News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 69 - 23/08/2001
- CHUMMS - A14 CORRIDOR STUDY [all issues]
- CHUMMS Final Report finally sent out - Action Stations!
- Gallagher produce glossy leaflet on SuperCam
- Managing director of Stagecoach (Cambridge) suggests light rail system to help buses
- EAST WEST RAIL LINK [all issues]
- East West Consortium remain hopeful after SRA turned down funding for EWRL phase 1 - Bicester to Bletchley
- BRTA asks campaigners to lobby SRA to approve funding for EWRL phase 1 - Bicester to Bletchley
- PROMOTING RAIL TRAVEL [all issues]
- RAIL COMPANIES [all issues]
- RAIL PUNCTUALITY [all issues]
- PRESERVED RAILWAYS [all issues]
- RAIL SUCCESS STORIES [all issues]
There's plenty of activity for rail campaigners this issue, with the closing date for submissions to CHUMMS nearing, and a chance to press the SRA and the government to reconsider the East West Link whilst it has a high profile.
CHUMMS - A14 CORRIDOR STUDY
CHUMMS Final Report finally sent out - Action Stations!
The CHUMMS final report which was promised for the end of July was finally sent out on Wednesday 22nd August. Railfuture should be getting its copy in the next few days, allowing only a week to respond. Nick Dibben has requested that the deadline for comments [CHUMMS.letterbox at cambridgeshire.gov.uk] be extended beyond 31st August, but we have to assume that the deadline remains.
The following actions have been agreed with other local campaigners in Cambridge.
* Letters have gone to the Eastern England Local Government Conference (EELGC) asking for the comments
deadline to be extended. (It is the Planning Panel of the EELGC that makes the recommendation to the Government
on the report)
* Nick has also requested that Railfuture should attend the discussion workshops arranged by EELGC
* Local groups are producing a leaflet on the "hidden effects" of the report. The intention is to hand
these out to the public on Saturdays in September; each weekend in Cambridge plus one weekend in St Ives and
Huntingdon. Branch secretry Nick Dibben has some initial thoughts on the copy of the report:
* The guided busway is predicted to cut local bus journeys by around 50%. Might this result in cuts in services
to some villages or require extra council subsidy? Of course if local buses were improved before the busway is
built, then reduction would be less and the number of busway users would reduce.
* Rail has no effect on bus users - if bus journeys are included the difference between busway and rail users is
small.
* The rail route which CHUMMS proposed was assumed to have a branch to Trumpington. This is daft! If rail links
into the existing services south of Cambridge then the number of cross-city users will increase.
* The train service was based on 4 per hour at peak time, but busway would have 20 per hour. Is this practical,
particularly the impact on Cambridge streets? This would require at least 50 guided buses, which if high-quality
vehicles, would cost £0.8m each. The £55m total cost looks very tight.
Gallagher produce glossy leaflet on SuperCam
Gallagher Estates who are behind the proposed guided busway on the St.Ives line, which is being called "SuperCam", have produced a glossy leaflet to promote the scheme, although it lacks detail on exactly what is being proposed especially in the area of service provision. Gallagher say that they are eager to hear the views of stakeholders although this may be to flush out objectors. [enquiries at jjgallagher.co.uk].
Managing director of Stagecoach (Cambridge) suggests light rail system to help buses
Inglis Lyon, managing director of Stagecoach (in Cambridge), regularly answers bus passengers criticisms in the Cambridge Evening News. On 11th August, Mr Lyon said "I believe that the solution to the traffic problems within Cambridge involve much more than simply improving bus services. It will involve a radical approach to traffic management within the city centre and on the approaches to the city centre. They might also involve some form of light rail transit or additional satellite Park and Ride stations but it will probably be a combination of all of these.
Given that Stagecoach are trying to establish a guided busway on the St.Ives line, did Mr Lyon really mean to say "rapid transit"; is he ignorant of his company's plans, or are Stagecoach considering bidding for a light rail franchise for Cambridge?
EAST WEST RAIL LINK
East West Consortium remain hopeful after SRA turned down funding for EWRL phase 1 - Bicester to Bletchley
![]() |
The Consortium is obviously disappointed that the SRA refused funding for the £33m phase 1 of the East West Rail Link even though the Consortium wanted a grant of only £9m to cover the estimated shortfall of £3m per year for the first three years. However, they think the reaction has raised the profile of the route within SRA and the Government so it could be better in the long run. [Note from webmaster: The EWRL was still stuck in the sidings in 2005 with the Marston Vale resignalling and a 3-mile extension north of Aylesbury being the only positive sign.] |
The SRA accept the importance of the whole scheme and that RPP funding may not be best way forward, despite funding the new Cambridge - Norwich service which was given on the basis of being part of the East-West link.
