News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 401 - 31/08/2026
When the 16-17 rail card was introduced in August 2019, it had an anti-user condition that differed from every other rail card, which the government is now rectifying. Every other rail card that has lasted for precisely one year (i.e. 365 days), or three years for a Senior railcard. Its validity expires 364 (or 365 in a leap year) days after it was bought. However, the 16-17 rail card lasted only until the day before that person became 18 years old. So, when they bought their 16-17 rail card they would get between 1 and 65 (366 in a leap year) days' worth of discount if they were 17 years old, meaning that the discounts were inconsistent - some people got full value and some got ripped off. It will now last for the full year. Although an 18-year-old could have bought a 16-25 railcard, that is practically useless for anyone in full-time education because of the minimum fare of £12 during the morning peak. On the other hand, unlike any other railcard, the 16-17 railcard can be used to buy a discounted season ticket! See BBC news story and a Rail Business Daily article, which is clearer about the change. Railfuture's Bruce Williamson was interviewed on the radio about the change. Listen here.
An Architects Journal website article uploaded on 6th August 2026 featured Cambridge South station. It explained the architectural vision for the station and also included a useful layout of the station.
A news story in the North Norfolk News reported that the Bittern Line has become one of fastest growing lines in Britain with a quadrupling of passenger numbers in the last 30 years, from just over 200,000 a year in 1994 to more than 827,000. The article did not reveal that much of this increase occurred in the first decade coinciding with the launch and promotions of the Bittern Line Community Rail Partnership along with Anglia Railways dramaticalyl increasing the number of services especially in the winter.
There has been a lot of criticism in the media that the East West Rail service between Oxford and Milton Keynes (utilising the Bicester-Bletchley route that was opened in late 2024) has not started yet. Chiltern Railways has been advertising for Customer Service Inspectors at its Bletchley depot, the base for East West Rail services. They would perform 'guard-like' duties such as "provide a high level of customer care on trains", "take part in revenue protection activities on trains", "perform on-train announcing", and "take action to rectify or report faults". This would be a DCO+1 option - train doors operated solely by drivers (known as DODC for Driver Opens, Driver Closes) not guards. Chiltern is due to be nationalised on 20 September, potentially making a December 2026 start for the service a possibility. However, the RMT union has rejected this proposal, so that date looks unlikely to be achieved. Network Rail is trying to secure a small piece of land next to Winslow station to ensure that a 'secondary means of escape' is available; the designs for most new EWR stations have this.
Network Rail will be conducting more testing of the ETCS digital in-cab signalling over the August bank holiday - see article. It will affect passenger journeys south of Peterborough towards London between 20.00 on Saturday 29th August and 08.00 on Monday 31st August, with rail replacement bus services in operation for some journeys (on Sunday 30th August, LNER will divert two return services from Newcastle to Bedford for the first time, allowing passengers to transfer onto Thameslink services to London St Pancras). The work forms the final stages of testing the initial in-cab signalling section between Welwyn and Hitchin on the East Coast Main Line, which will see gradual extensions in the next few years under the £1.4 billion East Coast Digital Programme. It was successfully introduced on the Northern City Line (Finsbury Park to Moorgate) in London in 2025, with the signals being removed.
Both the Mid-Norfolk and North Norfolk heritage railways have suspended steam services because of the risk of fire caused by successive heat waves this summer that has seen the ground become very dry.
The Whitwell & Reepham Railway hopes to raise £100,000 towards the total restoration costs of two stream engines. It has setup a new Community Lottery where a £10 a month recurring stake could win up to £25,000 in the monthly prize draw.
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Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 401 - 31/08/2026
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