Loading...
 

East Anglia Branch News - Snippets Issue 132 - 14/02/2004

[Home] [Meetings and Events] [Campaigns] [Consultations] [Newsletters|Latest|Covers] [News Archive] [Document Archive] [Gallery] [User Groups] [About] [Contacts]

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

Railfuture News Snippets 132 - 14/02/2004



A reminder that the next branch meeting (the AGM) is at 14:00 on Saturday 21st February at the Library in Bury St.Edmunds.

The Association of Community Rail Partnerships is holding a conference in Peterborough on 26th March. See http://www.acorp.uk.com or email [info at acorp.uk.com] for details.

Railfuture East Anglia branch members may be concerned at the precedent being set by the proposed closure of Etruria station, near to Stoke-on-Trent, on 25th September 2004. Might East Anglia stations be at risk when services at a station are deliberate by run-down? Details: http://www.sra.gov.uk/news/2004/2/Etruria_release. Objections may be made to the Secretary of State by Friday 26th March 2004 via Kevin Liptrott, Department for Transport, Rail Sponsorship Division, Zone 3/33, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DU. Fax: 020 7944 2156.

Some good news: The delayed Nottingham Express Transit tram system is due to open on Tuesday 9th March.


RAIL FRANCHISES
Timetable changes becomes clearer following award of Greater [East] Anglia franchise

Ken Bird, National Express' part-time franchise development officer revealed that NEx would be taking a "radically new approach to end the delays and disruptions endured by thousands of passengers." by rewriting the timetable from scratch, effective from December 2004, built around engineering and freight running. No significant changes will occur before then.

This six-track section between Bethnal Green and Liverpool Street, which fans out into 18 platforms, is responsible for around a third of all delays on the line between Norwich and London. The new timetable will allow operation using just four lines, giving Network Rail permanent access to two of the six tracks each day between 10:00 and 16:00, so that a dedicated team can monitor the section and carry out running repairs in daylight.

There will be more regular departure times for the twice-hourly service from Norwich to London, and the Sheringham and Yarmouth services will be altered to give better connections.

The restaurant car on mainline services is being moved into vacant space in the trailer car, freeing up a carriage for passengers. It's not entirely clear if it will become merely a buffet. Refurbishment of 104 coaches and 14 restaurant will be complete by December 2005.

Direct services to Liverpool Street from King's Lynn and Yarmouth will be kept.

Every Norwich to London train will stop at Stratford by 2007, allowing connections with Eurostar.

The range of ticket available will be reduced to simplify buying tickets. It's not yet clear if the Anglia Plus tickets will be retained.

The Greater Anglia region, at 100 million passengers per year, represents 10% of Britain's rail market is predicted to return £500m over seven years (£71.5m a year) to the SRA. The key performance indicators (KPI), that NEx will be measured against, can take up to 20% of profits away.

First senior management position for Greater [East] Anglia franchise is announced

National Express Group have appointed Tim Clarke - currently Anglia Railways MD - as Managing Director of the new Greater Anglia Franchise. Railfuture's East Anglia branch welcomed this, saying: "Under Tim Clarke's leadership of the of Anglia Railways Franchise, has seen an increase in services and passenger numbers, together with new initiatives. We congratulate Tim Clarke and look forward to working with him and his new team."

SRA signs two-year extension to Great Northern franchise

On 13th February the SRA announced that it had signed a contract with National Express for a two-year extension to the Great Northern franchise, which includes services from King's Cross to Cambridge/King's Lynn and Peterborough. This will last until 31st March 2006, when it is possible the franchise may be merged with Thameslink, currently operated by Go-Via, which has also been extended to the same date.

The subsidy on the Great Northern services is being reduced from £25.2m in 2003/4 to £18.8m in 2004/5 and £19.4m in 2005/6.


STATIONS
Decision on reserving land for railway station at Addenbrooke's Hospital is deferred

Keywords: [CambridgeSouthStation]

Cambridge City Councillors have deferred until April 2004 a decision on whether to reserve land for a potential railway station at Addenbrooke's Hospital. Council officers recommended they should consider that the conditions for a station at the hospital would not be met in the foreseeable future, but the environment scrutiny committee has delayed making a decision.

Ely station development claimed to improve car parking provision

Keywords: [ElyStation]

A £600,000 scheme to provide designated short and long stay car parking, more cycle parking and better access for public transport and pedestrians at Ely was approved by the East Cambridgeshire environment and transport area joint committee in mid-January. However, 25% of commuters taking part in November's public consultation believe parking problems will not be solved. The car par is usually full at 07:30 on weekdays.


