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East Anglia Branch News - Snippets Issue 51 - 05/03/2001

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News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.

Railfuture News Snippets 51 - 05/03/2001



Railfuture Meetings:

Branch Committee: The new Branch Committee will meet on March 17th to discuss activities for the year. Any suggestions and offers of help to Nick Dibben (see Branch Contacts) please.

East Midlands Branch AGM: Also on 17th March is the East Midlands Branch AGM at the City Rooms, Hotel Street, Leicester starting at 13:45. Guest speakers will be Andy Cooper of Central Trains and Brian Burdsall of Midland Main Line. The venue is about 10 minutes walk from Leicester Station

Railfuture Constitution: Over the last few months, a Railfuture committee has been looking at the Society's constitution. There will be a meeting in Birmingham at the City Hall on Saturday 21st April to agree the new constitution. Most of the changes are small to reflect how Railfuture now operates such as postal ballots for the National Executive (which will be replaced by a board of directors).

There is, however, one major change which could limit the length of time a person is allowed on the National Executive. The proposal is to have a limit of 7 years as a member of the Executive and 7 years as a National Officer. There are also proposals to ensure that those people who are currently on the National Executive and have been there over 7 years do not all have to resign in the first year. Those who support the change want to avoid a clique of people running the Railfuture. Those who oppose it, are concerned about the loss of able people and the lack of replacements. Details of this meeting will be in the next Railwatch.


GUIDED BUSWAY
Exhibition dates for Cambridge bus rapid transit proposals

As announced in [Snippets 50], Cambridge Rapid Transit System Ltd (CRTS) are proposing a guided bus rapid transit route linking the planned Trumpington Park & Ride site, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge Railway Station and the City Centre with the aim of commencing construction in 18 months' time.

The dates and venues of the public exhibitions are as follows:

Thursday 8th March Trumpington Village Hall (adjacent to the "Tally Ho!" public house) from 10:00 to 21:00.
Friday 9th and
Saturday 10th March
University of Cambridge, in the small examination hall in the Art School (access via Bene't Street) from 10:00 to 21:00 (Friday) and 18:00 (Saturday).
Monday 12th and
Tuesday 13th March
Addenbrooke's Hospital main concourse (just off the main entrance hall) from 10:00 to 21:00.
Wednesday 14th March Cambridge Railway Station (Platform 1) from 08:00 to 20:00.

According to the CRTS website, they "are holding public consultation exhibitions to provide a forum for you to ask questions about the service and for us to listen to the views of the public. The exhibition will also show a virtual reality video demonstrating how a Rapid Transit vehicle will look when travelling through Cambridge City and provide an opportunity to display the key characteristics of the system".

Mike Kendrick (Development Director) and Clive Proctor (Project Manager) can be contacted on 01604 629990, fax 01604 637934 and email: [mail at rtiplc.co.uk].


ON-BOARD CATERING
National Express cut back service on board coaches

National Express is to discontinue providing refreshments on their domestic coach services as more passengers are providing their own food and drink. Whether this decision will eventually be implemented on their trains (WAGN and Central Trains amongst others) remains to be seen. However, catering on trains should be more economically viable since more passengers can be served by one person, and there are more business travellers - on expenses - on trains compared to coaches.

Perhaps NEx could try introducing a scheme similar to GNER's: buy a £4 voucher and get £5 worth of food and drink on-board.


RAIL ROUTES
Feasibility study to reopen line to passengers

Keywords: [WisbechBranch]

Wisbech has a population of 20,000 and a catchment area of 50,000 people but no railway station.

Steer Davies Gleave has been carrying out a feasibility study for Virgin Trains, which is considering re-instating the Wisbech to March link if it is awarded the east coast rail link. They have approached North East Cambs MP Malcolm Moss, who - according to the Wisbech Standard on 2nd March - is keen to set-up a group to investigate the issue. "I am very serious about this initiative...The SRA does have money for projects such as this," Conservative Mr Moss said. "Our next step is to set-up a consortium or group to look at the situation and report. We need to get people around the table and see if we can get a package of money for a feasibility study."

Mr Moss is perhaps not the most rail aware MP, as the local business page on his website http://www.malcmoss.easynet.co.uk/business.htm lists one of Wisbech's main employers as British Rail!

According to the Wisbech Standard in February, Railtrack has pledged to keep the line "open" for the time being, but not indefinitely.

