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East Anglia Branch News - Snippets Issue 149 - 13/07/2005

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

Railfuture News Snippets 149 - 13/07/2005

Railfuture's 12th National Conference on Rail reopenings on Saturday 2nd July at the Memorial Hall Theatre in Barry, South Wales, was attended by around 30 members. Another ten were prevented from attending by rail problems at Newport. Afterwards most attendees travelled on the reopened Vale of Glamorgan line between Barry and Bridgend courtesy of free tickets from Arriva Trains Wales. The line is well patronised and Railfuture members saw 56 people leaving at Llantwit Major station on the outward journey.

Rail East 127 had a few mistakes. Apart for the obvious May 2005 cover date, not 2004, the Cambridge meeting is on Saturday 10th December not 11th. News items to Nick Dibben by 1st Sept not 1st Oct. Lastly the branch website URL is http://homepage.ntlworld.com/martin.thorne1/RailfutureEA-Snippets/.

The Railfuture East Anglia branch will be manning a stall at Norwich Station on 24th and 25th September 2005 as part of the Community Rail Fest weekend. Some full-height laminated displays (each approx 2m x 1m, like the CAST.IRON ones at the Railfuture National AGM) will be produced. These will be available for displaying at other venues, including unmanned displays (e.g. at libraries). If anyone has ideas of where the could be used please contact Nick Dibben.

Branch secretary Nick Dibben suggests that members might consider writing to their MPs about the East West Rail Link, particularly about the SRA's proposal to reduce the Oxford-Bicester service to two return trains a day from April 2006. Funds released by reducing this service will not automatically be available to support EWRL.

At the Railfuture AGM on 7th May members voted overwhelmingly against audible televisions on trains. The motion is now largely irrelevant as the planned roll out of the 360 On-Board Television system stopped in May due to the cessation of trading of TNCI (UK). The trial equipment currently installed on trains will be removed. Both Central Trains and c2c have said they would like to provide a free on-board news and entertainment service if another operator comes forward.

BRTA has its AGM on Saturday 16th July at 13:30 at the Chapter House, Shortmead Street in Biggleswade. From 14:30 Frank Banfield will be giving a presentation of railway films. The association held a very successful rail conference in 2004 and has organised another this year on 1st October at Biggleswade. However, the date clashes with the Railfuture branch meeting in Norwich.

The number of people dying on UK roads fell to 3,221 in 2004, the lowest since records began in 1926. The figures are 8% lower than 2003.

Anyone interested in the Central Railway freight line proposal can read the 24-page SRA report to government on its viability: http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_foi/documents/page/dft_foi_037833.pdf.

Derek Langslow, chairman of the soon-to-be-dissolved Rail Passengers Committee for East Anglia is one of the twelve people appointed to the new Rail Passengers Committee. Another is David Burton, the Managing Director of West Anglia Great Northern Railway between 1996 and 1999. More information on http://www.dft.gov.uk/pns/displaypn.cgi?pn_id=2005_0066.

Meanwhile, former First Bus manager, Peter Hendy, has been appointed chair of the Commission for Integrated Transport replacing Professor David Begg, who has joined the Board of First Group as a non-executive director.

POLITICAL PARTIES
Liberal Democrats appoint new Transport Spokesmen

Charles Kennedy has appointed Tom Brake, MP for Carshalton and Wallington and a physics graduate, as his Party's new spokesman on transport matters. He will therefore shadow Alistair Darling.

RAIL FRANCHISES
SRA instructs Thameslink/Great Northern bidders that payments to Treasury is the priority

In May the SRA launched a "Stakeholder Briefing Document" for the Thameslink / Great Northern Franchise. Rather than aiming to meet transport needs and satisfy passengers the successful bidder is expected to "improve the financial position of the rail industry by improving the premium position of the Thameslink/GN Franchise."

Despite the large premium the government seems unwilling to invest in infrastructure in the region. In order to meet future demand on the London - Cambridge - Peterborough corridor, bidders are being asked to price diesel trains running under the wires, rather than increase the OHLE power supply.

