track not normally used by scheduled passenger trains. The Class 321 electric units have been used on suburban and commuter services in East Anglia for over 30 years. Greater anglia had run previous enthusiasts' charity specials in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
RAIL ROUTES
Trackwork in Norfolk and Suffolk cause short-term line closures
Keywords: [EastSuffolkLineines]
Network Rail says it is in the process of stabilising and widening a mile-long embankment on the East Suffolk Line to the north of Martlesham over 13 consecutive days from Saturday 25th March to Thursday 6th April 2023, with buses replacing trains between Ipswich and Saxmundham. Saxmundham station's car park will be closed during the works because rail replacement buses operate from there.
The work was needed because the top of the embankment was slipping away, with signalling equipment and signage gradually falling down the bank, potentially affecting the future safe and reliable running of the line. Users of both the East Suffolk Line and the Wherry lines face a series of trackwork project during 2023, which will result in more rail-replacement buses. This seems to be occurring more frequently that in the past as the Victorian railway ages, and is increasingly impacted by climate change. Network Rail's budget for future work is considered inadquate by many in the rail industry.
STATIONS
Trimley station gets renovated footbridge and new lighting on the platform
Keywords: [TrimleyStation]
More than £1.2 million has been spent at Trimley railway station in Suffolk. The footbridge has undergone a complete refurbishment, which included repairing and strengthening steel structures and installing new stair treads and decking. New, brightly painted handrails with lighting were also installed, along with a new non-slip floor surface to improve passenger safety when going up or down the steps. The height of the bridge parapet was also raised as an additional safety measure. New lighting has been installed on the station platform, with new lighting columns installed on the station approach and in the car-park.
Project to create western entrance at Peterborough moves forward
Keywords: [PeterboroughStation]
The government's Levelling Up fund will be providing £48m, in £5m chunks, to regenerate the station quarter in Peterborough. This is expected to provide a new western entrance to Peterborough station that would be connected via a footbridge. Extended platform canopies (particularly on island platform 6/7) and improvements to pedestrian and cycle links are also planned. The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) is in charge of delivering the project, which is expected to cost about £65m including funding from Peterborough City Council. Work should begin in 2025.
News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ck5erp6415yo.
Brandon station building declared unsafe forcing platform to be closed to passengers
Keywords: [BrandonStation]
At Brandon station the 'down' side (Norwich bound) was been closed on Wednesday 2nd March 2023 owing to the condition of the station buildings, which it was felt could collapse. A replacement bus service is currently operating between Ely and Thetford calling at Brandon. The 'up' services operating as usual although, perhaps to minimise vibration, passing services may subject to a speed restriction. Once the station building, which is listed, has been secured, trains will resume calling at the station.
TRAIN OPERATORS
Dutch railway passes ownership of Abellio UK (Greater Anglia's parent) to British management buy-out company
Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]
On 1st March 2023, Dutch national train operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen (N)S announced that its international operating arm Abellio had formally completed the divestiture of its UK subsidiary through a management buy-out, Transport UK Group Ltd (TUG). This follows completion of the regulatory approval process, more than eight months after the buy-out was signed in August 2022. The transfer includes Greater Anglia (GA), the East Midlands Railway and West Midlands Trains companies, as well as 60 London bus routes. TUG will also operate Merseyrail in partnership with Serco. The Greater Anglia operation was a 60:40 joint venture of Abellio and Mitsui which meas that GA is now 60% owned by TUG.
The new nine-year Greater Anglia franchise, which began in October 0216, was a money pit for Abellio UK, and the ridiculous £3.6 billion premium payments due to the government by 2025 would have destroyed its business but COVID-19 got there first, in March 2020, since when GA has merely been a contractual interface, with government taking all revenue and paying all costs. Prior to this, in 2018, NS had changed its international strategy to require foreign activities to contribute to the interests of Dutch travellers, and with Abellio UK no longer of strategic importance it decided to withdraw from the UK to focus on services within, to and from the Netherlands. NS hasn't totally walked away, however, as it will provide funding to TUG to cover outstanding liabilities.
The MBO has been led by Abellio UK Managing Director Dominic Booth, whom many in East Anglia will remember as the MD of Wagn. Railfuture's Policy Director, Ian Brown, commented: "The real strengths of Abellio in the UK throughout is its UK based management, albeit at the time of formation with the necessary financial backing of NS. This therefore puts the new UK company in a very good position to take the operations forward under GBR."
News: https://www.railwaygazette.com/uk/abellio-uk-becomes-transport-uk-group-as-buy-out-concludes/63640.article
https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/abellio-uk-to-be-renamed-transport-uk-group/.
ROLLING STOCK
Last few weeks of Class 321 trains in East Anglia but only for ad hoc use
Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]
The final phase of implemneting Greater Anglia's (GA) new £1.4 billion fleet of trains begins on Monday 3rd April 2023. That is the last day when GA will have pre-planned use of its remaining Class 321 trains, any deployment of the Class 321 trains in normal service would only be on an ad hoc, short-notice basis, as appropriate. They would rermain available for just a few more weeks, as spare trains or to provide flexibility in the event of disruption or other unplanned developments. They weill also be used on Saturday 29th April on a Class 321 Farewell charity charter train.
The Class 321 electric units have been used on suburban and commuter services in East Anglia for over 30 years, but are being replaced by the new Class 720 suburban trains from Alstom in Derby. Already 101 of them are in service, and have been operating the vast majority of Greater Anglia's commuter and local services for many months. GA expects it to take until the end of 2023 before all 133 of them have carried passengers.
Additional content will be added to this page.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 360 - 31/03/2023
[Prev Issue (359)] [Snippets Issues] [Next Issue (361)] [Category List] [Keyword List] [People List] [Story List] [Branch Dashboard]