Wisbech community website has been canvassing opinion on the rail link

In the last few months, the Wisbech community website http://www.thisiswisbech.co.uk has been promoting the possibility of reopening the rail link. They have set-up a section on their community message board to canvass opinion.


RAIL INVESTMENT
Possible new loop on Ipswich to Lowestoft line to improve frequency of services

It was announced on 25th February that Railtrack are investigating the possibility of installing a loop on the Lowestoft to Ipswich line. Once research is completed a loop could be installed to allow an hourly service to operate on this line from 2004.

Possible major upgrade to Braintree branch line

Essex County Council are expected to commission Railtrack to carry out a full study into a major new scheme to double the frequency on the Braintree branch, which Braintree Rail Users' Association have campaigned for since 1977. Proposals consist of three parts:
a) add a new stretch of track at Cressing station so two trains can run on the line at once
b) extend station platforms at Cressing, White Notley, Braintree Freeport and Braintree to take 12-carriages trains instead of just eight.
c) a pedestrian and bicycle bridge would be built at Braintree Freeport station

Rail-bus interchange at Diss station put on hold

Keywords: [DissStation]

A £40,000 scheme to build a bus interchange at Diss station could be lost because of Railtrack's dire financial position following the Hatfield rail crash, which has led it introduce a moratorium on investments.


RAIL FREIGHT
Hunts District Council seeks judicial review into Alconbury freight terminal decision

Hunts DC are seeking a judicial review of the Planning Inquiry Inspector's decision to go ahead with the Inquiry on 22nd May 2001. They believe the uncertainty surrounding the Inquiry's legal status ought to be determined by the House of Lords first, otherwise a great deal of public money could be wasted.


RAIL SERVICES
Two-car Class 150 to replace single-car Class 153 on the Sudbury to Marks Tey line

Keywords: [SudburyBranch]

The class 153 which travels on the Sudbury to Marks Tey line on weekdays is to be replaced by a two-car Class 150 from 1st May. This will increase capacity, although on the downside, some may feel that the seating to window configuration is decidedly inferior to a Class 153.


More growth at Stansted helps case for improved rail links

Keywords: [StanstedAirport]

On top of the new services to Newark Airport in New Jersey planned by two other airlines, Ryanair has announced that it is to launch seven new routes from London Stansted airport: to Austria (Salzburg), Sweden (Gothenburg and Stockholm), Italy (Pescara and Trieste), Belgium (Brussels) and Denmark (Esbjerg). It will also increase the number of flights to Dublin. The rise in air traffic increases the need for improved services to Stansted including the proposed Stansted to Braintree rail link.


CHUMMS - A14 CORRIDOR STUDY
Cambridge Friends of the Earth to press for St.Ives rail link

Cambridge FoE have reached agreement with various other groups on a common set of objectives. STEER (Sustainable Transport and Environment in the Eastern Region) and its affiliates will be objecting to new roads, pressing the claims of rail (including the possibility of combining light and heavy rail), and calling for road-user charging. They will be calling for effective measures to reduce road freight and will be commenting on certain deficiencies of the CHUMMS exhibition, including the bias towards guided bus.


RAIL ACCIDENTS
Rail is still safer than cars - despite Selby (Great Heck) accident

From the Independent newspaper 05/03/2001: On an average day in the UK, 10 people are killed in car accidents, 110 people seriously injured and 780 people will be slightly injured.

In terms of number of journeys - though not distance travelled - rail is substantially safer than air travel too.

Chronology of rail accidents

The BBC news website has a list of major rail accidents in recent times (back to 1952).

Ladbroke Grove Inquiry

Anyone interested in the minutiae of a rail inquiry can take a look at a website dedicated to the Ladbroke Grove Inquiry http://www.lgri.org.uk. It contains transcripts for the whole of the proceedings and a wealth of other material. There are also links to other rail inquiries.


CHARTER TRAINS
Travel from Cambridge to Ely & Norwich in style

On Friday 23rd March, Tuesday 22nd May and Tuesday 18th September, the Pullman cars of the Venice-Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) will be used for a day excursion from Cambridge to Ely & Norwich (and return). Tickets cost £125 each, including a Bucks Fizz brunch & afternoon tea. For further details and booking information, contact Excellence Travel on (0870)-746-6966.


Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 51 - 05/03/2001

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