Rather than increase capacity on the EMCL or upgrade the Hertford loop, the SRA suggests releasing paths across Welwyn Viaduct by reducing some Letchworth-London trains to Welwyn Garden City-London in the morning peak.

National Express and First Group have both held stakeholder meetings in London and places such as Cambridge and Bedford in order to better understand what the users want from the railway. However, strict SRA rules prevent them from revealing any of their plans. Some user groups have made their own approaches to the bidders. For example, FLUA has issued an 18-page document detailing its aspirations to all five bidders for the franchise.

EWS and Danish Railways have formed Capital Trains to bid for the franchise. A new website http://www.capitaltrains.co.uk has details. They are holding a presentation at the Maltings in Ely on Weds 20th July 2005 at 10:00.

The timetable for bidding is:
* Submission of bids - 6th September 2005
* Evaluation of bids by DfT - finishes on 26th October 2005
* Clarification, negotiation and announcement of preferred bidder - intended by 21st December 2005
* followed by preparation for transfer of operations for handover on 1st April 2006.

SRA document: http://www.sra.gov.uk/pubs2/consult_new/ThamesGN_SBD/ThamesGN_SBD.pdf.

Competition Commission advises future franchise bidders of its approach

Substantial time and money has been spent on assessing the risk of monopolistic behaviour when a train operator is also the major bus services provider. In the Greater Anglia franchise National Express was examined after commencing operations, whilst First Group fell prey to competition fears prior to GNER's successful bid being announced.

In mid-June the CC published a document explaining its approach to overlapping rail services, the scope for a common operator of these services to increase profits by changing services or fares and the likely constraints on any such plans.

RAIL PUNCTUALITY
SRA figures show that many services now back to pre-Hatfield punctuality

On Friday 24th June the Strategic Rail Authority's quarterly results for January-March 2005 showed that 86.2% of trains ran on time, up 3.1% on the same period in 2004. These were the best three-month figures since July-September 2000, just before the Hatfield accident, when 86.6% were on time. Passenger satisfaction reached its highest-ever level, and complaints dropped to 62 in 100,000 journeys.

Latest passenger charter statistics covering April 2005 show that 90.4 per cent of all GNER trains ran on time - a rise of 3.9 per cent on the previous month, and the company's best performance for five years. GNER claims that improved fleet reliability - it has the most reliable long-distance train in Britain - is responsible. Its Class 91 electric locomotives are now more than five times more reliable than in 2002.

RAIL SERVICES
Bittern Line passenger numbers have nearly trebled since 1997

Keywords: [BitternLine]

On 13th June 'one' announced that passenger journeys on the Norwich-Sheringham Bittern Line have risen by 192% since 1997 with almost 585,000 passenger journeys made on the route in the year to 31st March 2005. There were just over 200,000 journeys in the year up to 31st March 1997.

Norfolk County Council and the Bittern Line Community Rail Partnership are credited with improving and promoting the service over the last eight years, however, the recently introduced all-day-long hourly service, two late night trains and improved Sunday services have contributed. Better integration with other transport modes has also played its part in the success story.

'one' press releases: http://www.atoc-comms.org/tocstory.asp?abstractorder=All&toc=one&category=Any&File_reference=656137.

'one' completes Class 156 for Class 150 swap with Central Trains

Keywords: [CentralTrains]

'one' says it has completed the replacement of 9 two-carriage Class 150 trains with the newer Class 156 trains on its local Services. Each train has 148 seats instead of 140 and more space for passengers. The trains are operating on Norwich - Sheringham, Norwich - Great Yarmouth, Norwich - Lowestoft, Ipswich - Lowestoft, Ipswich - Felixstowe, Ipswich - Cambridge and Marks Tey - Sudbury.

RPCEE/Corus "East of Ely" report published - responses due in mid-July

The CorusRail report into rail services between Ely and Norwich, commissioned by the Rail Passengers Committee for Eastern England, has been released and responses are required by mid-July. The report, which has been endorsed by 'one' though not Central Trains, recommends:
* twice hourly trains at Attleborough and Wymondham
* hourly stops at Brandon (which some people claim is incompatible with a new station at Chesterton without infrastructure improvements)
* major Liverpool-Norwich changes
* no bypassing of Ely (using avoiding line) and no community rail partnership since there is sufficient community involvement already
* option evaluation for smallest stations, with implication that mothballing is preferred to full closure.

