News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 386 - 31/05/2025
On Tuesday 13th May 2025 it was announced (see BBC report
and
Monday 5th May 2025 was the 50th anniversary of the reopening of Watlington station, following a well-run campaign by residents of the village, which is between Downham Market and King's Lynn. There was a celebration at the station that day, organised by the Fen Line Users Assocation (FLUA)
GTR held a Teams call with stakeholders on 6th May 2025. A few interesting snippets were revealed. They're not expecting to get back to pre-pandemic numbers until around 2027-29; the contrast with GA (which is pretty much there already) could be because commuting is a bigger part of GTR's market. GTR's subsidy is around £600k/day, and is decreasing slowly. There's currently a shortage of Thameslink drivers; more are being trained and they expect to be up to strength by the end of this year. They are also recruiting 100 more revenue protection / gateline staff. A significant fraction of third-party ticket sales now come via Uber. GTR is working its way through the receently obtained class 379s trains, although not as quickly as they would like. It was repeated that the class 700s, which don't currently have power sockets, won't get them until their mid-life refresh. Lastly. Cambridge South station won't open immediately after the Christmas possession, but should be by the end of January (the official statement from Network Rail is 'early 2026'). Information courtesy of FLUA.
Also courtesy of FLUA, on the Fen Line, GTR has secured £1.739m for the current financial year from the DfT for station improvements and have announced this will include "Wheelchair access to Downham Market ticket office". Users should also benefit from "Improved facility for rail replacement bus passengers at Royston station." Improved, more secure, cycle parking has been provided at Huntingdon station.
On 8th May 2025, a two-minute animated video was uploaded to youTube by the East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP) communications team. This supersedes an earlier video lasting four-minutes that was produced in 2020. Network Rail has confirmed that over the weekend of weekend of 17th-18th May 2025 all lineside signals were removed from the 6km-long Northern City Line into London's Moorgate terminus. It is now operated using ETCS Level 2, which had been in place since November 2023. This is Britain's first high-frequency metro ("commuter") route to exclusively use ETCS (the Heathrow route and the Thameslink 'core' section do not count, and the Cambrian lines, which went live in 2011 is very much a rural line). GTR's communication with stakeholders said "At a practical level, the technology effectively allows train drivers to see around corners by telling them how far and how fast they can travel, rather than relying solely on the next signal. They can drive more smoothly and efficiently, to the best of the train's capabilities, helping them arrive on time and doing so in even greater safety." See article.
On 9th May 2025, East Midlands Railway (EMR) provided an update on its Rest Day Working (RDW) agreement for drivers, confirming that EMR and ASLEF have agreed to a short-term RDW arrangement with immediate effect to enable negotiations to continue to run to a conclusion. This will provide some assurance for passengers that their train should operate.
Cambridge Connect, which promotes a tram system for Cambridge, has warmly congratulated Paul Bristow on his election as the new Mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA), saying "We especially welcome his plans to bring forward light rail to get the region moving. Paul stood on a clear platform to deliver light rail mass transit to Cambridge, and it is now time to turn a corner on the flawed busway schemes and bring forward a more enduring and integrated vision. This is the pivotal moment to shift gear in public transport delivery for the region – to an approach that is more positive, more sustainable and more attractive in the long-term." See website page.
Network Rail, LNER and the private sector have collaborated to provide a mobile signal through Gasworks and Copenhagen tunnels, which are north of King's Cross station, particularly so that passengers can maintain phone calls as they arrive in London without being cut off. It follows the completion of work on a custom-built Distributed Antenna System which has been fitted inside the two tunnels, which are the first on the British operational railway to benefit from this capability. O2 is already linked up, and Three is expected to connect in the near future.
According to Greater Anglia, the installation of the innovative new footbridge at Stowmarket railway station has been delayed because of problems at the manufacturer. Instead of opening by early summer it will now be by the end of 2025. See BBC news article.
On Sunday 11th May 2025, a Vintage Bus Day, organised by the Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR), featured around 30 modern or vintage buses and coaches on display at Dereham railway station, dating from the 1930s to the present day. There were free bus rides on different routes between Dereham and Hardingham, Dereham and County School and the local Dereham to Yaxham circular run. The MNR ran train services between Dereham and Wymondham Abbey.
Railfuture wants to see more passengers using the railways and the easiest way of achieving that is to increase the number of people who live and work near to railway stations. Cambridge is thriving and expanding, and it is no coincidence that as land values go up that older buildings are being demolished and replaced by denser ones, particularly office blocks where more people can work. At the top of Station Road in Cambridge, Kett House, which was built in the 1960s, could be demolished in order to make way for a new taller office block. According to the Cambrdge News, plans for the redevelopment are still being worked on, but possible designs for the new building were shared with councillors at a briefing on Wednesday 14th May 2025.