The SRA and Railtrack will build in provision for the East-West link in both the WCML and ECML track and signal upgrades. This will make the scheme much easier to build.
The Consortium are still looking at options for Cambridge-Bedford section. The St.Ives route has NOT been ruled out and they will make this point to CHUMMS saying no to the proposed guided bus, but favouring light rail initially, perhaps with shared running later.
Nick says please can members with Labour MPs write to then noting that: Government says it will deliver better public services, the phase 1 East-West link is a good example that could be built and running in a year, and there are lots of political brownie points to be had here so the Government should tell the SRA get on with it.
Cambridge residents can email Anne Campbell MP on: [info at annecampbell.org.uk].
BRTA asks campaigners to lobby SRA to approve funding for EWRL phase 1 - Bicester to Bletchley
Keywords: [EastWestRail]
Alan Vaughan, Vice Chairman of the Bedford Railway & Transport Association (BRTA) would appreciate anyone writing to: Mr. Mike Grant, Chief Executive, SRA, 55 Victoria St., London, SW1H 0EU to ask him to reconsider. [Note from Webmaster: Mike Grant left the SRA in December 2001.] He also suggests writing to Caroline Bowdler, Director of Planning & Transport, Government Offices of Eastern Region, Heron House, 49-53 Goldington Road, Bedford, MK40 3LL.
Bedfordshire has been short changed with rail but the road lobby have been appeased with the money to dual the A421, and include for the Ridgmont Bypass. They have also considerably rebuilt the junction of the A421 with the M1 (junc.13)
East West Consortium website: http://www.eastwestrail.org.
PROMOTING RAIL TRAVEL
WAGN introduce £1 per child fare without a family railcard
Keywords: [WAGN]
Children can now travel for just £1 when accompanied by an adult travelling on a cheap day return, without any railcard being necessary.
WAGN have also issued a booklet promoting summer attractions "Let us take you to the heart of the action" which contains money off vouchers including one child free per adult to the Tower of London, £2 off punting in Cambridge, free bowling at Stevenage and buy one ticket get one free at the Nene Valley Railway. The vouchers can only be used when travelling on WAGN trains that day.
RAIL COMPANIES
Date announced for GB Railways PLC AGM
Keywords: [GBRailways]
The AGM for GB Railways PLC (parent company of Anglia Railways, GB Railfreight and major shareholder of Hull Trains) is being held on Tuesday 28th August at 11:00 at the offices of Investec Henderson Crosthwaite at 2 Gresham Street, London EC2 V7QP.
RAIL PUNCTUALITY
Punctuality of trains in mid-Essex is dramatically improved
The number of late running trains in mid-Essex has dropped from 39.9 per cent in June to only 15.2 per cent in July. David Bigg, chairman of the Witham and Braintree Rail Users' Association is reported as having said it was: "The best set of figures since before the Hatfield crash in October." However, the group is concerned over the number of trains running with fewer carriages, which leads to overcrowding.
Other problems worrying the group are cuts services, particularly the planned loss of the 07:20 Witham to London service. Members of the association are due to meet with Great Eastern.
PRESERVED RAILWAYS
Mid-Norfolk Railway to schedule services with Anglia Railways
Keywords: [MidNorfolkRailway]
![]() |
The Mid-Norfolk Railway have announced that from January 2003 they will reschedule their train timetable so that services are co-ordinated with the Anglia Railways train times to allow time for passengers to walk from the main-line station. [Note from webmaster: Unfortunately connection times have not beem altered (up to 2005) to suit either Central or Anglia services.] The MNR are unable to change their timetable in time for the new Anglia Railways service which begins in October 2002, as Anglia will not be announcing their schedule prior to the MNR's timetable publishing date. |
RAIL SUCCESS STORIES
Rail line reopened for only £16m in northern Ireland
The 15-mile long Antrim to Bleach Green line opened earlier this year, costing only £16m - a little over £1m per mile. Of course, Railtrack does not have any involvement in Northern Ireland Railways, which have not been privatised.
The line was mothballed in 1987 and has been rebuilt for 90mph. The single track railway also has a number of level crossings and two new stations. (Very similar to the St Ives line in fact).
Translink Article: http://www.translink.co.uk/antrimbleachgreen.asp
- includes details of reconstruction.
Irish Record Railway Society Article: http://www.irrs.ie/0106%20BleachGreen.htm.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 69 - 23/08/2001
[Prev Issue (68)] [Snippets Issues] [Next Issue (70)] [Category List] [Keyword List] [People List] [Story List] [Branch Dashboard]
Railfuture is a non-profit making pro-rail campaiging organsaiton, which is run entirely by unpaid volunteeers, incluoding production of Rail News Snippets for the East Anglian branch of Railfuture.
How we spell Railfuture — singular, one word, one capital letter (can be abbreviated to Rf).