News from the East Anglian Branch of Railfuture, Edited by Martin Thorne and Jerry Alderson.
Railfuture News Snippets 95 - 01/07/2002
- TRAIN OPERATORS [all issues]
- PASSENGER INFORMATION [all issues]
- RAIL FRANCHISES [all issues]
- RAIL SERVICES [all issues]
- Anglia Railways' Crosslink service axed from end of Summer timetable
- Anglia Railways launch Cambridge-Norwich service with a series of roadshows
- First Great Eastern run late trains again for 16th Chappel Beer Festival
- RAIL COMPANIES [all issues]
- STATIONS [all issues]
- CHARTER TRAINS [all issues]
- PRESERVED RAILWAYS [all issues]
- COMMUNITY RAILWAYS AND PARTNERSHIPS [all issues]
- ROAD USER ACCIDENTS AFFECTING RAILWAYS [all issues]
A reminder that the next branch meeting is on Saturday 13th July at the County Library in Ipswich - same venue as last year.
TRAIN OPERATORS
Anglia Railways' parent GB Railways PLC announces positive interim results
Keywords: [GBRailways]
GB Railways PLC produced its preliminary financial report on 18th June. It says that more passengers were taking its trains now than before Hatfield, although the 4% intercity and 15% local rate of growth is lower than the 15-20 percent annual growth experienced at that time.
It reported a £1.2m pre-tax loss in the year to 31st March 2002, down from £3.3m largely thanks to the funding package negotiated with the SRA, and Chief Executive Jeremy Long forecast that the group would break even in 2002/2003.
Hull Trains was expected to move into an operating profit in the near future and the Anglia Railways franchise was expected to break even this year. Track access rights to 2010 and 125mph service have now been agreed. In addition, GB Railfreight is profitable and trading above expectations.
Incidentally, GB Railways PLC are clearly looking at changing the name of Anglia Railways if they win the new franchise, as they have already acquired the company names: Great Anglia Railways Limited, Greater Anglia Railways Limited, Great Anglian Railways Limited and Greater Anglian Railways Limited.
GB Railways preliminary results: http://www.gbrailways.com/prelim31-mar-02.htm.
PASSENGER INFORMATION
New touch-screen Journey Planner information system launched in Suffolk
Train and bus travellers now have a new on-street touch-screen "Journey Planner", which has been pioneered by Suffolk County Council. There are kiosks in Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Lowestoft which give information on the quickest and best route, changes and journey times on trains and buses across Suffolk and beyond. Longer term, the kiosks will contain public transport information across the region.
At the launch, Joan Girling, executive committee member for public transport at Suffolk County Council, said: "Journey Planner is an excellent way of getting top quality journey information to people, and will hopefully encourage many more travellers to use public transport."
RAIL FRANCHISES
ESTA (Felixstowe) presents SRA with large list of demands for new Greater [East] Anglia train operator
Keywords: [FelixstoweTravelWatch]
The Felixstowe branch of the East Suffolk Travellers Association has included a list of minimum standards that should be demanded of the Greater [East] Anglia franchise winner.
Chairman Bryan Frost said there should be InterCity standard rolling stock introduced on services every 15 minutes between London and Ipswich, and that Anglia Railways' current InterCity trains should be replaced "by trains of comparable standard, with specified minimum levels of first class seating, during the first two years of the franchise.
Mr Frost also called for a commitment to reduce the average journey time between Ipswich and Peterborough via Bury St Edmunds to 95 minutes, hourly services on all local and inter-urban lines, an early start on feasibility study for capacity improvement between Liverpool Street and Colchester, and the construction of a rail link between Braintree and Stansted Airport.
The association also wants better connections with Central Trains services at Peterborough/Norwich and improved connections between Felixstowe services, plus replacement of the current local Sprinter train fleet with 'state of the art' trains by 2014. At stations, improved shelters and CCTV was demanded.
RAIL SERVICES
Anglia Railways' Crosslink service axed from end of Summer timetable
Keywords: [AngliaRailways]
Anglia Railways has announced that the slow, little-used and heavily subsidised Anglia Railways' six trains-a-day Crosslink service to Basingstoke, which began in May 2000, will cease at the end of the Summer timetable, following the SRA's decision not to continue financial support. An SRA spokesperson said: "We carried out a cost-benefit analysis, and the simple fact is not enough people were using the Crosslink service to make it viable. It failed to meet the expectations we all had when it was launched."
The muddle of services arriving/departing from Norwich/Ipswich/Colchester/Witham/Chelmsford or Stratford and lack of 'clockface' departures did not encourage patronage. Anglia had hoped to increase the service to hourly but the SRA could not guarantee future train paths due to track capacity. This problem also prevented the service being extended to Southampton. It is not known what Anglia will do with their surplus 170 units.
Railfuture national chairman was interviewed by BBC Look East on Thursday 25th June at Norwich station about the axing, for an item which was broadcast the next day.