Friday 9th May 2025 was the final day to visit the Lowestoft-Yarmouth railway exhibition in the Parcels Office at Lowestoft station. It had been open between 10:30 and 15:00, with free admission as part of the Railway 200 celebrations, and in association with the local community rail partnership.
The creation of Great British Railways inches forward, with the gradual transfer into public ownership of the 10 TOCs awarded contracts by the Department for Transport (DfT) being the only visible sign that anything is happening. On 25th May 2025, the DfT provided an update on this at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/great-british-railways wih the statement that "Train operators will have to meet rigorous performance standards and earn the right to be called Great British Railways." This has been ridiculed by some commentators who rightly ask the question "what happens if a TOC had met the standards but no longer does so?" In East Anglia, Greater Anglia is meeting its expectations, so everyone expects it to carry the GBR badge on its trains.
According to a Construction Enquirer article, Willmott Dixon has been chosen to lead the long-awaited transformation of Great Yarmouth's North Quays waterfront, the edge of which is next to Great Yarmouth railway station. The 10.5-acre site will include a major mixed-use scheme combining leisure, retail, housing and public space, and is intended to boost tourism, create jobs and support the town's social and economic growth. Its position next to the railway station makes it a key gateway to the town centre, and is bound to bring more people in by rail. The scheme is being backed by £20m from the Government's Levelling Up Fund.
Even though work only began early in 2025, refurbishment of the Alresford station house,which has been empty for 20 years, is almost complete, according to the Alresford Station House Community group (ASH). The group had secured a grant from Greater Anglia's Customer and Community Investment Fund. The building has received a complete roof restoration, new brickwork and a new coat of paint. The aim is to open a mini museum, a community hub and cafe in the building once completed.
EDF Renewables will soon be starting work on a solar facility at Bloy's Grove, near Swainsthorpe in Norfolk, in sight of the Great Eastern Main Line. One of its customers will be Network Rail, which will use secure 64GWh of clean energy at a fixed cost every year for the next 14 years, providing around 15 per cent of the electricity needed for its offices, depots and managed stations — known as non-traction energy. Over the 14-year contract, enough energy will be provided to power all 20 Network Rail-managed stations for eight years.
TRAIN OPERATORS
Date set for bringing Greater Anglia into public ownership
Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]
It was announced on 9th May 2025 thay Greater Angila (GA) would be brought into public ownership on 12th October 2025, just four days before the ninth anniversary of its final franchise beginning on 16th October 2025 (GA then owned by Abellio began on 5th February 2012). The government had previously announced that it would be in 'autumn 2025'.
The news has generally been received well (see Gazette News article, although the people commenting seem to think that there will be an immedialte breaking down of the fragmentation that has harmed the railway). At this stage there is no indication of how this will improve rail services or the passenger experience, and certainly no promises being made by anyone. The likely outcome is that nothing much will change until Great British Railways (GBR) is brought into being, sometime in 2027.
Read about Greater Anglia's history on the Wikipedia website.
News: https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/greater-anglia-to-be-nationalised-from-october/.
EAST WEST RAIL LINK
Report published following analysis of feedback from EWR non-statutgory consultation at start of 2025
Keywords: [GreaterAnglia]
As mentioned in
According to a report on the Cambrdge Independent newspaper, themes highlighted in the responses include growth opportunities, community benefits and impacts, as well as safety and accessibility. One of the most prominent themes was around construction and logistics, including the potential for increased traffic, noise and disruption.
Focusing on the railway, rather than NIMBYism, according to the EWRCo press release issued, "people largely saw the new route as good for the UK's economic development and felt it could drive up local property values, especially in areas like Bicester and Cambourne." Comments were made about the proposed location of the Cambourne station. The turnback facility at Cherry Hinton was seen as beneficial to the East of Cambridge.
The EWR Company Chief Executive David Hughes said: "Now that the consultation is closed, our team is carefully considering the feedback we received as we continue to develop proposals before holding a statutory consultation in 2026." The EWR Co says all the feedback it received will help inform its final design which will be revealed at its statutory consultation next year.
The May 2025 edition of the EWR Co's "Keeping You Connected" email bulletin, mentioned the launch of Local Representatives Groups (LRGs) with meetings 1st May and 12th June 2025. In the Railfuture East Anglia branch area, the meetings are: 21st May for Foxton and Shelfords; 3rd June for Comberton and Haslingfield, 5th June for Cambridge and 12th June for Roxton and East St Neots. More information about the LRGs and how they work, canm be found on the 'community hub' of the company's website.
East West Rail searches for construction integrator for £140m pre-enabling phase
According to Construction News on 23rd May 2025, the East West Rail Company (EWR) has issued a pipeline notice for a construction integrator to oversee early-stage delivery of its rail scheme connecting Oxford and Cambridge, with a contract worth up to £140m running from 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2034 with a potential two-year extension until 2036.
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Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 386 - 31/05/2025
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