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East Anglia Branch News - Snippets Issue 75 - 16/10/2001

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

Railfuture News Snippets 75 - 16/10/2001



It's just outside the Railfuture East Anglia branch area (users of stations between Bowes Park and Watton-At-Stone), but Representatives of WAGN will be available to answer questions at Hertford North Loop Rail Users' Group meeting on Thursday 1st November 2001 at 19:00. St Peter's (large) Church Hall, Vera Avenue, N21. Turn right (westward) after leaving Grange Park station and St Peter's is on the right. Free of charge.


ST.IVES LINE
Cambridgeshire County Council scrutiny does not refer CHUMMS decision back to Cabinet

The Environment and Transport Scrutiny Committee at Cambs County decided on 11th October not to refer the decision to support the busway formally back to Cabinet for reconsideration. Rather, the Committee recorded a number of concerns (particularly concerning information received and evaluated by the Cabinet, overall cost of guided bus, cost to the Council, viability in the context of experiences elsewhere and practicalities of operation).

In conclusion, the Environment and Transport Scrutiny Committee asked the Cabinet to make explicit in its endorsement of the CHUMMS recommendations its support for guided bus along the whole of the route, including the stretch to Addenbrooke's Hospital and Trumpington. This means that the decision of the Cabinet on 25th September stands.

Major new housing development to be built near St.Ives railway line

South Cambridgeshire District Council have chosen the former airfield and Army barracks site between Oakington and Longstanton for a new 6,000 home village. Their recommendation will be discussed by a special meeting of the council on Thursday 18th October and follows a three-day round of meetings with developers Gallagher Estates for the Oakington-Longstanton site, as well as the other areas under consideration for a new settlement.

The Oakington-Longstanton site - 1,200 acres (485 hectares) between the two villages, two thirds of which is owned by the Ministry of Defence - is adjacent to the Cambridge to St.Ives railway line.

Five other locations have been pinpointed: the Army land at Waterbeach, Childerley Gate near the A428, the former Land Settlement Association site at Great Abington, and big tracts of land at Six Mile Bottom and Wilburton. The latter is near the Cambridge to Ipswich rail link; Waterbeach also has a rail link, but a third of the site is within a flood plain.

According to the Cambridge Evening News, Oakington/Longstanton emerged as the winner because "it is close to Cambridge, could potentially be included in a rapid transit scheme based on the former Cambridge-St Ives rail line, and only half its land was classified as agricultural".

Swavesey Parish Council has organised a public meeting for Tuesday 16th October to discuss plans to build at Oakington-Longstanton. Developers will attend the meeting, being held at 19:30 in the village hall.

Meanwhile, Cambridge City Council are proposing a 16,500 development to the east of Cambridge.

Stansted-Peterborough line speed improvements might be better spent on St.Ives railway line

In Railtrack's Network Management Statement for 2001, they listed a £15m scheme to shave three minutes off the journey between Stansted and Peterborough, largely by altering track layout, and increasing cant.

Diverting trains via the St.Ives line is estimated to save 15 minutes. On that basis, they could justify spending £75m on the line just to improve train journey times.

DTLR supports local authorities which support light rail

In a press release on 17th September, Transport Minister Sally Keeble announced a 27 percent increase in tram usage in the last year, which is partially due to the opening of the Croydon Tramlink system.

Campaigners upset at the CHUMMS decision to ignore the light rail option will be glad to know that Ms Keeble reiterated the Government's "target of doubling the use of light rail by 2010, and are providing funding for up to 25 new lines over that period." She also said that "Light rail systems are an excellent illustration of effective collaboration between the public and private sectors in the delivery of improved public transport, which is at the heart of our 10 Year Plan. I congratulate the local authorities which have had the vision to promote these schemes."


RAIL FRANCHISES
Anglia Railways seeks two year extension

Keywords: [AngliaRailways]

  Anglia Railways' parent GB Railways Group PLC have produced a booklet "Delivering Better Train Services" setting out the case for a two year extension to their franchise. They say that this will be the quickest way to get new stock for the main line and other improvements. According to Anglia, the alternative option of merging the Anglia, Great Eastern and West Anglia routes could take some time and therefore delay the ordering of new trains.
Email customer.relations@angliarailways.co.uk, providing your postal address, for a copy of this booklet.

The Branch has been asked to write to the Government/SRA on this. What do you think? Please send any comments to branch secretary Nick Dibben. The issue will be discussed at the 17th November Branch meeting in Cambridge.


RAIL SERVICES
Anglia Railway's new Cambridge-Norwich service to serve Attleborough

Keywords: [CambridgeNorwichService]

It has been announced that the new Cambridge-Norwich direct service from Anglia railways will stop at Attleborough station. This follows vociferous protests by residents and councillors for Attleborough (see Snippets 60). Pathing issues have been resolved, which allow the extra stop.

The 73-minute long service will still stop at Ely, Thetford and Wymondham as planned. There will be 15 services in each direction on weekdays, 14 on Saturdays and 11 on Sundays.


RAIL SUCCESS STORIES
Bittern line goes from strength to strength

Keywords: [BitternLine]

Anglia Railways has announced that passenger numbers on the Bittern Line between Norwich and Sheringham have hit new heights this summer. In July, a new record was achieved for passengers travelling on the route with 10,500 journeys made, an increase of 2,000 on the previous month and 800 more journeys than in July 2000.

So far this year, total passenger numbers on the Bittern Line have risen by a further 6.8%. Last year an increase of 12.9% was recorded. This is a 70% increase in passenger numbers since 1997.


PRESERVED RAILWAYS
Mid-Norfolk Railway to launch unsecured bearer bond issue

Keywords: [MidNorfolkRailway]

  31st October 2001 will see the official launch of the MNR's Unsecured Bearer Bond Issue. Any one wanting a copy of the prospectus for the bond should contact the Railway either by writing to The Bond Office, Mid-Norfolk Railway, Dereham Station, Station Road, Dereham, Norfolk NR19 1DF or by email to [pro at mnr.org.uk] making sure to leave a name and address for hard copy reply.


WEBSITES
New website launched for Crosslink service

Anglia Railways have launched http://www.anglia-railways.com/londoncrosslink/index.htm which is a mini website for the Cross Link service.

The site includes a FAQ page, where Anglia reveal that they hoped to operate an additional train for winter 2001/2 but this was not given approval by Railtrack. Anglia will continue to try for additional services and propose to work with Railtrack to reduce end to end journey times.

The website does not yet offer the chance to buy tickets online. You'll need to phone 01603 724880 to take advantage of Anglia Railways £10 Explorer ticket for use at weekends. The ticket is available until June 2002 and allows travel anywhere on the Crosslink service. So you can travel from Ipswich to Basingstoke for just £10!

TrainLine.Com launch new service for business travellers

The TrainLine.Com are encouraging more business travellers to use their online booking service by launching a new "Trainline Business Service". Website address is http://www.thetrainline.com/business. They are giving £5 off all tickets over £20 until the end of November 2001.


Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 75 - 16/10/2001

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