The report's findings took account of the 986 returned questionnaires out of 1,400 issued in early 2005 and also a stakeholder meeting in Thetford on 25th January 2005 to seek the views of local councils.

Plans for Alconbury airfield change again?

According to an exclusive report by the Hunts Post newspaper, Alconbury Airfield will not become a major rail-connected freight terminal because of the very high costs Alconbury Development Limited would incur by creating a rail link with the East Coast Mainline. Re-laying the up slow line between Conington and Huntingdon plus a re-configuration of the main line would cost hundreds of millions of pounds. The developer has previously asked the regional assembly to include 2,000 homes on the site, which Huntingdon District Council is opposing. ADL has the support of CPRE's Huntingdon branch, which has called for the scale of the warehousing to be cut back and the number of homes increased to make a more sustainable community. Chairman Gareth Ridewood said they welcomed ADL's move to include housing, but argued that the construction of 5,000 homes and reduced industrial use would trigger the construction of a secondary as well as a primary school and would be big enough to sustain proper infrastructure, including health facilities.

As an alternative to housing, Peterborough City Council would like the brownfield site to be re-developed as an international passenger airport. This would avoid the need to build a second runway at Stansted. Its leader, Councillor Ben Franklin, says "The airport is more important than a rail-connected freight terminal, and it would be no more noisy than when the Americans were using it.

In the "regional spatial strategy" document for the east of England the council wants to the site to become a major transport hub with links to the upgraded A14, A1(M) and the ECML. However, Huntingdonshire District Council opposes the resumption of flying at Alconbury, previously wanting the site used for mixed industrial use.

ADL does not support the airport plan and says it is still talking to Network Rail and the Office of the Rail Regulator about the detail of connecting the site to the East Coast main line.

COMMUNITY RAILWAYS AND PARTNERSHIPS
SRA's Community Rail Unit moves to the DfT and will be under new management

The SRA has written a letter to stakeholders explaining that the Community Rail section will transfer to DfT Rail on 21st August within the "Rail Stakeholder and Customer" part of the organisation. It will be managed by Ian McBrayne. Chris Austin and Judy Raumann will be leaving the SRA at the end of July and moving to the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). Chris will become Director of Public Policy responsible for making the case for the railway on a national basis, and working to improve public understanding of the benefits that are already being achieved.

ST.IVES LINE
Inspector's report from Cambridgeshire Guided Busway public inquiry delayed to late-July

When setting a deadline for completion of his report, the inspector is allowed 3 days for each day of the inquiry plus 20 days. These 111 working days plus allowance for holidays should have seen the report delivered to the Secretary of State in early July. It was promised for "late spring".

According to the Planning Inspectorate, Dr Chris Gossop experienced a computer problem resulting in the loss of his report. He has had to re-write part of his final report, which is expected in late-July.

It is normal practice that the inspector's report is not made publicly available until a decision has been made by the government. This means that objectors have little chance of correcting mistakes made by the inspector. However, the Freedom of Information Act may offer an opportunity to see the report early if the government cannot find a reason to claim confidentiality.

According to the Cambridge Evening News, Cambridgeshire County Council does not expect the Secretary of State, Alistair Darling, to make a decision before October and perhaps not until the end of 2005. The project will now not be completed until 2008. Back in 2002 a completion date of 2006 was predicted.

Despite exceeding its budget the county council is continuing to spend considerable sums of money (e.g. intrusive surveys) on the assumption it will get approval.

£2.2m so far for guided busway - no, actually it's £3.1m - no, it's even more!

Snippets 148 said that use of the Freedom of Information Act had revealed the cost of getting Cambridgeshire Guided Busway to the inquiry stage had cost £2.2m. In fact that was only the figure for the year ended April 2005. A further £875,242 was spent in the years 2002/4 (£204,123 in 2002/3 and £671,119 in 2003/4) bringing the total to £3,141,380. This does not include time for staff who have had an involvement in the guided busway's progress as part of their day-to-day job. These figures are incalculable since staff do not complete timesheets.