SRA press release: http://www.sra.gov.uk/sra/news/releases/speech/20020626_future_of_crosslink_service.html
Anglia Railways statement: http://www.angliarailways.co.uk/latest-information/news-detail.asp?id=315.
Anglia Railways launch Cambridge-Norwich service with a series of roadshows
Keywords: [CambridgeNorwichService]
Anglia railways have launched the promotion for their new Cambridge-Norwich service, which will cost just £9 return (significantly cheaper than a cheap day return on the Central Trains service) if using the Anglia Plus ticket. There will be a trolley service on all Monday to Saturday trains, except the last two trains in each direction, but no trolley on Sunday. The new Turbostar trains will have nine first class seats and 118 in standard accommodation. The timetable will be available from the end of June.
There will be two sets of roadshows along each of the towns and cities served. They are scheduled for:
* Attleborough (Queen's Square) - 18th July and 19th September
* Cambridge (Market Square) - 19th-21st July and 27th-29th September
* Ely (Market Place) - 17th July and 25th September
* Norwich (Hayhill) - 28th-29th June and 20th-21st September
* Thetford - 16th July and a date in September which is still to be confirmed.
* Wymondham (Market Place) - 15th July and 24th September
Anglia Railways press release: http://www.angliarailways.co.uk/latest-information/news-detail.asp?id=314.
First Great Eastern run late trains again for 16th Chappel Beer Festival
Keywords: [FirstGreatEastern]
There will be late trains from Chappel to Sudbury, and also to to Marks Tey, Colchester, Manningtree and Ipswich each night between Tuesday 3rd and Saturday 7th September for the 16th Chappel Beer Festival.
East Anglia Railway Museum notice: http://www.earm.co.uk/beerfestival.htm.
RAIL COMPANIES
Railtrack is accused of using safety to exploit local business for access to premises
Keywords: [Railtrack]
A Lowestoft businessman has claimed that Railtrack asked for more than £3,000 to let him have access to the wall of his warehouse, which borders Railtrack land, for five days in order to paint it and carry out minor repairs.
Railtrack says it needs the money to employ safety staff to monitor the work on the eight-metre wide access road borders disused track and is 30 metres from the Lowestoft-to-Norwich line. The man has called in Waveney MP Bob Blizzard who has written to Railtrack asking managers "to be reasonable".
STATIONS
Campaign to reinstate clock outside Cambridge station
Keywords: [CambridgeStation]
The Cambridge Evening News has been covering the attempt by locals to reinstate the clock on the roundabout in front of Cambridge station, after it had been removed following collision by a car earlier this year. Joanna Gordon Clark, a rail traveller, wrote to WAGN who said that a decision had been taken not to repair it, because of cost, and also because the station looked better without it, as several "members of the public" had commented. To make matters worse, the clock inside the ticket hall has also been removed.
CHARTER TRAINS
Cambridgeshire Cub Scouts charter train to London
Usually organisations hire coaches for trips because the railways are too expensive or too painful to use. Not so with the Cub Scouts from Cambridgeshire. On Saturday 29th June they chartered two trains (one from Cambridge, Ely, Waterbeach, and the other from Huntingdon and St Neots) to take over a thousand of them to London for visits to the London Eye, London Zoo and Buckingham Palace.
PRESERVED RAILWAYS
Mid-Norfolk Railway to be used for Anglia Railways driver training and Balfour Beatty tamper training
Keywords: [MidNorfolkRailway]
Anglia Railways have approached the Mid-Norfolk Railway to use the line for driver training. The MNR has been granted temporary permission to run at 40mph. There could be Class 153, 150, or even 170 units working the line this autumn.
Agreement has also been reached with Balfour Beatty to use the line for tamper training. This will see the whole line tamped and lined to 40mph standard. This will not be the first preserved railway that Balfour Beatty have used. Recently they have been instrumental in helping to reopen the Duffield-Wirksworth branch in Derbyshire.
COMMUNITY RAILWAYS AND PARTNERSHIPS
East Anglian rail partnerships receive funding from Association of Community Rail Partnerships
Keywords: [ACoRP]
The Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP) has awarded nearly the Wherry Line Partnership (Norwich to Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth) £500 for help with publicity materials. It has also given £1,000 to the Bittern Line Partnership towards its jazz boat trains which run every Thursday in July and August 2002 (£10 adult, £5 child).
Jazz Boat Trains: http://www.bitternline.com/JazzBoat.htm.
ROAD USER ACCIDENTS AFFECTING RAILWAYS
Another road vehicle leaves road and lands on railway line
On 1st July, just after 5pm, a lorry crashed into a bridge and landed on the railway line near Ardleigh (between Manningtree and Colchester). It was hit by an Ipswich Freightliner train on its way to Birmingham, causing the line to be closed until mid-afternoon seriously disrupting FGE and Anglia services.
Newspaper report: http://www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Story/0,2763,747293,00.html.
Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 95 - 01/07/2002
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