ST.IVES LINE
County Council votes to submit TWA Order application to government for guided busway

On Tuesday 10th February Cambridgeshire County Councillors voted by 35 to 14 in favour of submitting an application to build a guided busway on the St.Ives line. Four councillors abstained, and a further six did not attend.

Following the vote CAST.IRON's press officer made the following statement "The County Council has missed a golden opportunity to stop this daft guided busway scheme that is incapable of solving the region's transport problems in either the short or long term. The busway would be an expensive white elephant. We urge everyone to submit an objection as part of the public inquiry. We are confident that the serious flaws in the busway will be revealed and the scheme will be abandoned. CAST.IRON will be ready to provide the rail alternative, which the public is crying out for." An abbreviated version, which also said "The decision made today could affect our regional transport system for many years to come" was used on BBC Look East.

The council will apply to the Government for legal powers under the Transport and Works Act, delivering the plans to Government on Thursday 19th February, which will be the first day of the 42-day objection period that will end on Friday 2nd April. During this period a series of exhibitions will be held around the county at various locations to give people the chance to have a look at the scheme. CAST.IRON will be holding its own exhibitions to encourage as many quality objections as possible.

A public inquiry is expected to start around September 2004. Assuming it receives government approval, the earliest that the busway could be operational is 2007.

CAST.IRON reveals funding gap for the guided bus

Keywords: [CASTIRON]

Following the revelation of a funding shortfall with the Luton-Dunstable guided busway scheme, CAST.IRON officers carefully studied the government letter to the county council that supposedly offered £65m for the scheme. Unlike the county council, CAST.IRON did thorough research, speaking to civil servants, and even having a question asked in the House of Lords. It is now known that the government will provide £32.5m in grant for the busway - assuming the busway is approved at public inquiry and is in accordance with the scheme bid for - and the county council will have to borrow the remaining £32.5m.

The government will contribute towards the interest and capital repayment of the remaining £32.5m but there is nothing in any letters that guarantees the government will pay all of it - no government would do so. CAST.IRON chairman Tim Phillips revealed the funding shortfall - that could be passed onto council taxpayers - live on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on Monday 9th February. Within two hours Councillor Shona Johnstone, cabinet member for transport, denied it and demanded that Mr Phillips "retract the claim within 24 hours". Within two days - after the crucial council vote - the Conservatives were admitting that they would have to borrow £32.5m, but claiming that the government would definitely pay all of the missing money.


RAIL ROUTES
Translink guided busway scheme killed stone dead - by its promoters!

Railfuture members opposed to the conversion of dormant railway lines to guided busways will be pleased to know that the Camrbdge to St.Ives anti-busway campaign got a boost when the proposed Translink guided busway on Luton-Dunstable scheme was rejected by one of its two promoters.

Firstly, on Tuesday 3rd February South Beds DC (who are the planning authority and have to endorse the TWA order) held a meeting and had a free vote on three issues regarding Translink:
1. They voted 28 to 8 in favour to oppose the TWA. The LibDems split three ways: for, against and abstain.
2. They voted unanimously to call for a total review of all transport provision for the region (i.e. Thameslink, Luton Airport etc).
3. They voted unanimously for the motion "to strategically evaluate the railway line from the WCML to the MML, for links to Luton Airport and St.Pancras for Eurostar.

The mover of all three motions was an executive (i.e. it was an executive recommendation), a Conservative. The primary concern was that they were not just £8m short of funding, as thought, but another £40m short because of the 50-50 deal with government, of which 80% might have been ultimately be paid by government gradually in the form of LTP top-ups. The missing 20% would have caused the busway operating costs to double.

On Thursday 12th Feb, there was a vote at Beds County Council to endorse the TWA. However, 28 members voted to withdraw the TWA application, whilst a handful supported it. Bedfordshire County having abandoned it means the Luton Borough Council, the other promoter , cannot continue with the project.

Beds County also "agreed to urge the Government to create a strategic rail connection between the West Coast Main Line near Leighton Buzzard and Midland Main Line near Luton, to link Luton, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, Luton Airport and the Eurostar Terminal at St Pancras."

The Translink TWA Order objection period, which finished on 9th February, generated in excess of 260 objections.

Peterborough to be included in the Stansted-Cambridge expansion zone

Rail links between Cambridge and Peterborough deserve to be improved (perhaps via St.Ives!) now that the government has announced that Peterborough is to become part of the Stansted-Cambridge expansion zone.

The minister for the ODPM, Yvette Cooper, was in Peterborough on 2nd February to give details of the project. The Deputy PM, John Prescott, has said that all of Cambridgeshire (which includes Wisbech, with its dormant railway line) would be included in the growth area.