It should be noted that these costs are just those incurred by Cambridgeshire County Council. JJ Gallagher, who are promoting the Northstowe development, have incurred significant expenditure over the years, especially during the public inquiry and whilst they were promoting the superCAM guided busway. However, being a private company they do not have to disclose their expenditure under the Freedom of Information Act.

It has been suggested that objectors had caused the public inquiry to cost so much. However, the direct unavoidable costs of the inquiry itself (not the TWA Order application) cost just £95,404 (room hire and programme officer). Cambridgeshire County Council's failure to provide accurate documentation prior to the inquiry and its decision to employ a very expensive London barrister to intimidate objectors led it to spend around £1.260m, with another £910,549 paid to professional firms working on the detail of the scheme itself, including five office staff.

CEN Letter: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/letters/2005/05/14/65386eb8-572e-4749-801f-401c4330fe18.lpf.

Cambs County post-election reorganisation sees new cabinet member in charge of transport

Following the recent elections and restructuring of the County Council's organisation, the passionately pro-guided bus former cabinet member for the Environment and Transport, Shona Johnstone has been appointed as Cabinet Member for Children and Young People's Services. Her transport rôle is now covered by Councillor John Reynolds, the Deputy Leader and also Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Services. The appointments were made by Council leader Keith Walters rather than letting the Council members vote on them.

RAIL ROUTES
Great Eastern Mainline is most densely used railway line in Great Britain

Keywords: [GreatEasternMainline]

Campaigners calling for capacity enhancements to the Great Eastern Mainline will be interested to know that it is the densest used railway in Britain with 18,400 passenger kilometres per route kilometre per day against a national average of 5,800 according to Professor Rod Smith of Imperial College [as reported by Christian Wolmar in RAIL magazine issue 517.] The equivalent average is 33,800 in Japan, with peak of 237,000 on the Odaku line.

ESTA promotes East Suffolk Line and calls for enhancements to services

Keywords: [EastSuffolkLine]

"The East Suffolk Railway into the 21st century" is ESTA's latest publication. This 12-page illustrated A4 size report assesses the progress made over the last decade (e.g. introduction of real-time information on many stations; bus/rail connections at Halesworth and through services to London). It then looks ahead to desirable improvements over the next decade which range from short-term improvements that (such as bus-train through ticketing and better car-parking at some stations) to longer-term projects such as improving the infrastructure so that an hourly train service can be run between Ipswich and Lowestoft. The report costs £2 including postage and packaging and is available from ESTA Secretary Rod Lock, The Beehive, Hall Road, Oulton Broad NR32 3AW (Cheques payable to ESTA).

ESTA website: http://www.eastsuffolktravel.org.uk.

CSRRA looks at costs of outsourcing operation of trains

The Cambridge-Sudbury Rail Renewal Association, and is rail development company, has previously investigated the costs of reinstating the railway track. It has recently also looked at the costs of operating train services. CAST.IRON has provided some helpful advice based on the costings it used from the Cambridge to St.Ives railway business case.

Cambridge-Colchester Railway Development Company: http://www.ccrdc.co.uk.

RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE
Network Rail reorganisation expected to affect East Anglia

A planned internal re-organisation at Network Rail is expected to downsize the Anglia region into a sub-set of Southern if rumours are correct.

RAIL DISRUPTION
Dispute over introduction of 'Avantix' ticket machines on 'one' routes leads to strikes

Keywords: [OneRailway]

Two strikes by staff in the RMT union have affected some of 'one's rural and cross-country services with some routes having no service all day. Instead replacement buses were provided or in some cases reciprocal bus services provided by First Eastern Counties.

The second strike, on Tuesday 7th June, saw fewer lost services compared to 21st May, with some trains switching to two-hourly, and rostering of working staff onto 'one'-exclusive lines, allowing other operators such as Central on the Peterborough-Norwich route to provide the service. Driver-only operated services were not affected.

Staff who receive 5% commission for ticket sales felt they were losing money as the Avantix system was slower longer to use. As compensation 'one' has offered an extra 1% commission on ticket sales for a 12-week transition period while they familiarise themselves with the machines. The planned strike on 27th June was called off.

