News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 361 - 30/04/2023
- STATIONS [all issues]
- Brandon station eastbound platform re-opened to passengers after building made safe
- East Suffolk Line stations receive 'Wildlife Friendly' accreditation
- RAIL ROUTES [all issues]
- COMMUNITY RAILWAYS AND PARTNERSHIPS [all issues]
On 6th April 2023, the government announced that East West Rail (EWR) services will be part of the Chiltern contract, which is something that many people had thought sensible for a long time. See announcement, which states "aims to introduce passenger services between Oxford and Milton Keynes between December 2024 and September 2025."
The North Norfolk Railway says that its daily loadings for the Easter 2023 holiday period were 13% up on the same period in 2022 — this was achieved on 16 running days over the Easter holidays compared to 18 days in 2022.
The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway between Cambridge central railway station, Addenbrooke's Hospital and Trumpington Park and ride will be closed between 1st May 2023 and the first week in July 2023. This is required by Network Rail and facilitates the building of a new crossing point as part of the Cambridge South railway station planning conditions between Francis Crick Avenue and the Addenbrooke's spur section of the Busway. The cycle/pedestrian path will remain open. Diversions will be in place and the two Foster Road stops will be closed with the nearest alternative stops being at Trumpington Park & Ride.
STATIONS
Brandon station eastbound platform re-opened to passengers after building made safe
Keywords: [BrandonStation]
Greater Anglia (GA) trains resumed calling at the eastbound platform at Brandon on the morning of Sunday morning 2nd April 2023. The eastbound platform had been closed since Wednesday 1st March after a safety inspection of the disused, old station building was assessed as potentially at risk of collapse. A bus replacement service was then put in place while the platform was closed.
The station bulding, which is listed and therefore cannot be demolished, has been enclosed by scaffolding and thick boards to prevent any part of it collapsing onto public areas. Th publc cna nopw stand aroundit, and particularyl on the platform, in safety. Of course, the best solution is to repair the building and bring it back into public use, to the benefit ot station users and locals, but GA has not managed to find a funding source to achieve this.
East Suffolk Line stations receive 'Wildlife Friendly' accreditation
Keywords: [EastSuffolkLine]
Four railway stations on the East Suffolk Line — Needham Market, Saxmundham, Somerleyton and Westerfield — have received a 'Wildlife Friendly' accreditation, recognising the work of community volunteers to improve biodiversity and support nature. The assessment was nased on how well the stations support local flora and fauna. Greater Anglia has partnered with local Wildlife Trusts to formally recognise the achievements of its team of volunteer 'station adopters' to create wildlife havens at stations across its network.
RAIL ROUTES
Trackwork in Norfolk and Suffolk cause short-term line closures
Keywords: [BitternLine] [WherryLines]
The railway line between Norwich and Lowestoft will be closed from Saturday 22nd April until the end of Wednesday 26th April 2023 to allow Network Rail to reinforce reliability on the route. Rail replacement buses will operate on this route throughout this five-day period, and also the first two days when the line between Norwich and Great Yarmouth will also be closed. Buses will also replace trains on the Norwich-Lowestoft line on Sunday 30th April and during the morning of Sunday 21st May because of follow-up work. A constant concern to cyclists is that full-size bicycles cannot be carried on rail replacement buses.
The work includes replacing half a mile of ballast between the Whittlingham junction (the junction for the Sheringham branch) and Brundall station. The ballast has been badly affected by a previous flood and the heatwave in summer 2022 and has caused issues with the track forcing the imposition of speed restrictions in hot weather. The new ballast will avoid this and improve the ride quality for passengers.
In addition to the above, more than half a mile of worn-out track at Cantley will be replaced and level crossings will be re-surfaced around Somerleyton. On the Sheringham branch line engineers will be continuing work on two level crossing upgrades on Sunday 23rd April. Greater Anglia will operate a bus replacement service between Norwich and Sheringham / Cromer. Once the project is completed later in 2023, the crossings will have automatic barriers so that users don't have to phone the signaller to request access.
COMMUNITY RAILWAYS AND PARTNERSHIPS
Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership celebrates 25 years of community rail projects
Keywords: [EssexSouthSuffolkCRP]
The Essex and South Suffolk Community Rail Partnership — a partnership between Essex County Council, Greater Anglia and others — is celebrating 25 years of community rail projects. Since being formed in 1998, having expanded to cover six branch lines and 42 stations, it has organised a huge range of activities over the years to encourage people to use the six branch lines in Essex, build links between the local community and the railway and tackle social exclusion.
The lines it supports are the Sunshine Coast Line between Colchester and Clacton / Walton on the Naze, The Crouch Valley Line between Wickford and Southminster, the Gainsborough Line between Marks Tey and Sudbury, yhe Mayflower Line between Manningtree and Harwich, the Flitch Line between Witham and Braintree and the Wickford to Southend Line.
Its projects have included working with local schools on rail safety, improving branch line stations with art work produced by the community, special on train events such as music trains and historical commemorations, guided walks, creating bee friendly areas at stations, working with local groups to create stunning station gardens and gaining funding to install life-saving heart resuscitators at stations.
Alan Neville, Greater Anglia's Customer and Community Engagement Manager, said, "We are very grateful to the officers of the Essex & South Suffolk CRP who work tirelessly to deliver extremely valuable projects that make a difference and deliver real benefits to the communities we serve and we look forward to continuing to support them in their aims. They're always coming up with new ideas to attract people from all sectors of the community to enjoy train travel and I'm sure with their continued support and enthusiasm, our Essex branch lines have a bright future ahead. Working together, we have a great opportunity to make the most of the great new trains now in place on all our Essex routes."
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Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 361 - 30/04/2023
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