News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 76 - 26/10/2001
- GUIDED BUSWAY [all issues]
- STATIONS [all issues]
- RAIL FARES [all issues]
- Central Trains abolish cheaper advance purchase fares
- First Great Eastern introduce 'Fabulous Fiver' fares for over 60s
- RAIL SERVICES [all issues]
- Trains affected as flooding disrupts rail services
- SRA Penalties for train cancellations
- Anglia Railways begins training drivers on Cambridge-Norwich route and announces extra services
- RAIL FREIGHT [all issues]
- RAIL ROUTES [all issues]
- WEBSITES [all issues]
GUIDED BUSWAY
Cambridgeshire County Council scrutiny committee minutes published
The minutes from the 25th September Environment and Transport Scrutiny Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council (see Snippets 75) have been published. Click HERE to view minutes (Word document). Shona Johnstone, cabinet member for Environment and Transport, was challenged about the guided busway.
The minutes suggest that rather than visit Ipswich or Leeds to see the somewhat limited guided busways in action, or identify the reasons why a busway was rejected in Northampton and Edinburgh, decisions were made based on a single individual's personal account of using the system in Adelaide.
Concern was expressed that:
* given the limited number of operational schemes elsewhere, and their differences from that proposed for the
Cambridge to Huntingdon route, any scheme would essentially be experimental
* the CHUMMS report itself did not provide an adequate comparison of guided bus and light and heavy rail
* the CHUMMS analysis of options had not evaluated road strategy 2 in conjunction with light or heavy rail
Councillor Johnstone commented (without any supporting evidence being revealed in the minutes) that
* timescales for introducing light or heavy rail options were significantly longer than that for introducing guided
bus
* no operator had expressed interest in supporting rail options
* passenger numbers were unlikely to make rail options economically viable
Note: the St.Ives-Huntingdon line would be long term, but Cambridge-Swavesey wouldn't. Non-local journeys were ignored when calculating passenger volumes. Diverting existing services to use the line were ignored too.
Mrs Johnstone said that the council had not examined the guided busway costs calculated by CHUMMS and warned that the council would bid for Government funding for the busway through its five-year Local Transport Plan. If funding were not received, then the council would not be able to proceed.
STATIONS
Steering group to be set-up to investigate reopening of Soham station
Keywords: [SohamStation]
In 2000 Soham Town Forum launched a campaign to reopen Soham station, and a petition of 1,600 people was produced. Railtrack dashed reopening hopes by claiming that it would cost £12 million to reopen. But campaigners did not give up and debated the station at a recent Town Forum meeting. At the suggestion of East Cambridgeshire District Councillor Anne Tuite, a steering group is to be set up to look into the viability of the re-opening.
However, Conservative Cambridgeshire County Councillor John Powley, a long-time fierce opponent of the reopening claimed: "You are living in cloud cuckoo land. It is impractical to have a station in Soham and the number of people using it would not make it cost effective."
Soham website news report: http://www.soham.org.uk/news/october2001/isstationviable.htm.
RAIL FARES
Central Trains abolish cheaper advance purchase fares
Keywords: [CentralTrains]
 |
According to BBC Look East on 24th October some fares may double as Central Trains have abolished reduced price tickets which are purchased in advance. Central blame administrative problems for preventing their sale at the moment (although they may be reinstated when the fares change in January) and claim that few people will be affected as Apex tickets made up a small proportion of sales. |
Anglia Railways press release: http://www.angliarailways.co.uk/latest-information/news-detail.asp?id=235.
First Great Eastern introduce 'Fabulous Fiver' fares for over 60s
Keywords: [FirstGreatEastern]
FGE has introduced £5 'travel anywhere for a day' tickets for over 60s. The 'anywhere' is restricted to FGE's routes in east London, Essex and into Suffolk. Passengers can take their grandchildren with them for just £1. Tickets can be purchased on the day at any staffed First Great Eastern station, but the offer ends on 23rd November.
RAIL SERVICES
Trains affected as flooding disrupts rail services
Train services have been affected by the torrential rail will fell on Sunday 21st October. Trains could pass Roydon on the Cambridge-Liverpool Street line at only 5 mph. Further north at Shelford, the track was washed away, severing services between Whittlesford and Cambridge.
Within two days, the flood levels had subsided and Roydon's speed restriction was raised to 50mph and Railtrack engineers had repaired the line at Shelford to allow 5mph running.
SRA Penalties for train cancellations
The SRA has announced that it proposes to fine Arriva Trains North £2m for consistently cancelling trains owing to a lack of drivers. WAGN has been cancelling trains for several months for the same reason. Could it suffer a similar fate?
SRA website press release: http://www.sra.gov.uk/news/releases/2001/oct/
Arriva_Trains_Faces_2million_Fine_in_SRA_Enforcement_Action_251001.htm.
Anglia Railways begins training drivers on Cambridge-Norwich route and announces extra services
Keywords: [AngliaRailways]
 |
Anglia Railways has already started training its drivers on the Cambridge-Norwich route, even though the service is not due to start until October 2001 and it has not yet finalised the order for four new diesel trains. It also plans to recruit more drivers and on-train staff. |
Anglia Railways press release: http://www.angliarailways.co.uk/latest-information/news-detail.asp?id=231.
RAIL FREIGHT
Parcels to be carried by Anglia Railways passenger trains
Keywords: [AngliaRailways]
Returningf to an old railway practice ditched many years ago Anglia Railways have announced that parcels will be carried on their passenger trains thanks to a partnership with GOfers Logistics Management.
GOfers will pick up the parcels and deliver them to an Anglia Railways manned station. Anglia staff will then put the parcel on the relevant train and take it off at the other end with GOfers arranging delivery to its final destination. Currently this will operate only at stations served by Norwich to London Liverpool Street trains.
Anglia Railways press release: http://www.angliarailways.co.uk/latest-information/news-detail.asp?id=228.
RAIL ROUTES
Northern Railways Tours hopes to visit March-Wisbech branch line in summer 2002
Keywords: [WisbechBranch]
Northern Railways Tours are planning an East Anglian rail tour from Liverpool Street via Peterborough, Ely, Norwich and Ipswich. They are currently conducting a survey to see how viable it might be. Included in the tour will, they hope, be a trip along the Wisbech branch, since Railtrack have stated the branch is still available for use by traffic.
Details: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/craig.allan2000/Rail/Tour/Anglia.htm.
WEBSITES
Direct Rail Services Ltd DRS) launch new website
Keywords: [DRS]
DRS, one of the UK's main freight operators, which is based in Carlisle, has launched a new website: http://www.directrailservices.com.
GNER launch all new website
Keywords: [GNER]
GNER have relaunched their website: http://www.gner.co.uk. It's fast, full of useful information and easy to navigate.
The website includes a "how's my train running" page which shows if trains due to arrive in the next three hours are on time. There's tourist information about every town and city on its route. It also offers the seemingly obligatory only ticket purchase facility.
Websites set-up for disgruntled Railtrack shareholders
Two websites have been set-up to campaign for compensation for Railtrack shareholders:
http://www.railtrackactiongroup.co.uk - Railtrack Shareholders Action Group (RSAG)
http://www.railshare.com - Railtrack private shareholder action group (Edwin Coe solicitors)
The Financial Times website has a page dedicated to latest Railtrack news: http://www.ft.com/railtrack.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 76 - 26/10/2001
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