RAIL FARES
Central Trains special offer for over 50s available until school holidays commence

Keywords: [CentralTrains]

The special offer of £10 returns for the over 50s between selected pairs of stations, introduced two years ago, has been brought back for the period until 29th July 2005. Neither Cambridge nor Ely is on the list this time, but Peterborough to stations from Nottingham to Liverpool plus Derby is. For details see http://www.centraltrains.co.uk.

At the start of the summer timetable on 12th June 'one' increased the cost of the Anglia Plus day ranger from £9 to £10. This 11% rise is the first increase for three years, since the Cambridge-Norwich service started.

STATIONS
Car parking for St Neots and cycle racks (at long last) for Watlington

The £356,000 car park extension at St Neots station, adding 70 more spaces making a total of 335 was opened in May. Each space cost around £5,000.

A cycle shed costing £5,000 and holding 10 bicycles, similar to the new on platform 1 at Ely, were opened in June, eight years after the idea was proposed in 1997. Railfuture members contributed £600 toward the shed, in memory of Ron Callaby who was instrumental in getting Watlington station reopened, and WAGN paid the remaining £4,400. Railfuture will also be contributing towards a plaque.

Cambridgeshire County Council to bid for government funding for Chesterton Interchange station

Keywords: [CambridgeNorthStation]

According to the Cambridge Evening News on 29th June, the cost of Chesterton station has now leapt to £25m (with relocation of the sewage works at the same time) and Cambridgeshire County Council intends to bid for funding from government in 2006 with an opening date of 2011. This contrasts with a figure of £28m quoted at a public meeting on 8th June of Cambridgeshire Horizons, the company overseeing the development of housing and transport infrastructure in Cambridgeshire.

An online poll in the CEN found that 78% of people who voted thought the station would cut congestion.

CEN story: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/city/2005/06/29/99493fc3-cd31-483b-9ad4-fa96bdb5c05e.lpf.

Norwich station platforms and canopy to be refurbished by Network Rail

Keywords: [NorwichStation]

Norwich station's main building and booking hall were refurbished in 2001. Now Network Rail plans to spend £1m repairing the platforms and roof. It has applied to Norwich City Council for permission to work at night and hopes refurbishment could take place between July and November.

SRA's station usage figures shows estimates for all Network Rail owned stations

In a possible attempt to justify station closures, the SRA has published station usage figures for all stations owned by Network Rail. The lightest-used stations in East Anglia, showing the numbers of 'entries' and 'exits' separately are:
* Shippea Hill - 11 entries and 18 exits per year
* Buckenham - 15; 33
* Lakenheath - 78; 112
* Spooner Row - 84; 53
* Berney Arms - 532; 573
* Harling Road - 905; 931
* Eccles Road - 1,014; 1,075
* Manea - 1,311; 1,265
* Salhouse - 1,409; 1,594
* Brundall Gardens - 2,085; 2,696.

The most-used stations are:
* Chelmsford (24th in GB) - 3,217,951; 3,227,414
* Cambridge (31st in GB) - 2,742,837; 2,735,275
* Colchester (48th) - 1,991,933; 2,013,936
* Peterborough (59) - 1,691,286; 1,695,294

Passenger figures are primarily based on ticket sales, which means that rangers such as Anglia Plus and staff passes are not properly included. Likewise TfL stations are not accurate: for example Moorgate (both WAGN and TL stations combined) is shown at 2464th with only 128 station entrants and 704 station exits. TOCs have other measurement systems such as counters and train weight recording ("Passenger Load Determination"), where an average weight of 10st is assumed per passenger.

The station figures are from 2002/3 and are now more than two years out of date. Add an average of 10% to the figures. Note: the SRA's rankings are erroneously given as UK, but should be Great Britain since Northern Ireland's stations are not included.

Since the station usage was published, the SRA's latest rail trends document shows that usage of East Anglia's railways is growing fast. During 2003/4 over 121 million passenger journeys were made in the East of England Region. This 54% higher than 1995/6. The largest flows (94m representing 77% of journeys) were to/from London, but there were over 20m journeys (16%) within the region itself. Local journeys have increased by 69% since 1995/6 showing the importance of local and interurban trips.