RAIL ROUTES
Wisbech-March Bramley Line Club looks to run trains on Wisbech branch

Keywords: [WisbechBranch]

According to the "Fenland Citizen" on 28th January, the Wisbech and March Bramley Line Club is in talks with Network Rail to reopen the March-Wisbech branch as a volunteer-run heritage-style railway for tourists.

The club, which was formed in 2003, has launched a bid to raise £11,000 for the initial stages of the plan, such as legal and surveyors fees. The next members' meeting is at 19:30 on Wednesday 25th February at 91 Norfolk Street, Wisbech. Anyone wanting to sponsor the project or join the Club can call Peter Downs, the chairman, on 01945 467740.

Letters supporting the scheme can be sent to the editor of the "Citizen" at [keith.drayton at fenlandcitizen.co.uk].

Felixstowe town council calls for improved rail service to reduce lorry movements

Keywords: [FelixstoweBranch]

Felixstowe town council is pushing for more double tracking of the Ipswich-Felixstowe line to help reduce the impact of the massive port expansion over the next ten years. An upgrade of the Landguard Terminal is expected to introduce over a million more lorries to the A14 road each year, causing a road haulage firm to call for major upgrades to the A14 due to the amount of money being lost to delays.


RAIL PUNCTUALITY
Terminating trains at Birmingham has helped punctuality of Stansted trains

Latest figures from Central Trains show significant improvements to the punctuality and reliability of the Stansted - Birmingham services since the September 2003 timetable change, which saw Liverpool trains terminate at Birmingham. Figures, which class trains arriving within 5 minutes as late, are:
* September 2003: Punctuality 57%, Reliability 92%
* January 2004: Punctuality 78%, Reliability 96%

WAGN and Network Rail promise improvement to performance in new leaflet

Keywords: [WAGN]

WAGN and Network Rail have produce a leaflet called "Our plan to Improve Your train Service", which promises to improve the punctuality of WAGN's services. In peak time around 77% of trains on the Great Northern route arrive on time, which it says is "far below what is acceptable to you and to us". Network Rail has, it says, committed to £16m of works over the next few months and peak punctuality should increase to 85% by April 2004 rising to 90% by July 2004.

Network Rail intends to lay over five miles of new track by the end of March 2004, thereby removing half of the Great Northern speed restrictions. Work includes replacing 22 sets of points around Welwyn and track stabilisation on the Hertford loop. Performance will also be improved by better management, such as agreeing train priorities at key junctions with GNER.


RAIL BARGAINS
WAGN offer two-for-1 fail travel on whole route in newspaper promotion

Keywords: [WAGN]

From Monday 9th February to Wednesday 31st March, an adult or child can travel free on WAGN only services (i.e. excluding London Underground) when travelling after 10:00 or at weekends with an adult buying a cheap day return ticket who has a newspaper coupon. The terms and conditions, printed with a coupon in the Cambridge Evening News, do not state whether the paid ticket can be discounted (e.g. used with a Network Card).


PRESERVED RAILWAYS
Mid-Norfolk Railway again provides train service for Hardingham Fete

Keywords: [MidNorfolkRailway]

The Mid-Norfolk Railway will continue to serve the community by again stopping trains at the privately-owned Hardingham station for the annual Hardingham Fete on Sunday 27th June.


WEBSITES
GNER sets up website for business travellers who wish to access company computer on the train

Keywords: [GNER]

GNER, which is running a trial with [computer] wireless access in First Class carriages, has set-up a website http://www.gnermobileoffice.co.uk to explain the concept. For example, the Internet connections uses a satellite but when the train passes through a tunnel four to six cellular phone links are used in parallel to maintain the connection, so even if the speed decreases temporarily, it will not drop entirely. If the trial is successful GNER will fit the equipment to 10 high-speed diesel trains and then 30 electric trains.

Eurostar is planning to test wireless Internet access in late 2004. This will prove a major benefit over air travel.

Rail Safety and Standards RSSB has wealth of information on their website

The Railway Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) http://www.rssb.co.uk website has a mine of information on standards of trains, staff, track, structures and operations. The working manual for rail staff and the Rule Book are also there. For a full list of Railway Group Standards visit: http://www.rssb.co.uk/rgs/rulebooks/GERM8000-master-module%20Iss%201.pdf.

ROLL - Reopen Lea Valley Line campaign group has a website

The campaign to ReOpen the Lea Valley Line (ROLL) for regular passenger services has monthly public meetings. Information can be found on http://www.roll.dsl.pipex.com. The group promotes the reinstatement the Hall Farm Curve, reopening Lea Bridge Station and the possibility of introducing regular services from Stratford to Seven Sisters / Tottenham Hale / Chingford.


Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 132 - 14/02/2004

[Prev Issue (131)] [Snippets Issues] [Next Issue (133)] [Category List] [Keyword List] [People List] [Story List] [Branch Dashboard]