Trips from East Anglia to other regions are increasing with the exception of Scotland (-23% from 1995/6) highlighting the impact of low cost airlines from Stansted and Luton. The biggest growth in inter-regional trips are to the East Midlands (+72%) and Yorkshire (+56%). Trips to the North West increased by only 6%.

The number of journeys from each County/area with growth from 1995/6 are as follows:
* Thurrock 5.6m (+122%)
* Luton 5.7m (+113%)
* Peterborough 3.6m (+77%)
* Cambs 9.2m (+71%)
* Beds 6.4m (+58%)
* Southend 8.6m (+52%)
* Essex 43m (+52%)
* Norfolk 4m (+48%)
* Suffolk 3.5m (+47%)
* Herts 39m (+445).

Station figures: http://www.sra.gov.uk/pubs2/performance_statistics/stat_usage/stat_usage.exc
Notes: http://www.sra.gov.uk/pubs2/performance_statistics/stat_usage/stat_usage_notes.pdf.

RAIL PATRONAGE
ESTA (Felixstowe) passenger count performed on worst possible day

Keywords: [FelixstoweTravelWatch]

In ESTA (Felixstowe)'s April edition of the Traveller a passenger count on 21st February of all bar the first train service between Ipswich and Fexlistowe was published. The article, which mentioned only 230 return passengers that day, didn't explain why so few people travelled. There was almost continuous sleet/snow on that day and people were being advised not to travel. It is probably remarkable that so many people did travel.

Bryan Frost reassures Snippets readers that the line is well used: "Summer numbers are far higher, as indeed they are when Ipswich Town are playing at home. A survey which I carried out at Trimley on Saturday 20th Sept 2003 showed that 285 people used Trimley Station alone on that day. The 1710 from Ipswich conveyed 191 passengers to Trimley/Felixstowe. Annual usage of the line [which looks only at tickets sold and undercounts use of the Anglia Plus ranger] had increased to 214,000 in 2003 [around half of the Bittern Line usage]."

ATOC fears worse overcrowding on trains is likely in the next decade

Keywords: [ATOC]

Average "load factors" across the national network are expected to rise from 33% to 41%, in spite of the fact that government figures show 11 operators in the south-east are already more than 100% full in the rush hour. ATOC's plan is to encourage price-sensitive travellers to travel at other times, but many rail campaigners fear they will just be encouraged back into their cars.

Essex Rail Users Federation highlights the "scandal of Colchester Town railway station"

The Essex Rail Users Federation has called for a second operational platform at Colchester Town station so that a more frequent service can be operated. The station is situated near the main shops and bus station, unlike the main Colchester (North) station, which is some 20 minutes walk from the town.

The spur to the Town station is double track but the station itself is single track, requiring the train driver to walk the length of the train in order to reverse thus wasting time. The station is popular amongst people working in the Town, by shoppers, and those working elsewhere but living near the station, because roads in the area are very congested in peak hours.

In the days of Railtrack, developer funding for the additional trackwork and second platform was obtained, but it is now insufficient because of cost escalation.

ENGINEERING WORKS
'one' tries to win back passengers now that GEML engineering works are finished

Keywords: [OneRailway]

Hoping to entice travellers back to the railway, 'one' issued a press release in early June reminding passengers that from 6th June 2005 there is no further Sunday engineering work planned to take place on the Norwich to London mainline for the entire summer and most of the autumn up to the end of 2005.

RAIL FREIGHT
GB Railfreight secures rail mail for 12 months

Keywords: [GBRailfreight]

GB Railfreight has signed a contract with the Royal Mail to run mail trains until March 2006, with an option of a 12-month extension. However, only two services are running (Willesden, Warrington and Shieldmuir in Scotland, carrying about a million letters each day), compared to about 50 under EWS.

Loss of rail traffic was due to costs. EWS met punctuality targets and performance on 200-mile plus routes dropped significantly when mail was moved by road and air. During winter 2004/5 18% of mail flights from the West Country were disrupted by fog, aircraft breakdown and many flights that did leave on time were not at optimum capacity.

PRESERVED RAILWAYS
Positive news from Mid-Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust's AGM

Keywords: [MidNorfolkRailway]

At the MNRPT's AGM, it was announced that the extensive renovation of the MNR station at Dereham is almost complete. External work was nearly finished, with interior work (restoring the original layout but meeting modern HSE requirements) at an advanced stage. A new station restaurant will feature food grown or reared in Norfolk.

Last-minute paperwork issues have delayed the reopening of Kimberley Park until later in 2005.

The run-round loop at Wymondham Abbey - essential for steam services - is almost complete. It makes use of pointwork recovered from Cambridge. At the time of the AGM a second ground frame and buffer stops were outstanding and would then be inspected by the HMRI. The water tower at the north end of Dereham station - also needed for steam trains - is now finished although work to provide facilities for maintaining and servicing steam locomotives hadn't yet commenced.

MNR volunteers plan to replace 100-150 sleepers on the northern extension over the first weekend in September, after which it is hoped to take a works train to Hoe (roughly halfway between Dereham and North Elmham). This would be the first train that far north since 1989. Volunteers have also been working on connecting the signalling and pointwork in the Dereham station area to the signalbox acquired from Stratford (east London).

On Saturday 2nd July the MNR organised its first-ever Jazz Train with music from the Lumière Rouge Ragtime Band. It was a sell-out with over 120 passengers.

County School station master's house still looking for new owner

The privately-owned former County School station master's house has been up for sale since January 2005 with no success. The price has now dropped to £299,000. The station is owned by the Mid-Norfolk Railway but not the house.

Wisbech-March Bramley line could cost more than £10m to reopen into March station

Keywords: [WisbechBranch]

Malcolm Moss, the MP for North East Cambridgeshire has met with Network Rail and the SRA on behalf of the Bramley Line. However, the rail industry estimates that the cost of reinstating the A47 level crossing and providing a new segregated route into the redundant platforms at March station will cost more than £10m. Network Rail was concerned that a train breakdown at the entrance to the Whitemoor Yard would cause it serious disruption. In addition greater maintenance would be required.

A cheaper solution for the heritage group would be to provide a March North station north of the connection to the Whitemoor Yard with a high-quality walking route from March station. One way of maintaining a presence at March station would be to have static carriages beside the redundant platform.

Network Rail is seeking closure of this line but promised not to carry out any disconnection of the signalling or the track at Whitemoor Junction in the short term. although Cambridgeshire County Council wants to see the line kept for possible freight use, it does not have a statutory right to object to a freight-only line closure.

Malcolm Moss' website: http://www.malcmoss.easynet.co.uk/Press/052005BramleyLine.htm.

WEBSITES
Nottingham City Council shows way ahead for local car-less travel planning

A new website has been launched to help people in Nottingham who travel by foot or use buses and trams to plan their journey. The http://www.triptimes.co.uk journey planner allows customers in Nottingham, to create their own journey instructions. By typing where they want to go and when they receive a list of directions and service times. It is hoped that future website enhancements will also display information on transport delays, gathered using satellite tracking technology. If this is successful the city council scheme want to extend it county-wide.

Alliance Against Urban 4x4s website targets "inconsiderate" drivers

On Sunday 10th July BBC-2 broadcast a programme called "Car Nation" in which the obsession of driving cars was challenged. Various car drivers were interviewed, including a mother driving half a mile to the shops rather than walking and image-obsessed drivers. In comparison people who have switched to cycling or electric vehicles and those campaigning against road building and 4x4s in urban streets were given a voice.

The "Alliance Against Urban 4x4s" group's "www.stopurban4x4s.org.uk" (see note below) website highlights their attempt to educate 4x4 drivers into using more socially-acceptable vehicles.

UPDATE: This website no longer exists, but the following provide similar information:

Railtrack Private Shareholders' Action Group website has latest news from the court case

Anyone wanting to follow the joint action court case brought by the Railtrack Private Shareholders' Action Group can visit the group's own web site http://www.rpsag.org.uk.

Railfuture East Anglia Branch News Snippets 149 - 13/07/2005

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